I’m constantly surprised at the number of people who claim to be Pearl Jam fans, but have never heard of this song. Do the Evolution was probably the first song from them I heard. If not, it’s the first song that made me go “holy shit who is this?” And not only have they not heard of the song, but that means they never got to witness the mind-blowing video. This is the only Pearl Jam song I know with this hard rock style, and they do it so well I wish they made more.
Pearl Jam collaborated with Todd McFarlane, the original creator of Spawn, for the video. Quote Vedder:
As artists we are challenged to expand the meaning of our work and by utilizing this visual medium and collaborating with a visionary like Todd, we were able to further explore some of the themes we dipicted in the song “Do the Evolution.” Basically, we’ve tried to make a good stoner video.
I think this song is even more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1998 (on MTV nonetheless, this video wouldn’t fly on there today). It talks about the stock market crashing, has people jumping from buildings, and has the president being manipulated by the devil. I suppose I should put a Warning: some scary imagery. Also Interestingly enough, a line in the song goes “2010…watch it go to fire.” Maybe they’ll be right?
Cheers,
Matthew Lettini
