Pearl Jam, Basketball, American Football & F1
''Who don't like this band on the planet Earth? Maybe the devil, I don't know. He's not on planet Earth but he, ya know, always walks'' - Dennis Rodman
Considering that the Olympic Games are happening now, let`s talk about music and sport. Previous posts have mentioned how melancholic music influences the human psyche, particularly how it gives the listener a therapeutic effect due to the anxiolytic effects of prolactin and oxytocin.
However when it comes to exercise, Christopher G. Ballmann explains that music has been linked to the reduction of the perception of fatigue and exertion through dissociation and distraction during exercise. Moreover, listening to music ‘‘may positively impact psychological (i.e., mood, motivation) and psychophysiological (i.e., rate of perceived exertion, arousal) changes, which may allow for favourable responses during an exercise challenge’’(Ballmann, 2021).Whilst, there is mixed evidence regarding music’s efficacy:
‘‘Listening to music has been repeatedly shown to have ergogenic benefits during various modes of exercise, including endurance, sprint, and resistance-based activities. Music is commonly incorporated into training regimens by recreational exercisers and competitive athletes alike. While specific modalities of exercise elicit varying physiological responses, listening to music has been shown to modulate many of these responses (i.e., heart rate, catecholamines, muscle activation) often leading to improved performance…
Emerging evidence has shown that, whether an individual prefers or does not prefer the music they are listening to during exercise greatly influences their ergogenic potential in addition to physiological, psychological, and psychophysiological responses to exercise.’’(Ballmann, 2021)
Costas I. Karageorghis remarks that listening to music is a type of legal performance-enhancing drug. Alongside David-Lee Priest, he found that:
a) music reduces perceptions of effort at low-to-moderate intensities of exercise by ∼10%, but does not appear to do so beyond the anaerobic threshold owing to the dominating influence of physiological cues on attentional processes
(b) reductions in perceptions of effort are not moderated by whether music is self-selected or experimenter-selected
(c) regardless of exercise intensity, music appears to enhance affect but the magnitude of enhancement is not consistent across studies
(d) at all exercise intensities, but especially low-to-moderate intensities, music has an ergogenic effect across a range of exercise modalities
(e) the relationship between exercise heart rate and preference for music tempo appears to be curvilinear (cubic) in nature (Karageorghis and Priest, 2012)
Just like Emery Schubert (2007) study reveals that melancholic music gives the listener greater emotional strength than other types of music, music in exercising context generates an ergogenic effect and the reduction of the perception of fatigue. Thus, it all comes down to music’s ability to generate emotional strength and manipulate the listeners emotions.
But if we go back to sports and consider that music is reflective of it’s environment (everything from economical, political and social factors) like Theodor W. Adorno suggests, did you know that there is a possibility that without basketball star Mookie Blaylock, Pearl Jam wouldn`t be as as they are? If it wasn`t for PJ`s love for basketball, maybe they wouldn`t even exist.
Pearl Jam, Jeff Ament and ‘‘Go Play Basketball With Dave Grohl!’’
Pearl Jam’s original name Mookie Blaylock originates from the basketball star Mookie Blaylock- who was an inspiration for Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. After the dismantlement of Mother Love Bone (due to lead singer Andrew Wood`s death) the band regrouped and gave a demo tape to Eddie Vedder (who became the frontman of the band). At the time, the band members were collecting basketball cards and guitarist Stone Gossard slipped in a basketball card of Mookie Blaylock of The Chicago Bulls (one of his favourite players) alongside the demo. Bassist Jeff Ament explains that: “Each day we would buy a pack of NBA cards […] Fast forward a month later, and we’re in our manager’s office. We needed a band name in an hour”(NBA Soundsystem, 2017). Thus, the band became Mookie Blaylock. The band`s Ten Club for fans, as well as album Ten (1991) both were referencing Mookie’s jersey number.
Basketball was super important for Ament as he explains that : ‘‘If I was gonna have like an another life or if I could have, It would’ve been a basketball player’’ (Jordan era NBA history podcast - In all Airness, 2023). He also wrote the names of NBA stars on his bass guitar because he wanted to be inspired 100% of the time he was playing music and:
‘‘by putting the names of my most inspirational pro basketball players on the bass, at any given time if I felt like the mojo was slipping I would look down at the bass and see Nate Archibald’s name and get fired up” explains Ament (NBA Soundsystem, 2017).
For an ESPN interview, Ament explains that the world of sports and music didn’t really mix when he went to collage and it became apparent that the had to stick to one group. He explains that there was a period that he hid the fact that he played basketball from punk rock guys when he moved to Seattle from north-central Montana. When asked if it was or wasn’t cool to be athletically inclined, he said:
‘‘No. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love talked trash about the fact that I hooped. I once stopped to say hi before a show, and as I walked away, Courtney yelled, "Go play basketball with Dave Grohl!"(Mayne, 2013)
Nevertheless, PJ didn’t hide their love for basketball and even dedicated their song ‘‘Sweet Lew’’(2003) to basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was known as Lew Alcindor when he played in college for UCLA.
A Laker trade their Bobby-D for a house, a guru by the sea
A little help from 32, showtime, and worthy
Those were the days, pre-investment spreeSweet lew, is it true?
Sweet lew, how could you?I grew up trying to copy you, Bruce Lee, and a kung-fu
Act a jazzman, yogi too
Little did I know, a loose screw
But you had your own shoe
Build him high, build him tall, a taiku with a basketball
Tear 'em down, one and all
7'2" is a long way to fall
Dennis Rodman and How Pearl Jam Saved His Life
‘‘Who don't like this band on the planet Earth? Maybe the devil, I don't know. He's not on planet Earth but he, ya know, always walks’’ - Dennis Rodman
NBA writer Mark Medina explains that basketball star Dennis Rodman ‘‘is considered the best rebounder of all time, and I think that he'll be considered that moving forward’’(Jacobs-Bryant, 2023). It was Rodman who became friends with Pearl Jam, especially frontman Eddie Vedder. Vedder wrote a hand written essay honouring Dennis Rodman for the Chicago Bulls Ring of Honor. Vedder finished the essay by remarking that ‘‘there will certainly never be another comet as bright and impactful as Denis Rodman. Forever a legend. The city of Chicago is so grateful you landed here’’(Chicago Bulls, 2024).
Rodman and Vedder became friends in the 1990s when Vedder ‘‘found himself stunned that Rodman was a fan of Pearl Jam and spent his free time watching the band’s live videos’’ and even head coach Phil Jackson, ‘‘relied on the singer to keep Rodman focused on basketball’’ (Outburn, 2021). But Rodman himself for GQ’s ‘‘10 Things Dennis Rodman Can't Live Without’’ said that Pearl Jam saved his life from suicide and ‘‘the voice of love came in my life at that particular moment, that night and it was Pearl Jam. And I thank Pearl Jam for doing that for me. Not the sole reason, but it was a main reason’’. Rodman recalls:
“So one day, I wrote a note and went to the parking lot of the Palace. I had a gun rack, and I had a gun in my car. I had it in my hand,” Rodman told Bleacher Report. “But for some reason, I played this music. I put it on, and I was listening to this song and this music, and I was just debating. It didn't have anything to do with basketball. It had to do with this love that I wanted, and it suddenly just left me.
And this song came on. It was Pearl Jam. ‘Even Flow’ and ‘Black’ and stuff like that. And I had the gun in my lap, and next thing you know, I fell asleep listening to Pearl Jam. Then I woke up, and all the cops and everyone was there. I didn't know what was going on. I totally forgot I had a gun in my hand. They got me out of the car. That was pretty much what it was. It wasn't about the game of basketball. It was about feeling betrayed, because I wanted to be loved so much in my life.”(Gaydos, 2019)
Steve Gleason and Some of His Favourite Grunge Songs
Music plays an integral role for former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason. After being diagnosed with ALS, since 2011 Team Gleason (founded by Steve Gleason) has provided over $40 million in adventure, technology, equipment, and care services to people living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He was named one of 2 Sports Illustrated’s Inspirations of the Year in 2014 and has led the charge in innovative assistive technology.
He created a playlist and shared some of his favourite songs, mentioning Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. He mentioned Pearl Jam`s ‘‘Given To Fly’’(1998), ‘‘Inside Job’’(2006), ‘‘Amongst the Waves’’(2009) and ‘‘State of Love and Trust’’(1992). Likewise, ‘‘Spoonman’’(1994) by Soundgarden, ‘‘Breed’’ (1991) by Nirvana and ‘‘Don’t Follow’’(1994) by Alice in Chains who he finds unique. ‘‘Given to Fly’’ is written by his friend and guitarist of the band - Mike McCready. He explains that:
‘‘Given to Fly has been one of my favourite songs, and since my buddy Mike McCready wrote the music, I think there's a special connection to my family and our group of friends. For me and my friends, Given to Fly was always one of those songs where, as the band is mid song, we'd look at each other like, "How amazing is this song, and this story, and this performance."(Gleason, 2016)
About "Inside Job" he commented:
‘‘It's pretty well documented that Mike McCready and I have a strong friendship. I feel that Mike and his family have been a wellspring of strength for me and my family over the past five years. This song would surely be a favourite of mine, no matter what, but the fact that this is the only Pearl Jam song Mike wrote not only the music, but also the lyrics, holds special meaning for me.
I think Mike and I gain inspiration and strength from each other. We've both had our share of adversity, and to me, this song, its tune, the lyrics and the message capture the gift of friendship that Mike has so selflessly given me. Despite outward circumstances, I do believe that life comes from within our heart and desire. Every time I hear this song build up to that line, I'm grateful for Mike.’’(Gleason, 2016)
Racing Driver Picks and Soundgarden’s ‘‘Kyle Petty (Son of Richard)’’
When asked which artist dead or alive would they love to see perform live, F1 driver for Aston Martin Lance Stroll for an interview in 2020 answered: ‘‘Pearl Jam – they’re epic, always wanted to see them’’. Brazilian racing driver Felipe Nasr listed Pearl Jam - "Even Flow" as one of his favourite driving songs. Whilst, retired American NASCAR driver Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. ‘‘Named a race car "Wild Eyed Crazy Mary" once’’ in reference to PJ’s ‘‘Crazy Mary’’ (1993) and confirms that ‘‘Release’’(1991) is his favourite song from the band. In an Instagram post with Eddie Vedder, he shared that: ‘‘the first year that the TEN album came out, I wore out 3 cassettes. "Release" is still one of my favourite all time songs’’.
One the other hand, when it comes to music, Soundgarden actually wrote a song about American racing driver Kyle Petty, the son of racer Richard Petty, thus the song’s called ‘‘Kyle Petty (Son of Richard)’’ (1994). I couldn`t find any information or comments from Soundgarden themselves about the possible meaning of the song, but Genius notes that it`s a mocking “tribute” and it was actually:
‘‘a B-side on the “Fell On Black Days” single in 1994, and later released in the 1996 compilation Home Alive: the Art of Self Defense, in benefit of the non-profit collective Home Alive. For a while, “Kyle Petty, Son of Richard” would also be considered for Down on the Upside, even leading to the jokey working title Infamous Sports Biography (Matt Cameron even added “Maybe we should do a song about Tonya Harding. And then we could title the album Ode to Fucking Leg Smasher.)”
Heat is rising
Feeling high, I'm on my way
Tell me if you wanna take a hit
Right beside you
I came to fight, so get out of my way
'Cause daddy told me don't you ever
Take no fucking shitLaughing as I spit your way
Faster that a fucking flash of light
Stomach's burning alcohol
I must have burned
A bottle full
And you ain't got a chance
In fucking hell tonight
Just like music, reading daily exercises the brain, improves sleep and reduces stress, so why not read some more?! Check this out:
‘’Loser’’ – The Hero Of The 1990s
‘’The inhumanity of art must triumph over the inhumanity of the world for the sake of the humane. Works of art attempt to solve the riddles designed by the world to devour man. The world is a sphynx, the artist is blinded Oedipus, and it is works of art of the type resembling his wise answer which plunged the sphynx into the abyss’’
Most Rewarding Art Of All: 7 Melancholic Songs
Jared Levinson (1996) argues that ‘‘art which expresses negative emotions is often held to be the most rewarding art of all‘‘(Garrido, 2016, p.36). Research in Physics of Life Reviews ‘‘An Integrative Review of The Enjoyment of Sadness Associated With Music’’ (2018)
Such an interesting article; thank you for this original topic. 👏
I can totally relate. I was/am a baseball fan and when I was a punk rock kid in my 20's I just kind of kept it to myself. None of my friends even knew I was a fan until much later. Of course, now baseball and punk rock go hand in hand and it's totally cool to like both. I suppose scenesters in the 90's were more close-minded about such things. Anything that had to do with "jocks" was the enemy.