To many people, including myself when I first heard the lyrics, "I am Mine" can seem extremely isolated and pessimistic. There’s so much hopelessness and indifference in the world and there’s only one thing that you truly know and own: your mind. You are yours, and that’s about it. In the context of most of Riot Act, with songs like "Thumbing my Way," it’s easy to label it like this and just move on.

I don’t see it like that, and I think the positive note the song ends on debunks that anyway. I think one of the song’s mains strengths is that contrast it has with the rest of the album.

Thematically, it’s as much a self-reflective song as it is an examination of world events. “All the innocence/innocents lost at one time” is a simple, beautiful lyric, but it’s so vague. I think Ed does his best political stuff when it’s buried like this. He isn’t accusing, he isn’t naming names, he’s just giving sad facts. It’s confusing though; is Ed referencing 9/11? Is he referencing the Roskilde tragedy? Is he referencing America’s constant stream of wars and conflicts with the world? With Ed and his almost universal condemnation of senseless killing (pussy-liberal-commie-bastard ...), it could really be anything.

But there are so many more questions and uncertainties throughout the song. The opening lines are rather dark, almost disgusted with the state of things. The selfish do their best to get more, to achieve more through all kinds of well-intentioned ideas twisted for their own purposes. All you can do is take refuge in your mind; take comfort in the fact that at least somewhere, something is totally familiar and comfortable to you.

But once you reach the chorus; despite his belief that our feelings and emotions, the qualities that make us human and allow us to rise above animals are being forgotten; there’s so much left inside us. There’s something so significant buried inside everyone. All can’t be lost.

Another line of thought that threads throughout the song is that we aren’t alone. He keeps talking about the significance and independence of what’s inside people, what’s “between the lines.” I know it seems trivial, but I think it’s important that after using I throughout the song, even naming it I Am Mine, he says we at the end of each chorus. “We’re safe tonight,” not I, me or myself. The song is about addressing and embracing the differences between us, because those differences can be harnessed to help us survive. We can easily forget the good things because we’re constantly bombarded with the collective problems and hate of the world. If we can only see that refuge we have inside ourselves, we can be calm, at least for now. We’re safe tonight.

Eddie questions himself, not only the outside world, throughout the song. I love how he uses “There’s no need to hide” throughout the song before switching to “We may need to hide.” It’s rational and human for thinking minds to question themselves, and I love this intentional little slip. Still, underneath all his bad feelings about the state of the world, I think Ed’s an optimist. I’m sure many people will disagree, but this song is too beautiful and too optimistic as a whole for me to think otherwise. To support this, he ends the song with his original affirmation: “There’s no need to hide.”

Musically, the ominous intro fits the opening lyrics. The layering in of the acoustic and electric guitars is stark and beautiful (Speaking of, does anyone else LOVE when you can hear his hands move up and down the guitar strings? It gets me every time). By the time the song builds into the full band, you’re not exactly sure where it’s going. Is it going to be another murky, stern rocker that Pearl Jam has become so good at in recent years? The first chorus puts that notion to rest. It’s catchy, rather uplifting and more complex than usual. It’s a chorus (and a song) that early Pearl Jam really couldn’t have done. They’ve moved on from the simpler, catchy-as-fuck choruses of "Daughter" and "Alive" into more complex ones that take longer to dig into your brain and stick there. I’ve even caught non-PJ fans, like some of my girlfriends (who barely listen to rock music, much less Pearl Jam’s worst-selling album) humming and singing under their breaths to it.

There’s a build-up in this song; a slow moving, positive rumble that eats away at the song slowly until exploding in the final moments of the song. Oddly enough, Ed’s part in that final explosion is rather small. Typically he provides the “climaxes” to Pearl Jam songs, whether it’s the “She loved him ...” in "BetterMan" or the final chorus in "Worldwide Suicide," he’s usually the centerpiece. Mike’s typically left to provide the resolution and tear up the final moments of the songs. Here, Ed builds up to it and lets Mike explode the finale with his most memorable solo this side of "Alive." It’s so perfect yet so short; the listener can only crave more. It’s sad that the rest of Riot Act is nothing like this. I love the album, don’t get me wrong, but "I Am Mine" is one of the best, most uplifting mid-tempo anthems Pearl Jam has ever done and the rest of Riot Act finds them striving for nearly the complete opposite. It’s odd hearing this kind of song amidst the muddy sadness of the rest of the album, but it only makes it stand out even more.

This song, to me, is flawless. It’s beautiful, uplifting, complex and meaningful. I did this song for SotM for a reason, so I’m of course giving it a 5 (if that solo was longer it’d be a 5.5, but as it is it’s so damn enticing and perfect I can’t really rate it down).


Favorite Lines:

I know I was born and I know that I’ll die. The in between is mine. I am mine.

All the innocents broken with lies ... Significance, between the lines ... We may need to hide.

Also, when he performs it live and changes it to "You are yours."

whose second account is this? theplatypus'?

Welcome to the board

I'm new. ....chill

Keep on the topic

ibtspenno