Weekend entry for @brandudesrecordvault #smarchvinylchallenge for Day 16: Parents Just Don’t Understand with the epic album Ten by Pearl Jam.

Affectionately referred to as “Toe Jam” by my dad, he generally hated on all my music but none as much as Eddie Vedder. He even had the pseudo-Adam Sandler-Opera Man imitation down pat with an Andy Kaufman Mighty Mouse dance bit to boot, which both annoyed and embarrassed me in front of all my little friends. Classic Dad.

I don’t think he actually truly hated any of my music, though. In fact, it was always really important to him that he knew what I was listening to. Not to censor it, but for awareness. He was mostly hands off as a parent and let me be as feral as I wanted to be after it was just him and I at home.

And his investment in what I had playing was one of the handful of ways he let me know he was still observing in some way.

It was a rare day I didn’t play PJ in some shape or form from about ’95-‘03.

I’ve seen them live several times, have a cardboard box full of just PJ ticket stubs and overpriced teeshirts, tons of live albums, god…their music just seems like such a secret window to a past life.

Fun to revisit but back on the shelf she goes. Some stuff just be like that.