Tag: Eddie Vedder

“Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and . . . Eddie Vedder (Duet of the Day)

In 2017, Glen Hansard sang “Falling Slowly,” from the movie “Once,” with a new partner, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

One of my favorite songs from a movie was when Glen Hansard and  Markéta Irglová sang “Falling Slowly” in the 2007 film Once. In a Dublin music instrument shop, Irglová sat at the piano and Hansard played guitar as their voices and the song beautifully revealed two people connecting deeply.

Hansard and Irglová wrote the song together during the production of the movie. It was released and performed during the time leading up to the film’s release, giving it a familiarity that helped carry the scene when I first watched the movie. The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Hansard and Irglová gave such a powerful performance of the song in Once, that it is hard to imagine another duo singing the song. That image is further burnished knowing that the two fell in love during the making of the movie, although the relationship only lasted a few years.

So, when I saw there was a clip with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder singing “Falling Slowly” with Glen Hansard, I was not sure what to expect. But of course, Vedder and Hansard are great singers and performers, so it pretty amazing to hear what their voices can do with the song too.

So, in this performance, Eddie Vedder and Glen Hansard perform “Falling Slowly” at the Ohana Fest in Dana Point California on September 9, 2017. The video begins with some discussion of their friendship and they get to the song around the 2:17 mark. Check it out. Make sure to stay for where Vedder’s voice rises and helps bring the song home starting around the 4:40 mark.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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  • Springsteen and Hansard “Drive All Night”
  • Glen Hansard the Busker
  • Glen Hansard’s Tiny Desk Concert
  • ‘Fairytale of New York’ at Shane MacGowan’s funeral
  • Springsteen and Vedder Sing “Bobby Jean”
  • Eddie Vedder Joins Tom Petty for “The Waiting”

    • Springsteen and Vedder Sing “Bobby Jean”

    Vedder Springsteen
    Smile Stevie!

    Recently, while playing in Seattle’s Key Arena on The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen brought Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder onstage. Backed by the E Street Band, Springsteen and Vedder let loose on “Bobby Jean” from Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. (1984) album.

    There are few songs that sound as joyous as “Bobby Jean,” as the singer recounts a long-lost love and the peace he has found with the separation. Vedder seems to be having a blast too as he dances around the stage. Check out the March 24, 2016 performance.

    One person who does not look happy onstage is Steven Van Zandt. Look at his face. Is he jealous that someone else is taking his place on the song that Springsteen supposedly wrote for him when he left the band for a period in the 1980s? I suspect he is just concentrating on the music or thinking about his recent appearance on American Idol as a mentor and wondering how Jennifer Lopez could forget his name. Or maybe he is just taking an emotional break while Springsteen, Vedder, and saxophonist Jake Clemons bring the joy on this song.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Bruce Springsteen: Always Roaming With a Hungry Heart
  • Springsteen and Hansard “Drive All Night”
  • New E Street Band Sax Player: Eddie Manion?
  • Springsteen Releasing “Letter to You”
  • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Capitol Theatre, Sept. 20, 1978
  • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: “Purple Rain”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Springsteen and Hansard “Drive All Night”

    Hansard Springsteen

    In the various E Street Band live versions of Bruce Springsteen singing “Drive All Night,” I have always felt that Springsteen cannot capture the loneliness and angst of the original recording on The River (1980). As the next-to-last song on side four of the two-album set, “Drive All Night” brings together all of the sadness of the album, reminding the listener (along with the underrated final song “Wreck on the Highway“) that the only hope of surviving the despair is with love, even if there is no guarantee that it will do anything more than make a moment better.

    The best place to listen to “Drive All Night” is to put the song on the stereo in a dark room while you think about everything you have ever lost. By contrast, a live full-band version cannot capture that feeling because a Springsteen concert is a celebration of community with a large crowd and the E Street Band backing up the singer. But when Glen Hansard sings his version of “Drive All Night” live, he comes close to the feeling of the original recording.

    Singer-songwriter (and sometimes movie actor) Glen Hansard has a voice made for evoking sadness and pain. There are great versions of Hansard covering “Drive All Night” by himself. As the title track for a 2013 EP, Hansard recorded his own version of “Drive All Night” with Eddie Vedder helping on vocals and E Street Band member Jake Clemons playing saxophone. Check it out.

    Springsteen must have recognized Hansard’s skill with the song, as he invited him to sing the song with him in July 2013 when Springsteen played in Kilkenny, Ireland. When Hansard begins singing, Springsteen has a look on his face like, “This guy gets this song.” Check it out.

    But my favorite Hansard version is where he sings alone with a guitar with a little help from Once co-star and former Swell Season bandmate, Marketa Irglova. The two have voices that blend perfectly, and the fact that the two are former lovers adds another layer of poignency to the performance. Check it out.

    What is your favorite version of “Drive All Night”? Leave your two cents in the comments.


  • “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and . . . Eddie Vedder (Duet of the Day)
  • Springsteen and Vedder Sing “Bobby Jean”
  • Bruce Springsteen: Always Roaming With a Hungry Heart
  • Glen Hansard the Busker
  • Glen Hansard’s Tiny Desk Concert
  • Soul Engines Running Through a Night: “Jungleland” Lives On

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Eddie Vedder Joins Tom Petty for “The Waiting”

    eddie vedder and tom petty
    We looked back at another Tom Petty song recently, so let us revisit another old Petty classic with a new lead singer. In Amsterdam recently, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder joined Petty and the Heartbreakers on stage to sing “The Waiting.” Petty focuses on his guitar playing to let Vedder sing the 1981 song. Check it out.

    The performance is from 24 June 2012 at Music Hall.

    Who would you like to hear sing with Tom Petty? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and . . . Eddie Vedder (Duet of the Day)
  • Jackson Browne Covers Tom Petty’s “The Waiting”
  • Performance of the Day: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
  • October 1992: They Were So Much Older Then
  • Springsteen and Vedder Sing “Bobby Jean”
  • “Stay With Me” Because “I Won’t Back Down”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Super Bowl Songs: I Am a Patriot

    It is time once again for Chimesfreedom to take a look at songs related to each Super Bowl team. With this year’s battle between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, we first consider the Patriots, using a song incorporating the New England mascot instead of going with Barry Manilow’s “Weekend in New England.”

    Back in the 1980s before there was the Internet where you can find a large amount of music and concert footage of your favorite artist, I was desperate for anything related to Bruce Springsteen for the long years between albums. In one of those periods, I discovered the music of Little Steven and “I Am a Patriot.”

    Little Steven, of course, is “Miami Steve” and Silvio Dante and Steven Van Zandt, a guitarist and singer in Springsteen’s E Street Band. While Springsteen’s songs gradually included more political allusions, Little Steven wore his social issues on his sleeve. “I Am a Patriot,” though, he reclaims the word “patriot” from the politicians and asserts its meaning as an advocate for freedom.

    And I ain’t no communist, and I ain’t no capitalist;
    And I ain’t no socialist;
    and I sure ain’t no imperialist;
    And I ain’t no Democrat;
    And I ain’t no Republican either;
    And I only know one party,
    And its name is freedom;
    I am a patriot.

    Little Steven recorded several very good albums on his own during the 1980s, including Men Without Women (1982), Voice of America (1984), Freedom No Compromise (1987) and Revolution (1989). He added one last album in the 1990s with Born Again Savage (1999), which was not as successful as his previous albums. “I Am a Patriot” is off of Voice of America, and the song has been covered by Jackson Browne and Eddie Vedder, among others. Browne also has performed the song with Little Steven.

    As for this weekend, at the end of the day on Sunday, New Englanders are hoping they can proudly assert the refrain of the song. Meanwhile, check out the Super Bowl song for the New York Giants.

    Are you a fan of Little Steven? What other songs are appropriate for the New England Patriots? Leave your two cents in the comments.

    Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts:

  • Nelson Mandela, Sun City, and Changing Times
  • Super Bowl Songs: Bon Iver & “Wisconsin”
  • Little Steven and Bruce Springsteen: “It’s Been a Long Time”
  • Little Steven is Releasing “Soulfire”
  • Purple Rain: Prince at 2007 Super Bowl
  • Springsteen and Vedder Sing “Bobby Jean”