Eddie Vedder Releases “My City of Ruins” To Help Haiti
We all by know by the horrible earthquake that essentially leveled Haiti. But, within the devastation comes the outpouring of support from the music community.
There was of course the Hope for Haiti telethon, and a ton of acts, like Radiohead, that have put on special benefit gigs.
Well, here’s one that I wouldn’t have missed. It’s Eddie Vedder covering Bruce Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins”. Sales from the single will be benefiting Artists for Peace and Justice Haiti Relief.
“My City of Ruins” is one of those powerful tracks that can be applied to any unfortunate circumstance, which makes it a decent choice for a benefit single (although I’m sure that no artist would actually want to release any charity singles for something this horrific ever in their career).
Bruce originally penned “My City of Ruins” about his beloved Asbury Park, NJ. If you’ve ever been to Asbury Park, then you’ll know what he’s talking about. It was a popular resort on the Jersey Shore, now it’s decrepit, and kinda of creepy.
He debuted the track on December 17, 2000 during a Christmas show at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, which was part of a series of gigs to help revitalize the city.
The song took on a new meaning after that September day in 2001.
The Boss opened up the America: Tribute to Heroes telethon with “My City of Ruins” on September 21, 2001. The track would be featured on his 2002 9/11 themed album The Rising.
Fast forward to December 6, 2009.
The Boss receives a Kennedy Center Honor. One of the artists there to pay tribute to Bruce is one Eddie Vedder, who delivers a solid, acoustic version of “My City of Ruins”.
Then in January, Haiti was devastated by an earthquake.
A fan on the Pearl Jam message board suggested that Eddie release his rendition of “My City of Ruins” as a single with proceeds going to Haiti. I can’t think of a single person who thought that that was a bad idea.
I would say that within a week Vedder heard what the fans were saying, since fans contacted the Ten Club with the idea as well, and so he did what they suggested.
Now maybe Eddie was already planning on doing so, but I would like to think that the fans were the catalyst for the release of his take on “My City of Ruins”.
You can now pick up the full version of the song on iTunes, or over at Pearl Jam’s official site.
I gotta say kudos to Vedder, and the Pearl Jam fans, for making this happen. It’s definitely a win-win situation here. A great cover going to a great cause, because the fans asked for it.
So don’t be a bum, and download the song already!
