The music video Eddie Vedder said couldn’t be topped
The art of the music video has become lost in the modern age, but that can be understood. Firstly, the music industry isn’t worth as much as it used to be, so it doesn’t make sense to spend large portions of tight budgets on a video that not many people will see. Secondly, people used to discover a lot of songs through MTV, which meant music videos were necessary, whereas now people discover music predominantly through streaming sites and social media.
While the disappearance of the music video is justified, it’s also a little bit sad. A lot of the musical references we have, and some of the most iconic musical moments that we celebrate, are the result of the music video. Where would we be without the iconic dance from Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’? Or the iconic drag performances courtesy of Queen in ‘I Want To Break Free’?
Of course, we don’t just get humour from music videos either, as they have been responsible for some of the more moving musical moments that people refer to as well. One of the best examples of this was Pearl Jam’s iconic music video that they made for ‘Jeremy’. What could justifiably be described as a short film swept awards season, as it took home video of the year, best group video, best metal video and best director at the MTV Awards.
Vedder himself said he didn’t see the point in making music videos after ‘Jeremy’ as he had no idea how the band could top it. “We won the greatest video in the world or something,” he said, “And I should have really just said right then what I was feeling, which was ‘Wow, I guess we don’t have to do any more of these’. You know, where do you go from there?”
So, what made the video so powerful? Well, the subject matter of the song did a lot of heavy lifting. The song was inspired by a 15-year-old boy called Jeremy Delle, who was bullied at school and subsequently shot himself in front of the class. He was late one day, and his teacher told him to get an attendance slip. He allegedly returned to the class with a gun and said, “Miss, I got what I really went for,” before turning the gun on himself and firing.
Mark Pellington was the director of the music video, and he said that he didn’t like the song much at first, but once he heard the story behind it, he felt compelled to make it. “I just dove in and put myself into it,” he said, “Put a lot of my own childhood junk into it.”
The song features sporadic shots of the band performing as well as some clips of Eddie Vedder singing; however, the main bulk of the video features shots of a representative of Jeremy and the battle he faces with his own mind. There are harsh cuts and triggering lights throughout the video, which seem reflective of the internal struggle of the title character.
“I wrote this extremely long, very passionate, elaborate treatment… which I lost on my computer. But I had all my notes. So, in re-writing it, it became even more freeform, and then it became a little more impressionistic, but they went for it,” said Pellington, discussing the process of creating the music video, “I just dove in and put myself into it – put a lot of my own childhood junk into it.”
The video remains incredibly upsetting and one of the most moving that Pearl Jam ever put together. While it’s understandable why bands don’t make them as much in the modern age, it feels a shame that we miss out on art like this.
