Brother The Cloud

Album: Earthling (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Eddie Vedder laments a lost loved one. His anguish is palpable as he pronounces, "there's no previous reference for this level of pain."
  • So, what fallen "brother" is Eddie grieving? Vedder was a close friend of the late Soundgarden and Audioslave vocalist Chris Cornell, who committed suicide in 2017 at age 52. The Pearl Jam frontman also lost his own half-brother, Chris Mueller, in a climbing accident in 2016.

    During his concert in Newark, New Jersey, on February 6, 2022, Vedder told the crowd he wrote the song about a few people he knew who died. One of them is a father named Jeremy Richman who lost his daughter, Avielle, in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. According to Vedder, he tried to be positive about his loss, speaking at various seminars and conferences. They became close, then Vedder got news that Richman had died of an apparent suicide.

    "I wouldn't dare to question his motives, because after something as horrific as that happened to you... I wish I could've done more to save him," Vedder said. "I wish he would've known that I was on the other side ever-so-close just days away. I would never judge what he was going through because it must've been the worst thing a human could ever go through."
  • Vedder recorded the song for the Earthling album with a band comprising:

    Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith
    Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer
    Producer and musician Andrew Watt (guitar)
    Session musician Chris Chaney (bass)
  • Vedder wrote the song with Watt, Klinghoffer, and Smith, with Watt also serving as producer.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.