W.M.A.
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| “W.M.A.” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Pearl Jam | |||||
| Album | Vs. | ||||
| Released | October 19, 1993 | ||||
| Recorded | March 1993–May 1993 at The Site, Nicasio, California | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 5:59 | ||||
| Label | Epic | ||||
| Writer | Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder | ||||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam | ||||
| Vs. track listing | |||||
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"W.M.A." is a song by Pearl Jam that appears on the band's 1993 album Vs. It is the sixth track on the album. "W.M.A." stands for "White Male American".
Contents |
[edit] Origin and recording
The drums for "W.M.A." were recorded as a two-measure drum track and were looped throughout the song. Drummer Dave Abbruzzese later added octobans, a cymbal, a tambourine, and a sleigh bell as overdubs to the track.[1] Bassist Jeff Ament on the song:
Before we'd gotten to the studio, a version of "W.M.A." had begun to evolve with more parts to it, where we played things differently. And then from my end, I decided to pull back the reins and play the same bass line through the whole thing -- just play this groove over what is essentially a drum loop. So the bass and the drums are this steady train throughout the whole song. The layers of guitars and vocals, those are the real dynamics of the whole song. Dave and I just laid down the foundation.[2]
[edit] Reception
The song was featured in the 2002 video game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.
[edit] Lyrical meaning
Eddie Vedder on the story behind "W.M.A.":
I think I'd probably stayed at the rehearsal studio the night before and it had been a couple of days since I had a shower and I've got my old shoes on and I don't look too great, a little grunge on my teeth or whatever. And I'm sitting there with this guy who's of a darker color than me, and along come these cops, they run around with their bikes trying to look cool. So here they come, they're heading straight for us. And they just ignored me and [started] hassling him. Compared to me, this guy looks as respectable as fuck. But they started hassling him, and that just blew me the fuck away. So I started hassling them...And one thing led to another...I was just really wound up by it...I had all this fucking energy rushing through me. I was mad. Really fucking angry. I got back to the studio and the guys had been working on this thing and I just went straight in and did the vocals, and that was the song.[3]
The lyric page for the song in the album's liner notes features a portion of a news story concerning Malice Green, allegedly a victim of police brutality.
[edit] Live performances
The song was premiered live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in San Francisco, California.[4] The song has not been played live in full since 1995.[5] However, lyrics from the song have been tagged on at the end "Daughter" many times, such as the version of "Daughter" that appears on the 1998 live album Live on Two Legs. A live performance of the song can be found on the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set featuring Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill of King's X.
[edit] References
- ^ Peiken, Matt. "Dave Abbruzzese of Pearl Jam". Modern Drummer. December 1993.
- ^ Garbarini, Vic. "Spit Fire". Guitar World. February 1995.
- ^ Jones, Allan. Pearl Jam - The Illustrated Story, A Melody Maker Book. Hal Leonard Corp, 1995. ISBN 0793540356
- ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "W.M.A."". pearljam.com.
- ^ "Pearl Jam: 1995 Concert Chronology". fivehorizons.com.
[edit] External links
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