Pearl Jam, "Around the Bend"

This deep track by Pearl Jam is originally from their album No Code (1996), but the version I came across today on my iPod was from the live acoustic album Live at Benaroya Hall (2004). After doing a bit of research, I found that the song can be taken a couple of different ways; the way I see it, which I'll talk about in a moment, and a much darker interpretation, which I'll take a pass on. (Note: it involves a serial killer.)

Anyway, a little background needs to be filled in here. Recently, I've gone through a divorce. Also, I have a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter whom I adore more than life itself that, because of said divorce, I only get to see a few days a week. That's where the interpretation of the song I prefer comes in. This song could easily pass as a lullaby; a father softly singing his child to sleep. Parts of this song strike me hard, knowing that I'm not always going to be there for my little angel: "All the evenings close like this/All these moments that I've missed/Please forgive me, won't you, dear/Please forgive and let me share/With you around the bend." Let me tell you, nothing made me happier as a father then cradling my daughter in my arms as she drifted off to sleep.

The song ends with what could be a little prayer: "You're an angel when you sleep/How I want your soul to keep/On and on around the bend," and truly, isn't that all that a parent wants to do, to keep his or her child safe and comfortable, to always be there in times of need?