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PJ's Eddie Vedder Sets Record Straight With Lyrics On 'Yield'

Singer includes words to most songs for the first time after finding misleading translations.

MILAN, Italy -- When Eddie Vedder went to Rome at the end of 1996, during the Italian leg of Pearl Jam's No Code tour, not only did he write "MFC" -- a cryptic song apparently inspired by the chaotic traffic of the city and eventually included in PJ's new album, Yield (out Feb. 3 in the U. S. ) -- but he performed unannounced with some local musicians in a small club.

It was also during this time that Vedder went to a local bookstore and found something that perhaps would forever change his attitude about not including lyrics in the band's albums.

"Last year [Vedder wrote in 1997, referring to the 1996 visit], between October and December, when I was in Italy, I was

excited in discovering a book with complete translation of all the songs I

wrote for Pearl Jam," he writes in a special liner note on the Italian version of Yield, which is due out Tuesday.

But, later on, the surprise turned into disappointment, he added. "That same

evening, I showed that book to my friends, and I made them translate in

English the Italian version ... I was horrified ... It was a book full of

lies. If anything I had written had a positive sense, it had been

interpreted in a negative way, and so on. Those were not my songs, but my

name was on the cover, and my face was there too. What's a boy supposed to

do?"

In fact, Yield is the first of PJ's five albums to contain full lyrics for most of the songs. Of the 13 tunes on the new one, 11 include lyrics. Only "Pilate" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Do the Evolution" (RealAudio excerpt) will not have words accompanying them on the much-anticipated album.

In addition, the Italian version of Yield will include a booklet of lyric translations by Italy's Francesca Bonanome, as well as a short introduction penned by Vedder to explain the story of how this all came about. "Now I know there are 8,354,986 problems in this world that are bigger than this one," writes Vedder in the introduction. "Anyway, for those concerned with this issue, I tried to understand the words of the songs, and I tried to have and include in the next album adequate translations ... So here they are ... If you find some discordance, get angry with me, not with Francesca: I'm well known for changing a line or two at the last minute."

Bonanome, who was given the responsibilities of translating the songs for Yield into her native tongue, is a good friend of Vedder's wife, Beth Liebling. Bonanome is the same woman whose voice can be heard wishing fans a "merry cucumber" in "Happy When I'm Crying," the band's Xmas single -- shared with Athens, Ga., superstars, R.E.M. -- that was sent to fan club members last December.

Reached on the phone in Rome, Bonanome preferred not to comment on her work for the album or her connection with Vedder. "I have nothing to add. It all happened pretty much the way Eddie tells it in the booklet," she said.

"We heard about it directly from America," explained a representative of Epic Records, PJ's label in Italy, who preferred to remain anonymous. "We got Eddie's letter eventually published in the booklet. When we got the drafts, we got in touch with Francesca to correct some small mistakes. Anyway, this was Eddie's idea. He handled the whole thing."

Vedder's idea or not, most PJ fans will surely be happy to have some new insight into the normally reclusive singer and his music.

"This is a clear sign of Pearl Jam's new attitude," said long-time fan Claudio Todesco, 28. "They didn't do interviews for five years. They didn't do photo sessions. They always tried to hide their lyrics, publishing only clips of words on their last album. Now not only did they publish the whole lyrics for Yield, but they even translated them in Italian." [Fri., Jan. 30, 1998, 5 p.m. PST]

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