Do the Evolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Do the Evolution” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Pearl Jam | |||||
| Album | Yield | ||||
| Released | February 3, 1998 | ||||
| Recorded | August 1997–September 1997 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 3:54 | ||||
| Label | Epic | ||||
| Writer | Stone Gossard, Eddie Vedder | ||||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam | ||||
| Yield track listing | |||||
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"Do the Evolution" is a song by Pearl Jam, from the album Yield (1998). It is the seventh track on the album. Despite not being released as a single, the song managed to reach number 33 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Do the Evolution" appears on the band's greatest hits album, rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003.
Contents |
[edit] Origin and recording
The song pairs music written by guitarist Stone Gossard with lyrics by lead singer Eddie Vedder. Bassist Jeff Ament does not appear on the track. Stone Gossard recorded the bass line for the track.[1] Vedder said that it is his favorite song from Yield.[2] He stated, "I can listen to it like it's some band that just came out of nowhere. I just like the song. I was able to listen to it as an outside observer and just really play it over and over. Maybe because I was singing it from a third person so it didn't really feel like me singing."[2]
[edit] Reception
Without being released as a single, the song peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 33 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1998. In 1999, the song received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.[3]
In E! Online's review of Yield, "Do the Evolution" was described as having a "Neil Young-Beck hybrid feel."[4] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly stated, "On the album's most gleeful hip shaker, "Do the Evolution", Vedder howls throwaway lyrics...while the guitars gnash and grind at the primitive melody, briefly evoking the gnarly cacophony of the Stooges' monumental Fun House."[5]
[edit] Lyrical meaning
When speaking about the song, Eddie Vedder stated, "That song is all about someone who's drunk with technology, who thinks they're the controlling living being on this planet. It's another one I'm not singing as myself."[6] Pearl Jam has stated that the novel Ishmael influenced the writing of Yield,[7] and according to the novel's writer, Daniel Quinn, this song comes the closest to expressing the ideas of the book.[8] Vedder stated:
This Daniel Quinn book, Ishmael...I've never recommended a book before, but I would actually, in an interview, recommend it to everyone....But this book, it's kind of the book of my ... My whole year has been kind of with these thoughts in mind. And on an evolutionary level, that man has been on this planet for 3 million years, so that you have this number line that goes like this [hands wide apart]. And that we're about to celebrate the year 2000, which is this [holds hands less than one inch apart]. So here's this number line; here's what we know and celebrate. This book is a conversation with a man and an ape. And the ape really has it all together. He kinda knows the differences between him and the man, and points out how slight they are, and it creates an easy analogy for what man has done, thinking that they were the end-all. That man is the end-all thing on this earth. That the earth was around even so much longer before the 3 million years. Fifty million years of sharks and all these living things. Then man comes out of the muck, and 3 million years later he's standing, and now he's controlling everything and killing it. Just in the last hundred! Which is just a speck on this line. So what are we doin' here? This is just a good reminder...And I'm anxious to see what happens. You know, I've got a good seat for whatever happens next. It'll be interesting.[9]
[edit] Music video
The animated music video for the song was directed by Kevin Altieri, known for his direction on Batman: The Animated Series, and Todd McFarlane, better known for his work with the popular comic book Spawn and Korn's "Freak on a Leash" video. The video was produced by Joe Pearson, the president of Epoch Ink animation, and Terry Fitzgerald at TME. It was written and developed by Joe Pearson and Kevin Altieri with input from Todd McFarlane and Eddie Vedder.[10]
Throughout the video a beautiful, black haired woman dances and laughs, representing "Death" as it follows mankind through all of its history. The video begins with the evolution of life, from the smallest cell to the extinction of dinosaurs and reign of homo sapiens. The video then cuts back and forth throughout human history, depicting man's primitive, violent nature as essentially unchanged over the centuries. Such depictions include a knight preparing for the coming slaughter during the Crusades, a ritual dance by America's KKK (the dance is repeated with other groups throughout the video), a rally by Nazi troops (with a symbol reminiscent of the Sig Rune instead of a Swastika), carnage upon a World War I-era battlefield (apparently a tribute to Peace on Earth, a 1930s MGM anti-war cartoon directed by Hugh Harman), the apparent rape of a young woman, and the bombing of a Vietnamese village by an American jet, the pilot of which removes his mask to reveal a skull laughing wildly. Other social and environmental issues such as whaling, vivisection, pollution, genetic modification and (implicitly) the Internet are included. The video concludes in what seem to be future scenarios of the self-destruction of the human race, including the carpet bombing of a city of clones by futuristic aircraft, computers hijacking the human mind, and finally a nuclear explosion which leaves a city in ruins. During the sequence of flashing images near the end of the video an image of a yield sign can be seen, which references the album title and cover art.
The video appears to pin a lot of the blame for humankind's brutality on leaders; with various scenes depicting a cardinal or priest, an American President, and possibly a Soviet or Asian leader with what appears to be a missile and red flag in the background. It is eventually revealed that the world leaders are being contolled as puppets by the hand of Death. Everything portrayed complements the song's meaning and tightly follows the lyrics. For example, when Eddie Vedder sings "Buying stocks on the day of the crash", a scene is shown where business men are committing suicide by jumping from buildings, similar to Black Thursday and the resulting suicides from the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
The video premiered on August 24, 1998 on MTV's 120 Minutes.[11] The video was the band's first since the final video for Ten, "Jeremy". In 1999, the music video received a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form.[3] The video clip for "Do the Evolution" can be found on the Touring Band 2000 DVD as one of the Special Features.
[edit] Live performances
The song was premiered live at the band's November 12, 1997 concert in Santa Cruz, California.[12] Live performances of "Do the Evolution" can be found on the live albums Live on Two Legs and Live at the Gorge 05/06. Performances of the song are also included on the DVDs Single Video Theory, Touring Band 2000, Live at the Showbox, and Live at the Garden. On Touring Band 2000, Eddie Vedder adds the lyrics "free the West Memphis 3!" to the song.
[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from various sources.[13][14]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | US Modern Rock Tracks | 33 |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 40 |
[edit] References
- ^ Marsh, Dave. "Pearl Jam: Art and Economy". Musician. April 1998.
- ^ a b "Pearl Jam Talks About New Approach To Yield". MTV.com. February 4, 1998.
- ^ a b 41st Grammy Awards. Rockonthenet. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ "Pearl Jam: Yield". E! Online. 1998.
- ^ Sinclair, Tom. "Last Band Standing". Entertainment Weekly. February 6, 1998.
- ^ Moon, Tom. "Calling Off the Crusades". The Philadelphia Inquirer. February 8, 1998.
- ^ Papineau, Lou. "20 Things You Should Know About Pearl Jam". VH1.com. June 30, 2006.
- ^ Quinn, Daniel. "Questions and Answers...". Ishmael.com.
- ^ Marsh, Dave. "Pearl Jam's New Day Rising". Addicted to Noise. February 1998.
- ^ Music Videos & Shorts. Epoch Ink Animation. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ "DTE Scheduled to Air August 24". fivehorizons.com. August 21, 1998.
- ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Do the Evolution"". pearljam.com.
- ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
