Pearl Jam, Dark Matter: the song lyrics & their meaning

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Pearl Jam is back with a new album and a song dense with meaning: Dark Matter, let’s analyze its lyrics and interpret the message behind them.

Pearl Jam’s return is always sensational news for the rock world. The iconic band still pleases its fans with new music, and every new release attracts everybody’s attention. Their new album, Dark Matter, is set for release in April 2024, and the lead single of the same title was released in February, triggering the buzz on the Internet and the music communities.

As one of those few bands that changed rock music in the 90s, their influence is still relevant today, and every new song comes with a profound meaning, a message hidden behind the lyrics, ready to be interpreted on a personal level: in other words, Dark Matter requires this analysis, and this is the article where we will delve into the song. You will also find the complete lyrics and the official streaming at the bottom.

Dark Matter: the meaning behind the lyrics

Dark Matter’s lyrics are pretty cryptic, and Pearl Jam hasn’t released official statements about their intended meaning. However, we can identify the main message from some specific lines. Dark Matter is a song about demagogy and injustice in the modern world: in the lyrics, Pearl Jam attacks the mighty men about the disguising way they communicate, generating conflict and dragging all of us into a dark future. The Dark Matter is a metaphor for the decline of our society.

Our condition of victims is clear since the song’s beginning:

Steal the lights from our eyes
Take my blood from my heart

We’re in all of this dark matter

The world is experiencing a sharp decline. We are living in a dark phase of our history. And for Pearl Jam, the accountable men are the ones to blame. Dark Matter refers to them as the demagogues, introducing the concept of demagogy: the controversial practice of speaking to the masses, using ideas that trigger their gut’s reaction, and getting support for their wrong decisions. From this point of view, the demagogues may represent the political class, pursuing their own goals against people’s benefits, convincing everybody that it’s the right decision, or at least it’s necessary.

Denounce the demagogues
Came down into discord
Deploy the dialogue
Your word against the law

The song doesn’t provide solutions. Dark Matter is a finger pointed at their communication, at the damage they do. Their decisions negatively affect society, and ordinary people will pay for them.

It’s strange these days
When everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake

The message behind Dark Matter lyrics is heavy and severe, and their meaning is fascinating: some men are dragging us into darkness with the way they talk to us, how they explain the things happening around us, and we must have this clear. This awareness is crucial because it can eventually trigger the change. So Dark Matter becomes a politically charged song, inviting everybody to pay attention to what’s happening in our society. Don’t let them fool you.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The official streaming and the complete lyrics

Pearl Jam - Dark Matter (Official Visualizer)

Steal the lights from our eyes
Take my blood from my heart
We’re in all of this dark matter

Take the breaths from my chest
Take the thoughts from my mind
We’re losing time, dark matter

Denounce the demagogues
Came down into discord
Deploy the dialogue
Your word against the law

It’s strange these days
When everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake
This blame takes shape
Still everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake

You’re running away
We’re pulling apart
In all of this dark matter

I once heard a sin
And it stuck in my head
Arrested the press
No one knows what happens next

Renounce the demigods
Came down into discord
Deploy the dialogue
Your word against the law

It’s strange these days
When everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake
This blame takes shape
Still everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake

No tolerance for intolerance so I’ve
No patience left for impatience no more
No love lost for lost loves
No sorrow for the unaccountable

It’s strange these days
When everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake
This blame takes shape
Still everybody else pays
For someone else’s mistake