Chills up the spine, chills down the spine
This has got to be one of the coolest moments from a concert that I’ve ever heard, especially when combined with this background material from Surfline Magazine:
A three hundred-pound plus Hawaiian man was crying and he didn’t care who knew it.
He and thousands of others held their arms over their heads, letting the tears flow, as they sang along to Pearl Jam’s cover version of Izzy Kamakawiwo’ole’s anthem of protest and love, Hawaii ’78.
“Tears would come from each others eyes as they would stop to realize, that our people are in great, great danger now,” emoted Eddie Vedder Saturday night in Honolulu’s Blaisdell Arena.
It was a heavy moment for sure, a perfectly fitting cap to three days of celebration, conservation and consideration for the people of Hawaii, Pearl Jam, Kelly Slater and the North Shore surfing community.
Hawai’i 78 (Israel Kamakawiwo’ole cover) – Pearl Jam
Live in Hawaii 12/2/06.
Listen to the crowd as one by one they slowly realize what he is singing — and TRY not get chills!
Original: Hawai’i 78 – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
You must also read The True Story of Hawai’i 78 – http://www.hawaiiseventyeight.com
The entire three-hour show was completely worth downloading; Vedder also played an extremely rare ukulele tune called “You’re True” that I absolutely adore, and a soaring and apropos version of “Oceans.”
The rest of the article is a warm-fuzzy/good-feelings bit about the secret show Pearl Jam played with surfer Kelly Slater on November 30 in Hawaii as a benefit at the Waimea Valley Audubon Society. Yes, two of you guys did offer me tickets to their closing show with U2 tomorrow night, and (and!) frequent flyer miles to get there. It’s killing me.
Name: Heather Browne
Great post . Thank you from Maui!
Anonymous — December 8, 2006 @ 8:38 pm
dear god, thanks for this. Why oh why aren’t you going?!?!?!? I have to know…
Anonymous — December 8, 2006 @ 11:02 pm
very cool…
jeffro — December 9, 2006 @ 8:26 am
It’s ok…sound like MOTHER LOVE BONE a lot!!!
They should go back and redo some of those old MLB demos that never made a MLB record. Like a tribute to Andy.
You do have the coolest posts of tracks out there…
SINEDDIE — December 9, 2006 @ 8:41 am
I have a ticket for the show, too, and it’s killing me that I’m not going. I was checking airfare as late as last week, but I just couldn’t afford it. I heard they rehearsed Rockin’ In the Free World last night, so I’m really hoping one of my friends who’s going will call me. Granted, it will be about 5 a.m. my time, but it will be worth it!
Maggie — December 9, 2006 @ 12:00 pm
Would make a great B-side for the fanclub single. Might be too late though. Thanks for posting it, Heather. Your blog rocks.
Oxypoet — December 9, 2006 @ 1:07 pm
this was amazing. thank you.
Anonymous — December 9, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
Beautiful. Both the original and the cover.
Anonymous — December 9, 2006 @ 6:43 pm
Please post “Oceans” from the Hawaiian show, Heather??
Anonymous — December 10, 2006 @ 7:56 am
wow — that was beautiful. i usually refrain from foisting pearl jam on my friends, but that one needs to be heard.
lbc — December 10, 2006 @ 12:07 pm
Thank you very much for posting that, I can’t think of anyone else who could have sung that as well as Eddie
Anonymous — December 10, 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Wow… ripping off both Pearl Jam and Israel (NOT Izzy) in the same post?
Auwe.
Anonymous — December 10, 2006 @ 6:25 pm
Unreal. Nobody beats PJ. Nobody outdoes Eddie. Fantastic. When the crowd realizes the moment their in, that burst of elation is just unbelievable.
InMyTree — December 10, 2006 @ 7:36 pm
Just to let you guys know that the original was done by the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, which Isreal was apart of. He then re-released it when he went solo. IMO the Makaha Sons version is far superior because of the harmonies.
Anonymous — December 10, 2006 @ 11:02 pm
This scene was repeated in Aloha Stadium at the U2 concert where Pearl Jam opened. A moment of hush while people were working out in their heads what was going on. Then as the song sunk in evryone gasped and cheered before setling in to mostly singing aling quietly.
I have to say, also being a big 300+ pound haole man, I too was moved deeply to tears. It was so out of the blue. I had honestly never entertained the thought that Pearl Jam knew anything of Hawaiian culture. Just shows me not to assume people don’t understand.
I also thought it was rather cool that he played wearing an Eddie Would Go t-shirt.
Don — December 11, 2006 @ 12:44 am
“Unless you’ve been living under a very large rock, you’ve undoubtedly seen bumper stickers emblazoned with the phrase ‘Eddie Would Go’ and heard of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave event. But if that’s where your knowledge of the famous Hawaiian waterman drops off–read on.
Piecing together interviews from the Aikau family, Eddie’s friends and a handful of surfing icons, Stuart Holmes Coleman chronicles the life–and untimely death–of this North Shore legend. The book ranges from tales of Eddie’s perilous rescues as a lifeguard at Waimea to the huge parties at the Aikau family home to his accomplishments as a big wave charger. Along the way, the author paints an intriguing picture of the North Shore scene during the 60′s and 70′s, detailing the growth of the professional surfing tour, the emergence of localism, and historic sessions at Waimea. As readers soon find out though, Eddie’s life wasn’t all shakas and barrels. Coleman’s book dutifully describes both the joy and the tragedies that marked Eddie’s life and shaped the quiet, introspective man. It all culminates with the tragic story of the sinking of the voyaging canoe Hokule’a and Eddie’s heroic efforts to save his fellow crew members. As the canoe foundered in stormy seas, he decided to paddle his surfboard for help–never to be seen again. “Although the first half of the book reads a bit unsteadily, your patience is rewarded and the book becomes something of a pageturner. Bottom line: Every surfer worth his salt will appreciate ‘Eddie Would Go.”
–Mark Anders – Surfer Mag (June 04)
heather — December 11, 2006 @ 5:31 am
awesome ! I did a trackback on http://www.musicblog.ro. Thanks !
mihai — December 11, 2006 @ 3:33 pm
sorry, that version just doesnt do it for me. some songs just shouldnt be remade or redone by other artists.
Johnny Aloha — December 21, 2006 @ 2:21 pm
I tried clicking on the link, but it seems to be down. Could you send it to me please? Let me know and I can send you my email address.
Anonymous — December 21, 2006 @ 2:31 pm
anon, mp3 links are active only for a limited time. The boot is for sale on the Pearl Jam website.
heather — December 21, 2006 @ 3:19 pm
Ahhhhhh!!!! Can someone else put this song on your blog or something so more people can download it? Or if the person that runs this one can send it to me? This is the only blog I’ve found that put the song up….
Francine — January 6, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
Again, you could BUY the bootleg?
heather — January 6, 2007 @ 3:20 pm
The True Story of Hawai’i 78.
Read:
http://www.hawaiiseventyeight.com
V.Brown — January 10, 2007 @ 1:11 am
Thank you so much for that link, V. Brown. Highly recommended reading.
heather — January 16, 2007 @ 7:29 pm
Thanks for your detailed BLOG regarding the Hawaii ’78 song. I am a HUGE PJ fan. They to an extraordinary job of making each show of a little local flavor. I’ve seen it at every PJ show I’ve attended.
Cheers from Wisconsin!
Bill — May 17, 2007 @ 8:29 am