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Album: Ukulele Songs (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • Ukulele Songs is the second solo studio album by American singer and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. It comprises original songs and covers all played on the ukulele. The album was released on May 31, 2011. Vedder explained to Rolling Stone that he decided the build his new songs around the instrument to unify the sound of the record. He said, "I just wanted it to be the one sound. At first it was kind of a joke, and then it became a little bit of a challenge, a puzzle, to see if I could create 11 or 12 songs with just a ukulele. It's like painting with one color. You can really appreciate the subtleties and changes in tone."
  • This paean to patience in love and everything else was inspired by the loyalty shown to Death Row prisoner Damien Echols by his wife Lorri Davis. Echols is one of the three men, known as the West Memphis Three, who were convicted in the killing of eight-year-olds Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore at Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas, on May 5, 1993. The case has received considerable attention and many critics charge that the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice. Echols' case has seen significant support from numerous musicians, including Vedder. In 2006, Echols contributed lyrics to the song "Army Reserve", on Pearl Jam's self-titled album.

    Lorri Davis' devoted efforts to clear her husband's name were finally rewarded in August 2011 when the West Memphis Three were all freed after spending more than 18 years in prison.

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