Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder has consistently been one of my favorite artists and voices in music since the first time my dad played the incredible Pearl Jam debut 10 for me when I was a youngster. I’m sure there are millions of others who share the same story. That’s pretty cool to think about. Anywho, because I love his voice so much, I have always been a fan of his solo stuff by default. He has a couple of really great solo albums (one just him and a ukulele) as well as two soundtrack albums, Into The Wild, of course, and Flag Day, both Sean Penn-funded projects. I read “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer and thoroughly enjoyed it, went on to watch the film and about halfway through realized E.V. was the man on the soundtrack.

Up until the writing of this post and doing some research, I was under the impression that Vedder wrote “Hard Sun“. It was actually originally penned by a Canadian named Gordon Peterson, who released this song under the name “Indio” in the land of maple syrup and actually took it to number ten on the Canuck charts. However, Indio is apparently not super pleased with Eddie’s interpretation of his work, actually going as far as to sue him for “eroding” the integrity of the composition. Yeah sure, okay buddy. (Read this at your own risk but I share a similar sentiment) https://hypernation.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/baiting-gordon-peterson-or-how-not-to-break-a-twenty-year-silence/

I think I would consider this one to be a folk song, or at least one heavily influenced by folk music. A lot of Vedder’s solo work has that feel to it. This song just makes me want to take a stroll through the Pacific Northwest, probably due to its use in the film, but even without that, I think it is fair to say that folk music tends to have a certain “earthy” feel to it. I like the guitar a lot; the riff almost sounds like you’d hear it at a Renaissance fair. Eddie’s voice has always sounded like what a warm blanket feels like to me, so no complaints there. I guess I do have to give “Indio” some credit for the lyrics. Good stuff. I take it as a tribute to Mother Nature’s incomparable and ineffable beauty as well as her awesome power. A great song for hiking or even just a day in nature.

Link to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8b2VHjVB0

Link to live – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6XCNCzsr7U

Link to original by Indio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1tVvQUAcf4