"black"

Mood: Nostalgic Playing: Black, Pearl Jam

Some people were trying to capture the lyrics for this 13 yr old song.
okay here's my ear's version: (my thoughts in brackets)
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Sheets of guilty canvas, untouched sheets of gray (he's an artist?)
were lay spread out before me, as her body was still (he still remembers her)
oh all five horizons revolved around her soul, as the earth did the sun (this is such a beautiful line, he thinks the world of her)
now the air i've tasted and breathed has taken a turn (but now he doesnt feel too good about her)

err and all I thought her was, everything (he thinks everything of her)
I know she gave me all that she wore (while what she gave him was all superficial)

and these bitter hands, shake beneath the clouds, of what was everything (hands reference - artist? writer?)
All the pictures had, all been washed in black, tatooed everything (any memory he had of her has permanently been distorted)

I take a walk outside, i'm surrounded by .. some kids at play
I can feel/hear their laughter.. so why do I see her? (he can hear happiness, but all he sees is sadness)
And these twisted thoughts I spin, 'round my head..
I'm spinning ohhh I'm spinning
How quick the sun can drop awayyyy (Gawd this part always gets to me. If I listen to this by the beach when the sun is setting, i'd be on my knees crying) (Ed captured the feeling i get everytime I see the sun set)

Oh this bitter hands prey on broken glass (though "cradle broken glass" sounds better)
of what was everything...
all the pictures had, all been washed in black tattooed everything..
auw the love gone bad, turned my world to black,
tattooed all I see, all that I am,
all I'll be ....... yeahhh (he's deeply affected by his loss)

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a star
in somebody else's sky (he still cares for her)
but why why why...
cant it be
oh cant it be
mine..? (though he still pines for her)

tududud tud dududu..
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Searching for the 'true' lyrics is like searching for the holy grail. Sometimes I like the fact that PJ does not provide lyrics and that Ed sings it almost mumbling. It means we can make up the words to fit how we feel and the song gives us more meaning than the band could ever hope to give..

I cried the first time i heard this song, even before I found out the whole lyrics. It was just so *powerful*.
a true PJ classic.