Yellow Ledbetter

Pearl Jam

“the song was originally written about the first gulf war, and i’d created this image of a young guy with long hair and funny clothes, who had just got a yellow telegram telling him his brother has been killed in action. he’s walking by these conservative-looking, older folks on a porch, flying an american flag, and he waves to them in a show of solidarity, and they brush him off and give him the finger. so, you know, what did his brother die for?”

- eddie vedder