“Seven O’Clock” from Gigaton— Why its Pearl Jam’s Best Song Since the Vitalogy Era

I wanted to share my thoughts on something I’ve been non-stop thinking about since I heard Pearl Jam’s new album Gigaton. Specifically, the absolute triumph of the song “Seven O’Clock”! It might just be the best song the band has written since the Vitalogy era (i.e., 1994). Full disclosure, I’ve been a fan for almost as long as Pearl Jam has been together. I know my Ten Club fan club number by heart. Lastly, I’ve been to over 25 shows and can probably recite and sing the lyrics to all Pearl Jam songs including rarities, b-sides and even covers.

Before I go over “Seven O’Clock”, let me briefly address Gigaton as an album. If you don’t recognize it yet, you will; I believe we’ve been given an absolute gift in Gigaton, particularly in what is likely the biggest challenge of our times with the current Coronavirus Pandemic. As Americans social distance and stay in our respective homes to mitigate the spread of the novel virus, I can’t help but think about the poetic coincidence; Gigaton is so eerily relevant not just to contemporaneous events (i.e., politics, Trump “presidency,” climate change and etc) but this exact moment dealing with this devastating pandemic. Dare I say how clairvoyant Eddie Vedder is when he stated “we are stuck in our boxes, windows open no more” in “Dance of the Clairvoyants”. How can he have known and write something so prescient? Needless to say, these are crazy challenging times — might be the biggest in our lifetime. How do I cope? While I recognize that this might be strange to some people, Gigaton has been my lifeline. Personally, its a warm blanket on a very cold night. Its mom’s chicken noodle soup while I lie in bed sick (fyi, i’m not for the paranoid folks out there).

While the album has a ton of amazing songs, the main centerpiece of Gigaton is arguably “Seven O’Clock”. Recent articles have pointed to Gigaton’s sequencing as mostly Eddie Vedder’s work. In fact, he’s probably mostly responsible for this since Vitalogy came out. Eddie’s sequencing of the songs in this particular album was deliberate and he put “Seven O’Clock” smack in the middle for a reason — he really wants you to listen to it. As a comparison, think about songs like “Jeremy”, “Rearviewmirror”, “Corduroy” and “Amongst the Waves”. All 4 songs were placed in their respective album’s middle section. This is significant for a reason because the songs are the torchbearers for their album’s respective central theme. I believe the same goes for “Seven O’Clock”.

Why is “Seven O’Clock” the best song Pearl Jam has written since the Vitalogy days? I look at this in 3 different lenses / categories: thematic relevance, music quality & finally, cultural significance / longevity. It simply triumphs in all 3 categories in a way that hasn’t happened since a particular song in Vitalogy — that song is “Corduroy,” which happens to be my favorite song of all time (well either #1 of #2). For critics out there, I’m definitely not saying Pearl Jam hasn’t written any good songs since “Corduroy”. Some of my favorite songs include “Present Tense”, “In Hiding”, “I Got Id”, “In My Tree”, “Light Years”, “Sirens” and etc. My point is that in “Seven O’Clock”, Pearl Jam hasn‘t been this direct and convincing in writing a truly epic song that exceeds in all 3 categories I outlined.

With regards to thematic relevance, there’s no question as to the relevance of both Gigaton as a album and “Seven O’Clock” as a song. Make no mistake, this song is a “call to arms” to get shit done in the face of pending disaster in the current environment — politically (i.e., “sitting bullshit as our sitting President…as a tragedy of errors”), environmentally (i.e., “waves rising with the oceans”) and socially (too many to quote here). Why? First off, why is the song even called “Seven O’Clock”? Why is that significant? It’s mentioned in the first line of the first verse, specifically “7am”. I think it’s because 7am is the prime time to start your day and get going. As Eddie says “this is no time for depression or self indulgent hesitance”. With this, he’s basically saying it’s 7am so pull yourself together, get the fuck up and get shit done! There’s way too much at stake and “all hands on deck” is required to “fix this fucked up situation” (Covid-19 anyone???). Lastly, to hammer the urgency, at the end of the song Eddie sings there is “much to be done” repeatedly, as if to keep hammering the point home. Clearly, he doesn’t want to be misunderstood. He’s urging us to act now because there is “much to be done” and too much at stake!

Musically, “Seven O’Clock” is as ambitious a song as Pearl Jam has ever attempted. The song perfectly complements the lyrics and thematic elements of the song and album. While Pearl Jam has written plenty of songs with memorable melodies since Vitalogy, this one is absolutely infectious and special even in its seeming simplicity. It is majestic and you will start humming all the parts — verse, chorus and outro (trust me). Further, there is a symphonic quality to the instrumentation — you hear all sorts of instruments like synths, strings and etc. It’s musically layered in certain parts of the song in a way that we’ve never heard Pearl Jam ever attempt in such a grand scale. Vocally, it is also layered in certain parts just like another Gigaton standout, “Dance of the Clairvoyants”. If I had one criticism, I wished Eddie didn’t stuff as many words in the main verses. But its completely forgivable. Further, the song isn’t actually as simple and straightforward as I might have suggested. The intro to the song is particularly interesting; if you listen to it before the first verse, its almost as if it’s a different song entirely. But somehow when it transitions to the verse, it somehow makes sense. At the finale, “Seven O’Clock” absolutely morphs and changes into something unexpected yet magical starting at the 4:18 mark — the outro section which is the song’s final two minutes. Needless to say, this isn’t your traditional Pearl Jam outro. In fact, I don’t think there’s a song in their catalog that completely changed in a manner this has. The chord progression in the outro is completely different as if to suggest an almost a different song entirely. Finally, the song lifts into a cathartic climax as if Eddie is suggesting that the main chorus, while memorable, wasn’t enough to communicate his point across. Again, I think this is highly deliberate. Eddie and the band really wants us to listen to them, even to the point where they completely change the song to get our attention. It’s absolutely hair raising, grand and brilliant! Sounds simply majestic, optimistic and hopeful, particularly when the song ends in that A-major chord.

While “Seven O’Clock” is contextually relevant now in the time of the Covid-19 crisis, will it be relevant later? Does it have legs to stand the test of time, thematically and musically? I’m convinced it does! Just think about how relevant it is given the current Coronavirus crisis. Unless he’s a clairvoyant, Eddie certainly could not have known about the current crisis, yet “Seven O’Clock” sounds even more relevant. I think this is because the theme explored isn’t just limited to the current political and environmental climate. The song is an overall “call to arms” or “call to action”. Once in a while we all need a little push. Bluntly, right now we need to be kicked in the butt to take action. Consider me kicked! I’m certainly inspired and ready. It’s 7 O’Clock in the morning. Are you ready? There is much to be done! Much to be done!