Raging against the machine was Pearl Jam’s forte back in the day — and they did it oh-so-melodically. Now that the ’90s era icons are part of the “Dad Rock” collective of bands, it’s tempting to write them off as irrelevant Gen X dinosaurs when it comes to protest songs. Didn’t they have their day and say 25 years ago? Shouldn’t the scions of grunge and rap in the here and now be picking up the musical torches and pitchforks? The short answer is: they are. But are protest songs solely the province of youth? Well, it seems Pearl Jam doesn’t think so. Their last album came out in 2013 and was a return to form. But a lot has changed in five years. The most obvious is the political change in the U.S. (and in a few other liberal democracies) where ethnonationalism seems to pervade. The second wave of change is the #MeToo movement that also became a global force. In other words, conflict abounds and Pearl Jam can feel the way the wind is blowing.
For the new single, “Can’t Deny Me,” anger is front and center, but it’s not clear the band’s venom is directed at any one thing or one person like, oh, say Donald Trump. They intentionally keep the lyrical content from being too obvious — with a chorus that changes slightly each time it’s sung:
The higher, the farther, the faster you fly
You may be rich, but you can’t deny me
Got nothing, got nothing but the will to survive
You can’t control, and you can’t deny me
Eddie Vedder dispenses with any kind of subtle language in the lyrics, opting instead for brutal honesty like: “Your lies are sick…they’re vile” or “Your ignorance is sinful” that the country is being “poisoned” by a “little bullshit whore.” But in these times when a sitting president in the U.S. uses far worse language, it’s no surprise when an opposition force does the same. But this song could easily be directed at someone like Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and the number of horrible men who’ve made life a living hell for women.
The music certainly matches the ferocity of Vedder’s lyrics (and you can credit Mike McCready for that), but it’s not all anger and anarchy when it comes to “Can’t Deny Me.” Underneath the rage, Pearl Jam maintains their sense of melody and a dedication to hooks that have made their particular brand of grunge less, well, grungy. “Can’t Deny Me” probably won’t change anyone’s mind about the current state of the world, but at this stage of their career, it seems Pearl Jam is holding fast to the notion that they will not go gently into the night.
