“I'm over smoking. You know, I feel like I've gone on long hikes and gotten to the top of the mountain and I'm looking at something beautiful, some great huge landscape, and there's some of the cleanest air that's on the planet. And then I light up, and say, "Ahh, what a great smoking moment this is!" So it's something evil that's taken over, and I want control over it.” KnowsWantFeelsLongMomentsLightBeautifulEvilGoneTakenAirPlanetsHugeMountainLandscapeSmokingOver ItLight UpSomething Beautiful Author:Eddie Vedder
“I don't work so hard at trying to get every song to be three-dimensional and mean so much. I just want to breathe, right now, with the music.” WantTryingMeanHardSongThreeRight NowBreathe Author:Eddie Vedder
“Ladies and gentleman of Florida, this is the real Jeff Ament...take a very good look because there's an imposter running around...if someone comes up to you and says he's Jeff Ament and says he wants to take your pot or wants to take you to a strip club, it's probably not him.” IfsWantLooksRealRunningVery GoodCome UpClubsGentlemanPotFloridaLooking GoodUp To YouLadies And GentlemenImposter Author:Eddie Vedder
“You have to be able to grow and move with the organism that is the music industry. You need to maintain flexibility. Ownership of your own stuff is key and then you're able to dictate on a present-terms basis what would be the most effective way to protect yourself and what you've created. You also don't want to lock yourself into a situation where a major label owns part of your touring and merchandise.” WayWantNeedsWould BeAbleMovingGrowsStuffTermSituationKeysIndustryProtectMajorsBasesLabelsOwnershipLocksOrganismsFlexibilityTouringMusic IndustryProtect YourselfMerchandise Author:Eddie Vedder
“I get really worried, like if they say, 'Take vocal lessons,' or something because it's kind of like I used to really love to draw when I was a kid and then I took like an art class - because everyone said, 'Oh, you're so good, you should take a class and maybe you can be really good,' and then I went to the class and then they showed me how to use a ruler and perspective and all this stuff and it totally made me not want to do it at all.” IfsWantShouldKindArtMadeSaidUseKidsUsedStuffClassPerspectiveLessonsDrawsWorriedRulersVocalGet RealArt Class Author:Eddie Vedder
“I feel like we have to keep our eyes on the road. Being nostalgic is like taking an offramp and getting a sandwich - and then you get back on the highway. I don't want to be spending the rest of my life at the gas station.” WantFeelsEyeSpendingGasStationsGet BackHighwaysSandwichesNostalgicGas Stations Author:Eddie Vedder
“I think that if your approach is one where you don't want to alienate anybody, you're going to have to soften the viewpoint or the information that you're offering to such an extent that it doesn't have the power to make any difference. You have to take that risk.” IfsThinkingWantDifferencesRiskInformationApproachOfferingViewpoints Author:Eddie Vedder
“I realized in the early days I just didn't edit at all. But I think you become a little more cagey with your lyrics when you know more people are going to hear them and make assumptions about you as a person. Realizing that, you want to be a little more opaque.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantLittlesPersonsRealizingI RealizedAssumptionEditsOpaque Author:Eddie Vedder
“I just have this deep kind of connection to reality of being like... in a way, I feel like a dock worker. I want to stay in connection with my dock-worker side, 'cause that's how I grew up.” WayWantFeelsKindRealityCausesSidesGrewGrew UpConnectionsWorkersDocks Author:Eddie Vedder
“It's a mystery to me We have a greed with which we have agreed You think you have to want more than you need Until you have it all you won't be free When you want more than you have You think you need And when you think more than you want Your thoughts begin to bleed I think I need to find a bigger place 'Cause when you have more than you think You need more space Society, you're a crazy breed I hope you're not lonely without me Society, crazy and deep I hope you're not lonely without me” ThinkingWantNeedsCausesSpaceMysteryCrazyLonelyBiggerGreed Author:Eddie Vedder
“Die on a hilltop... eyeing the crows... waiting for your lids to close... but you want to watch as they peck your flesh... Ironic that they go for the eyes first.” WantFirstsEyeDiesFearWaitingWatchesAtheismRageFleshIronicCrow Author:Eddie Vedder
“Well, maybe it was just that I wasn't going to like anybody because I had to work and I had to explain to my teachers why I wasn't keeping up. I'd fall asleep and things in class and they'd lecture me about the reality of their classroom. I said, 'You want to see my reality?' I opened up my backpack to where you usually keep your pencils. That's where I kept my bills... electric bills, rent... That was my reality.” WantWellsSaidRealityFallClassTeacherBillsClassroomElectricPencilsLectures Author:Eddie Vedder
“Everytime I see the Spice Girls, it makes me want to try to fly by climbing my roof and strapping bricks to my shoes.” WantTryingGirlShoesClimbingRoofBricksSpicesSpice Girls Author:Eddie Vedder
“It's a mystery to me; We have a greed, with which we have agreed. You think you have to want more than you need. Until you have it all, you won't be free.” ThinkingWantNeedsMysteryGreed Author:Eddie Vedder
