I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-“Falling Down” (2010).

On December 2, Pearl Jam announced that their fan club holiday singles will be released to streaming services.  Their first holiday single was released back in 1991.  It was “Let Me Sleep (Christmas Time).” They are rolling out the songs one at a time under the banner 12 Days of Pearl Jam.

These releases are coming out as a daily surprise.

This song, released in 2010 was recorded in 1994 at Red Rocks.  This was the only time it was played.

“Falling Down” is a quiet, mellow song.  It is typically cryptic in meaning. The chorus is louder than the verses and features some powerful vocals from Eddie.  It has a very 1994-Pearl Jam feel to it.

The middle of the song turns into an unlikely (but still mellow) jam with two guitars intertwining in a simple guitar solo and backing melody.

The song runs to nearly six minutes.  After the instrumental break, the verse returns as quietly as before until the song fades out.

[READ: December 8, 2019] “Bridgewalker”

This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my fourth time reading the Calendar.  I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable.  Here’s what they say this year

The Short Story Advent Calendar is back! And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, we’ve decided to make the festivities even more festive, with five different coloured editions to help you ring in the holiday season.

No matter which colour you choose, the insides are the same: it’s another collection of expertly curated, individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

(This is a collection of literary, non-religious short stories for adults. For more information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.)

As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.

Want a copy?  Order one here.

I’m pairing music this year with some Christmas songs that I have come across this year.

This story originally appeared on BBC Radio 4.  I imagine it was probably more enjoyable to hear it because of the conversational nature of the story.  It was a rather elliptical short short story that I didn’t care for all that much.

It is written as a one-sided conversation with a man who used to live in an unspecified location (Details make it seem like it’s set in a small town in Oregon).  He explains that he “just hitched out with my band and got lucky for a while.”  He has returned to visit his brother in the hospital.

As the conversation opens the man is given a beer.  The talk of the beer amused me:

it’s got the bridges on the label now.  They still brew it in town?  They never used to call it honey-beer.  They mixed the honey with the bad water is all, to make it taste better.

He tells the beer-giver that his brother is in for some kind of kidney thing and he’s glad he got out before something like that happened to him.

Then he asks the man if he remembers the Bridgewalker, “that kid who used to walk the valley…all day every day.”

He gives some background on the kid.  He “dropped down” on dust or meth presumably.  Then he just started walking every day…you never wanted to get stuck on the bridge with him.  He was crazy and would just keep talking to you.

Kids would make fun of him, thrown rocks at him.  But to others he was kind of cool, like a town mascot.

He says that he and his brother gave the guy a ride to the rodeo one time.  They wanted to talk to him and ask him questions, but he didn’t answer anything.

He tries to remember what the guy’s name was.  He thinks it was Lane, but Lane was the guy responsible for the Stop & Drop–the one that made Americas Most Wanted.  There was also the guy who put the hit on his mother.  That was crazy..

But Bridgewalker got it eventually too–some kind of senseless Bonnie and Clyde homage.

It was so stupid–the guy had nothing  He was weird but so benign.

Not much happens in the story.  But there is a message for all readers at the end.

The calendar says, It’s December 8. Please enjoy this interview with Sarah Hall, author of Madame Zero, responsibly (it is a video interview from another source).