23 - Black (Pearl Jam)

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]All right, let's dive into Black by Pearl Jam. So, the cool thing I want to say about the song is how well the chords personify and characterize what the lyrics are saying. It's such good word painting because the song starts like with like a sunny blue sky in E major. It's just going one to four, like major 1 to major 4, right? maybe the occasional ASUS 2 and I'll talk about that. But as the song is going, it gets tainted darker and darker. It like gets black. It gets like the darkness comes until it completely engulfs the song. So that contrast of like the blue sunny sky going into the darkness like the pit of like sadness, right? Uh it just feels like and he's talking about tattoo like tattooed everything, right? just like completely engulfing everything like just like the lyrics are saying because the song is about lost love. Uh and it's so powerful. So I'm going to talk not so much about like the different guitar parts going on but just the chords and the melody and the lyrics. Right. So one thing I will say is that the intro has now that's just outlining E7. So that's just E major with a dominant seven with a flat 7. So instead of regular E, this would be E major 7. Nice and dreamy, but E7 sounds bluesy, right? So they're doing that. Nice and kind of of a bluesy sound. And then that's A, which is the four chord. So one to four is very common. Okay. Um, just like that, but they they add a So that makes it sus two.

[00:01:48]Now sus 2 is like it's it's essentially a major but you know they they I feel like sometimes they play a major or sometimes they play sus 2. So sus 2 just means that they're substituting the major third which is the note that's making it major like a major chord.

[00:02:02]They're substituting that with the second. So it sounds more like ethereal be it sounds more like beautiful right?

[00:02:10]So that's kind essentially what they're doing in the intro.

[00:02:17]Oh, right. And then it and I love the bass like the like for a second there. It's a tritone.

[00:02:28]It's so cool.

[00:02:31]Okay. And now we get to the verse and it's so nice, man. So, we got E major.

[00:02:37]It's like we're in a major key. It's like a major song is called Black. And we start in E major. Okay. So, it's like a blue sky. It's like what I keep picturing. He was sheets of empty canvas.

[00:02:51]I love Asus canvas right there on the ASUS 2, right? So open and vast. Sheets of empty canvas.

[00:03:01]Untouched sheets of clay.

[00:03:07]Okay, so one to four. That's all just two chords, right? Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay.

[00:03:17]like he's just going up the major scale.

[00:03:20]Do me.

[00:03:24]Okay. Worse blade spread out before me as her body once did.

[00:03:33]Sometimes his vocals like the vocal line sounds like a violin line and then it stays on either. Right?

[00:03:43]Instead of going to A, it goes, "We're laid spread out before me." There's a as her buddy once did. Now, instead of going back to A, it stays on E.

[00:03:55]Oh, five horizons revolved around her soul. I like his phrasing is so awesome. Eddie Veter has such great vocal phrasing. It's very unique like That's such a nice octave jump her soul and then as the earth to the sun. Right now the air I tasted and breathe. Oh, he goes breathe. I love that. Now the air I tasted and breathe has taken a turn. stays there. Okay, watch. Now the darkness is starting to come. The first cloud comes.

[00:04:48]So he goes to C major. Now C major is not in the key of E major. They add C here, which is the flat 6. Okay? So it's like a borrowed chord from E minor. E minor is dark. E major is generally happy. So it's like has taken a turn.

[00:05:06]Here's E minor. And then And all I taught her was everything.

[00:05:15]Everything. Right. So that's E minor now. Okay. So it's like it's like tainted. This blue sky has now been tainted at this moment. And I just I just love the right.

[00:05:30]And he sings a C too.

[00:05:34]And all I taught her was everything, right? E major. Sorry, E minor. I'm a fool, man. I'm a fool, man. I was everything. E minor, man. So cool. Okay, so we were just in E major. We're playing some We're teasing some E minor now.

[00:05:53]I know. She gave me all that. She She wore E. So C major to E minor. And now my hands. So now we're like like we're just kind of like we're we're in E minor now, right? That's a little weird. It's getting like darker and darker. Now this D chord is the seven. Okay. So it's like the flat 7. So we're like in E minor at this point. Like we've just gotten dark and he's and the lyrics are so much darker. And now my bit of hands chafe beneath the clouds of what was everything like Like he's just singing the minor notes like minor 7 minor 6 perfect fit of what was everything and all the pictures had all been washed in black and he's saying tattooed every tattooed everything like we have tattooed everything now harmonically speaking and lyrically right and uh melodically too. He's like outlining just like like he's singing in a minor key. We're playing an E minor. And this is such a nice transition. So he's like, uh, all the pictures have been washed in black, tattooed, everything, right? And then all of a sudden we go E minor, we go to E major.

[00:07:17]So we're back to the the blue sky, right? Just like the h like just happy happier chords, right? And I love what he's saying. Like it's so vast. He goes, "I take a walk outside." Like I take a walk outside.

[00:07:32]I am surrounded by some kids that play. Like that's such nice uh vocal rhythm there.

[00:07:43]I can feel their laughter.

[00:07:47]So what do I see? Stay on E major. Now, this verse is only half the length of the first verse, right? And then he goes back to it, right?

[00:08:00]And twisted thoughts that spin around my head.

[00:08:07]Like here we are. E minor, man. Like it's it we're getting dark dark and taint. I just picture like black ink like pouring over like a white and blue like sheet of paper, man. Just like a picture of a blue sky. black ink is like pouring all over it and like the chords are like supporting that image too.

[00:08:23]Right from my head I'm spinning. Oh, I'm spinning. How quick the sun can drop away.

[00:08:40]That's like so haunting. Like like those notes, the perfect fifth and the minor 6 are often paired together like in a day in the life. She turns me turn I just love to turn you right or in Jimmy by Tulle.

[00:09:05]It's like very haunting.

[00:09:07]How quick the sun can drop away.

[00:09:12]So haunting. And my bitter hands cradle cradle broke. And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass of what was everything.

[00:09:25]It's so dark. We're just going from the seven to the six to the minor one. Now everything all the pictures have all been washed in black. Tattooed everything.

[00:09:41]All the love gone bad. Turn my world to black right here. Tattooed all I see. So that's a first in the song. Okay.

[00:09:52]Because instead of going D C E minor D C E minor, it goes D C D. So, it's like we're in this like like what's the word, man? We're in this just like cocoon of darkness, right? He's like trying to break out, but he's like still in like going now. I love the jump back to D.

[00:10:10]It's like it's just like we're like stuck in this like darkness.

[00:10:15]Love going back. Turn my world to black tattooed all I see. It's tattooed everything I see. All I am, all I'll be.

[00:10:25]So, he's like singing. So, we're playing E minor now, right? We're back to the E minor D C loop. Um, but he's singing the minor 7 and B. Like the minor 7 is like the reaching chord. So, like during those chords, he's like B.

[00:10:49]I love so nice.

[00:10:54]That's just the minor notes like root major 7 sorry major second minor third like the main minor notes right there and then and then it goes to the bridge man it's like so beautiful right I know someday you'll have a beautiful life I know you'll be a star like these lyrics are crazy I know someday you'll have like it's about lost love I know someday you'll of a beautiful life. I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky.

[00:11:30]But why?

[00:11:32]Why?

[00:11:34]Why?

[00:11:35]Oh, can it be? Oh, can it be?

[00:11:50]Like, holy cow, man. I know someday you'll have a beautiful life. I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky, right? But why? Why? Why can't it be?

[00:11:59]Oh, can it be mine?

[00:12:06]And that part is so powerful, right? And it gets like compounded because the piano is playing it and the lead guitar is playing it and Eddie Veter is singing it. And so you got those three usually like instruments like different instruments are like harmonizing with each other. Maybe two will will play the same thing. But in this case we got three instruments. Piano, le guitar and vocals.

[00:12:39]And these are just like the dark chords, right?

[00:12:45]It's like so heavy. It's like down the road. And so many songs do this, okay? Like I I I say it a lot in my videos. Like minor one to seven to six is just so heavy.

[00:13:04]Can't get enough of that. And I love the bass riff that comes just outlining the chords, right? E minor, D, C. And it just fades into blackness. And the song is starts off with that blue sky and gets tainted and tainted. Blue sky comes back a little bit, short-lived, right? Not as long.

[00:13:39]Verse two is a little shorter. and then it goes back to the darkness and just falls into the pit of darkness. Just gets deeper and dark and it fades out like black.

[00:13:48]So effective. It's such a cool like technique when the chords like really support the lyrics. Uh really nice marriage of everything in the song.

[00:13:57]Guys, thanks for listening and watching.

[00:13:59]Please leave a review. It helps the podcast out immensely. And just check out learn.danberryuda.com/essions if you're interested in some private one-on-one breakdown sessions with me.

[00:14:09]Thank you guys. See you in the next episode.