Light Years

Album: Binaural (2000)
Charted: 52
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is dedicated to Diane Muus from Sony Music, a friend of the band who died at the age of 33 in 1997. At a concert in 2000, Eddie Vedder said: "There are times you have got friends that don't f--k up at all and are great people. And then you just lose them for some reason. They are off the planet and you never had a chance to say goodbye. I only mention this because there was a person we used to know here and that was Diane, and we never got a chance to say goodbye. This is goodbye. And if you've got good friends, love them while they're here." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Martin - Rostock, Germany
  • This song changed a great deal from where it started. Initially, the title was "Puzzles And Games," and it had a quiet verse and exploding chorus.

    Pearl Jam bass player Jeff Ament explained their book Twenty: "Mike [guitarist Mike McCready] had a couple of riffs, and Ed really sat down and tried to write to it. He initially had some problems, and one day he came in on his own and had some lyrics that were really heartfelt. He ended up completely rearranging the song. It got played a million different tempos and a million different angles on the drums."
  • The song is part of Pearl Jam's sixth album, Binaural. By this time, Eddie Vedder was ceding more of the songwriting to his bandmates. "Light Years" is credited to Vedder along with their guitarists, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready.

Comments: 6

  • Ally from Buffalo NyThank you Eddie for singing this for Gord a Downie back in 2016, it was so classy and beautiful. I’m a big fan of you both and it was very powerful
  • Just Me from The NetherlandsEddy about this song and Diana, Pinkpop, 2000 The Netherlands
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaenCSUypHg&t=2228s
  • Xiru from Sao Leopoldo, BrazilIn a concert in Brasil (Porto Alegre, 11/11/2011), Vedder dedicated this song to Johnny Ramone.
  • Karen from Utrecht, NetherlandsI'm not sure who EV originally wrote the song for, but the 'Diane' he dedicated it to at Pinkpop was not someone he knew 'long ago'. She was the talent scout who worked for their record company in the Netherlands, and her name was actually Diana - not Diane. However long/short the friendship though, I can imagine that her talent, humor and dedication - her 'light - certainly did play an important role in 'making them stars.
  • Poet1987_jlb from Horsham, PaThis song is dedicated to Diane...

    The words to this song are deeply emotional and represent an eternal "hello" to a love somewhere out there in the world, possibly the same friend represented in the song "Black". The opening of the song indicates a person transitioning into the time of life where they claim their intelligence and identity, possibly an awkward stage for them...good with numbers, but still learning which riddles and jokes are safe topics. For many, this is in high school. This song is definately about someone EV knew long ago, who he looked up to as a person, and who he had profound love for...even if he met her only briefly and she lived somewhere else in the distance. I have the strong impression that this person made a strong impression in his personal life and in his music as indicated by the multiple references about her "light" and how her "light made us stars". She is truly the luckiest girl in the world...
  • Eric from Mentor, OhAMAZING song. On of their best.
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