Eddie Vedder "Longing To Belong"

I was at a Potluck dinner at my daughter's preschool last week, watching the kids tumble around, and chatting with some of the other Moms and Dads.

One of the best things in a social situation about having a job like mine, is that people feel comfortable talking about my work. If I worked in aerospace or taught Greek classics, small talk at a potluck wouldn't likely ever be about my job.

One of the Mom's told me:

"I just got tickets to see Eddie Vedder!"

"Cool," I said. "Wait. Is this the Ukulele album tour?"

"Uh, Yes." she said.

There was a pause. Then she laughed.

"Hey! Did you just dis my Eddie Vedder show!?!"

Huh. I guess I did.

I try really, really hard not to be a music snob. When you spend nearly 20 years talking to people about music they love as your job, you come to accept that everybody likes something different, and that's okay.

But something about Eddie Vedder, powerful frontman for one of the great live rock bands of the last 2 decades, doing a little ukulele album hit me in the smart-ass-bone, and I couldn't resist the tweak (which was really aimed at Vedder, not her).

But really, isn't the definition of cool the ability to do something that you love and believe in, even if it is completely antithetical to what you are known for, and to do it without a trace of shame or irony?

I told her I was sorry. Hey, Eddie Vedder with a Uke is still Eddie Vedder with that amazing voice. That isn't mockable, it should be celebrated (or at least, not looked down upon).

C'mon, this tune is actually pretty good.


See the video on Youtube.