Lukin

Album: No Code (1996)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the Pearl Jam equivalent of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" - a song about a deranged female fan who stalks the singer and claims he fathered her child.

    Eddie Vedder told Rolling Stone it was "Someone who had severe mental problems and chemical imbalances ended up targeting me and thinking that all the songs were written about her, and that I was the father of her two children, and the kids were the product of rape, and that I was Jesus and Jesus rapes."
  • The song is named after Matt Lukin, the bass player for Mudhoney and Vedder's friend. When Eddie needed to escape his stalker problem, he and his wife would sometimes hang out at Lukin's place. Apparently, he kept his refrigerator well stocked:

    Open the fridge
    Now I know life is worth
  • The song runs just 1:02. Eddie Vedder kept it very short because Matt Lukin used to tease him about how long Pearl Jam songs were.
  • Vedder's stalker problem was so bad that it forced him to miss most of the recording sessions for Neil Young's album Mirrorball. The other members of Pearl Jam were involved in the project from start to finish.
  • Pearl Jam performed "Lukin" for the first time on February 5, 1995 at the Moore Theatre in Seattle at a show for fan club members, who were mailed tickets. They were billed as "Piss Bottle Men" to avoid suspicion. This was over a year before the song was released on the No Code album.

Comments: 1

  • Cenk Buker from IstanbulDog May be a not "Call Me A Dog", but a Lostdog? Hard indeed.
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