Meaning Of Daughter by Pearl Jam?

Question

My mum is always complaining how this makes no sense,
And I need a good way to explain it!

Thanks in advance! (:

Answer 1

The song is about a girl with dyslexia (if you agree with the learning disability vibe), who cannot rise above her mothers feelings, and her own regarding her learning disabilities. As if she's never good enough.



Eddie on the song;



"The child in that song obviously has a learning difficulty. And it's only in the last few years that they've actually been able to diagnose these learning disabilities that before were looked at as misbehavior, as just outright rebelliousness. But no one knew what it was. And these kids, because they seemed unable or reluctant to learn, they'd end up getting the **** beaten outta them. The song ends, you know, with this idea of the shades going down—so that the neighbors can't see what happens next. What hurts about **** like that is that it ends up defining peoples' lives. They have to live with that abuse for the rest of their lives. Good, creative people are just ******* destroyed."





Lovely song.

Answer 2

Pearl Jam Daughter

Answer 3

Here is an excerpt from the Melody Maker's Pearl Jam Biography by Allan Jones.



Eddie about 'Daughter':



"The child in that song obviously has a learning difficulty.

And it's only in the last few years that they've actually been able to diagnose these learning disabilities that before were looked at as misbehaviour,as just outright ******* rebelliousness.

But no one knew what it was. And these kids, because they seemed unable or reluctant to learn, they'd end up getting the **** beaten outta them.



The songs ends, you know, with this idea of the shades going down-

so that the nighbours can't see what happens next.



What hurts about **** like that is that it ends up defining peoples' lives.

They have to live with that abuse for the rest of thier lives.

Good, creative people are just ******* destroyed."



Melody Maker says:



"The drift on both 'Daughter' and 'Leash' seemed to be toward the idea that we somehow allways betray the promise of what we love the most, because we are somehow too thuggish, too intensive to chrish it. And in behaving like this, we destroy what's most honorable about ourselves.

Answer 4

The song is about a girl who has a learning disability and her parents, particularily her mother, don't understand it. The girl appears to have dyslexia, ADD or autism, based on her inability to learn. The lyric "the shades go down" is a symbol of how the girl is physically punished for not learning, and not letting the neighbours know so they close the blinds. She knows that she shouldnt be treated that way and knows something is wrong. Eddie Vedder says the song is a metaphor for how creative people who may have some defective characteristic are "f*cking destroyed."

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Meaning Of Daughter by Pearl Jam?

My mum is always complaining how this makes no sense,

And I need a good way to explain it!



Thanks in advance! (:

Answer 6

It kinda sounds to me like the girl's father died and her mother recently remarried.



The empty kitchen indicates they just moved in.



"Violins" might simply mean she's a typical kid getting ready to head out to school.



Child NEEDS to make Mom proud because Mom is all the girl thinks she has left. But she also blames Mom for the whole situation and "holds her down".



"Don't call me Daughter" is being said to the step-father. He is not her dad so it's "not fit to" call her Daughter.



"The picture kept will remind me"...who her father really is.

Answer 7

Don T Call Me Daughter

Answer 8

This was written from the perspective of a girl with a learning disability called dyslexia and her mother who doesn't understand the condition.

Answer 9

To put it simply, I think it's about a girl with dyslexia, trying to be good enough for her mother, but she always falls short of her expectations.

Answer 10

I think it was about a little girl that's physically abused and molested by her father, if I remember right.

Answer 11

For me, always had a personal interp. My daughter was 2 1/2 when I went to prison for 8 years. No excuses. I really f#cked up. Eight years was nothing. Losing my daughter everything. An inmate artist did a pencil portrait of her from a favorite pic I had. Sent it for her birthday one year. The song said it all.

Answer 12

i always thought it was about a father who was ashamed of himself and thought his daughter was too good for him. i could be wrong though