Tremor Christ meaning (or your interpretation)

[AKRounder85]

After many listens to this song, i realise I have no idea what this song is about and not even an interpretation on it. (And maybe that's why its a track i'd often find myself skipping) So I'm just throwing this out there and see what responses I get.

[LucasF]

The lyric is really beautiful...I think he is talking about those times when we are lost, and something beyond what we can comprehend plays a part in helping us find a way out...a new love, a new path...to be in a fragile little boat and endure the heaviest storm...it could be something that has nothin to do with all this...but this was my first impression anyway....I think the words are by Jeff, right? not sure...

[mini_tb]

The lyric is really beautiful...I think he is talking about those times when we are lost, and something beyond what we can comprehend plays a part in helping us find a way out...a new love, a new path...to be in a fragile little boat and endure the heaviest storm...it could be something that has nothin to do with all this...but this was my first impression anyway....I think the words are by Jeff, right? not sure...

I think the subject of the song did something bad or made a bad decision that is coming back to haunt him (little secrets or tremors turning to quakes) and is trying to decide how to deal with the situation. The easy choice is to keep running/not face the consequences. The hard choice is to turn back and face the consequences. I think he's dreading making the choice but knows he must (the sailor drfiting by the storm). He ultimately decides to face the consequences even though he doesn't know what will happen next (turns the bow back/puts faith and love in tremor christ).

[BALLBOY]

I can honestly sad i have no idea what it means & but that is the beauty of Tremor & PJ. Every time i listen to it i have no idea what he singing about so that challenges me to listen to it again & again. My only dissapointment is that i have never seen it live. Right up there with one of my favourites.

[violetpsyche]

I've always seen this as a song about having to leave a beloved behind - the protagonist goes forth (the sea serves as a metaphor for this), the 'organ' left behind is the heart (either the protagonist's own heart or a symbol standing for the beloved), the beloved is left struggling, 'drowning' as a result of the protagonist's abandonment (real or imagined on the part of the protagonist), there are potential problems and temptations to overcome (the devil reference) but the protagonist will eventually return to the lover, as a seamen would eventually return home, to dry land. The protagonist 'puts his faith in love' in order to see him right again, to help him return to shore, to his beloved. I suppose the Christ reference is as a juxtaposition to the devil: like Christ in the desert, the protagonist overcomes temptation and returns, relatively unscathed, if perhaps a little weather-worn (hence the 'tremor' perhaps?).

Of course, I may be talking utter bollocks but I do love trying to figure these things out

[voidofman]

My guess, much like Immortality, is about Kurt to some degree.

[The Waiting Trophy Man]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

[Glorified_N]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

*Agree*

[JB113274]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

even if I am french and it's sometimes difficult for me to understand the hidden meanings behind the lyrics, I can say that this is a bad ass song, above all the last verse, shouted by Ed

long life to Pearl jam

[myra]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

even if I am french and it's sometimes difficult for me to understand the hidden meanings behind the lyrics, I can say that this is a bad ass song, above all the last verse, shouted by Ed

long life to Pearl jam

Welcome, fellow countryman !

[PilateOfTheStorm]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

agreed. love it.

to me it's about secrets, lies that we all get caught up in. the bad things that we do to get what we want, how we get tempted to do bad things so easily and so many of us fall into a trap. one that we can't escape from and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. same for lying and how easy it is and how it creates a web that we can get tangled in.
also about being strong willed, doing things for you instead of doing it to please others, having faith

lots of different ideas really, i get a different meaning from it each time i listen to it

my favourite part:

I'll decide...take the dive...
Take my time...not my life...
Wait for signs...believe in lies...
To get by...it's divine...whoa...
Oh, you know what it's like...

and of course

Little secrets, tremors...turned to quake...
The smallest oceans still get...big, big waves...

[PearlOfAGirl]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

Agree Totally!!! Can you tell by my sig.?

[CantKeepMeHere]

The lyric is really beautiful...I think he is talking about those times when we are lost, and something beyond what we can comprehend plays a part in helping us find a way out...a new love, a new path...to be in a fragile little boat and endure the heaviest storm...

and the smallest oceans still get great big waves

so the thing that "corrects your course" is never what you expect it to be and sometimes what is good for you in the long run isn't always for someone else

[The Waiting Trophy Man]

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

Agree Totally!!! Can you tell by my sig.?

I'm on my iPod so I can't see your sig. What is it? : )

[slightofjeff]

I've always kind of struggled with this one, too. There's definitely a religious component to it, and not just because of the word "Christ" and various aluusions to angels and the devil.

The bridge part, about waiting for signs, believing in lies, to get by ... from certain vantage points, that's the very definition of organized religion. And of course, all of the above, Ed says (derisively, I think) is "divine" -- another religious term.

My best guess about this song is that it's about people who call on someone to save them who isn't even there. Or something.