Chuck Klosterman mentions Sweet Lew on Grantland today

[Tremorman]

This has to be a first, a non fan page, non Lost Dogs review, mention of Sweet Lew. This is from a Grantland article today by Chuck Klosterman who is known for tying random pop culture pieces together, and is an excerpt from his upcoming book about villians in the media. Kind of interesting analysis of PJ's relationship with their fans, but more worth mentioning for the weirdness of bringing up and discussing one of PJ's deepest cuts.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/936 ... -kareem-oj
"There's a B-side from the rock band Pearl Jam titled "Sweet Lew," written by guitarist Jeff Ament (the "Lew" in its title refers to Jabbar's Christian name). If you listen to the song casually, you wouldn't immediately perceive it as a criticism of Abdul-Jabbar, as the lyrics are mostly complimentary and kind of juvenile ["Wilt the Stilt had nothing on you / Lambchops and Afro-do, Milwaukee Bucks and a barbecue"]. But Ament's interior motive for writing the song was based on a negative encounter he had with Abdul-Jabbar upon meeting him at a charity event. Ament (a lifelong hoop fan and a decent player as a high school student in Montana) was deeply hurt by Abdul-Jabbar's abject lack of interest toward his personal fandom. He didn't even pretend to care. This is telling. What made Pearl Jam dissimilar from their platinum-selling peers (most notably Nirvana) was that — despite being completely suffocated by a level of fame they did not anticipate — they still felt an obligation to appreciate the people who bought their records. Perhaps they did this naturally, or perhaps they did this as a social compulsion. Either way, Pearl Jam has always felt a responsibility to return whatever adoration was directed toward their existence. The motive of that return is beside the point, because the effort is what matters. It's certainly possible to dislike Pearl Jam's music, but you can't hate them as people, unless a) you believe they are somehow fake and b) you have some kind of teenage punk fixation on realness. To any normal person, a facsimile of gratitude is enough; that facsimile is an acceptable amount of emotional access. When Ament met Abdul-Jabbar, all Kareem needed to say was, "Thanks, man. That means a lot. Good luck with your life." He would not have needed to mean any of those words. Even if he'd been transparently acting, it would have been enough to satisfy a person who had pre-decided to love him. But Abdul-Jabbar can't do that. He can't ignore the stupidity of that false relationship, which is why a song like "Sweet Lew" exists. Kareem (being Kareem) loves jazz music — but even if he loved rock, he'd never relate to Pearl Jam (except for maybe "Corduroy"). He would prefer mid-period Rush: "I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend."

[Bee Girl]

I enjoy Klosterman's books. Thanks for posting this.

[McParadigm]

Ament's interior motive

[EJ]

Ament's interior motive

Yep. I scratched my head the first time I read that one.

[Tremorman]

ha yea the "interior" wording is weird, and my eyes skipped over the "written by guitarist Jeff Ament", but maybe he did play guitar on this one like when he plays on "Smile". I don't have the Lost Dogs linear notes in front of me.

[clavian]

Wierd. This stuck out to me:

Chuck Klosterman said:

The motive of that return is beside the point, because the effort is what matters. It's certainly possible to dislike Pearl Jam's music, but you can't hate them as people, unless a) you believe they are somehow fake and b) you have some kind of teenage punk fixation on realness.

Stip, in a different thread, said (yesterday) the following in response to someone bitching about their corporate sponsorship dabbling (Target, Oracle, etc):

Yeah, I think this is really kinda stupid (the critique). I've railed about this a million times. When you start to unpack it this critique is pretty superficial, unless you are a teenage punk rocker in love with meaningless notions of authenticity.

[Jorge]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

[Norah]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

It's a real possibility.

[epilogue]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

Is it too on the nose if I post an Einhorn is Finkle/ Finkle is Einhorn gif? I think it is. I'm not gonna post it.

[Norah]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

Is it too on the nose if I post an Einhorn is Finkle/ Finkle is Einhorn gif? I think it is. I'm not gonna post it.

[epilogue]

God bless you, Peter Clarke.

[clavian]

Own up to it Stip. You lifted this, didn't you?

[epilogue]

Own up to it Stip. You lifted this, didn't you?

You've got it backwards. Klosterman's been ripping off Stip for YEARS.

[stip]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

It's a real possibility.

I wonder what he thinks of backspacer

[epilogue]

STIP IS CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

It's a real possibility.

I wonder what he thinks of backspacer

I bet he hates the verses to Amongst The Waves and loves the choruses.

[stip]

That son of a bitch

[epilogue]

I MEAN, JUST LOOK AT THE GUY!

[Fuzzcharger]

When they played this at Philly it nearly killed the song for me. Well at least listening to the boot did.

[epilogue]

I loved it at MSG a couple years back. It kinda killed the momentum and took a lot of the crowd out of the show. But I about shit myself.

[Jorge]

I loved it at MSG a couple years back. It kinda killed the momentum and took a lot of the crowd out of the show. But I about shit myself.

Maybe it was your shitting yourself, and not the song, that took the crowd out of the show.