This quote was taken from the Synergy's Echoes page ( December, 1991 Houston, Texas, KLOL FM Echoes of Exposure with David Sadoff ) 

" INT: While Pearl Jam songs often deal with real-life occurences, they manage to leave the songs open to the interpretation of their audience. Eddie Vedder explains this and talks about the song, Jeremy. 

Eddie: Actually, you know, I've kept a lot of songs or some of the lyrical content shrouded in mystery because just like the name we were mentioning before, it's been really great to get other people's interpretations and even inject themselves into the songs. That, to me, has been really fulfilling and then it becomes something bigger than just five guys in a band and this is their song. It allows somebody who's listening to it or has the need to listen to something intensely.. it allows them to be part of it...but I think, Jeremy, I decided I will start talking about what that song is about and actually, there's a place, a town called Richardson? There's a town called Richardson, is there? 

INT: In Texas? Yeah, not far from here. 
Eddie: That's where it happened. It was in Richardson, Texas. I saw a small paragraph in the paper about a kid named, his first name was Jeremy and he took, he shot himself in the front of his English class. I think I'm going to have to go visit Richardson. I think we have some time...a day off in Dallas? 

Stone: We have a couple days off. 
Eddie: Yeah, it was Richardson High School, I think was the name. 
INT: That wasn't that long ago, was it? 
Eddie: No, I wrote, I mean I literally wrote the song that night, I think...I don't know that much. I actually even thought about... I'm really divulging a lot here... and I should explain it...the fact that I thought of even calling up and finding out more, like I wonder why that happened? I wonder why he did it and it seemed like Richardson sounded to me like a decent suburb, middle if not upper class. The fact is, I didn't want to. I thought that was intruding completely and so... I actually knew somebody in junior high school, in San Diego, California, that did the same thing, just about, didn't take his life but ended up shooting up an oceanography room. I remember being in the halls and hearing it and I had actually had altercations with this kid in the past. I was kind of a rebellious fifth-grader and I think we got in fights and stuff. So it's a bit about this kid named Jeremy and it's also a bit about a kid named Brian that I knew and I don't know...the song, I think it says a lot. I think it goes somewhere...and a lot of people interpret it different ways and it's just been recently that I've been talking about the true meaning behind it and I hope no one's offended and believe me, I think of Jeremy when I sing it. "

This quote was taken from the 1993 Rockline Interview:

Caller: Uh, yeah. There was this kid on Headbanger's Ball that took this school hostage and the parents were blaming the video, 'Jeremy' and stuff. I was wondering how they felt about parents blaming the music for violence and stuff?

Eddie: Wow! I didn't even hear about that. Now, uh, I remember one night in this basement when I was writing that … that I thought, man … I guess they can't sue us for this one because I'm writing about it after it happened, you know? Some kid did this. I didn't make that up and that's a fact. It came from a small paragraph in a paper which means you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper. Sixty-three degrees and cloudy in a suburban neighborhood. That's the beginning of the video and that's the same thing is that in the end, it does nothing … nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself. Be stronger then those people. And then you can come back. That's kinda what I did. Now all those people who were my enemies want to be my friends. They don't understand why, uh, I don't respond to them.

Ari (from the IMT mailing list) wrote: 

"The song is about a real person, a boy named Jeremy, that shot and killed himself in front of his class mates and teacher. I have now forgotten his last name and where, but read the newspaper article and the story on how pearl jam heard about it. This must have deeply touchedý eddie and thus came the song, and the short movie... Jeremy. Just some light on the subject." 

Reply (someone from the IMT mailing list): 

"This is true, but, Eddie also knew someone from his past that fits this kid's description. If I remember, the kid used to be realy quiet, and everyone used to pick on him....one day he hit the kids that were doing it ( I might be totally wrong, but its something like that.) So, eddie heard about this kid in texas who comitted suicide, which somehow reminded him of this kid he knew in elementary school, and combined the two people andý made a song. p.s. i read that in an interview show that eddie and stone did in 91 or 92." 

The Article Eddie Read about the real Jeremy 

Teen 'Guilty' Of Murder Despite Pearl Jam Video Defense (from ATN) 

Jury, which considered claims that 'Jeremy' video 'upset' suspect, convict him for killing classmates, teacher. 

A 16-year-old whose defense against murder charges rested in part on a Pearl Jam video his lawyers said influenced the teen to kill, was found guilty last Wednesday of killing two classmates and a teacher, according to the Seattle Times. 

Earlier in the month, the jury weighing the case against Barry Loukaitis watched the video for Pearl Jam's "Jeremy." The 1992 clip, based on a real incident in Texas, ends with an apparent bloody classroom suicide as singer Eddie Vedder intones, "Jeremy spoke in class today." 

JoAnn Phillips, Loukaitis' mother, testified that her son had memorized the words to the song and became "fidgety and uncomfortable" when watching the video, Pearl Jam's last. 

The Grant County, Wash. teenager was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Manuel Vela and Arnold Fritz, both aged 14, and second-degree murder in the death of teacher Leona Caires, 49, according to the Times. 

Loukaitis, who was 14 at the time of the murders and tried as an adult, was also found guilty of first-degree assault against Natalie Hintz, 13, assaulting the teacher who disarmed him, and of kidnapping the other 15 students in the classroom. 

The crimes for which Loukaitis will be sentenced took place on Feb. 2, 1996, when Loukaitis brought a rifle to Frontier Junior High School and opened fire on a classroom. The youth's lawyer argued that Loukaitis was not guilty by reason of insanity. 

Phillips, unlike families in the mid-1980s rock-and-suicide cases against Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne, did not solely blame Pearl Jam for her son's crimes. She also told the jury about a history of depressive illness in the family, and her own plans, which she confessed to Loukaitis, to commit suicide in front of her ex-husband. -- Chris Nelson [Mon., Sept. 29, 1997, 3 p.m. PDT] 

(I got this article from the Bugs mailing list, it was sent by- Shanil Virani svirani@lhotse.phys.yorku.ca Thank You) 
 

Here's an essay a nice guy called Brian sent me. He did this as a project in English class. He analysed it wonderfully, and had to present it infront of his class. He wrote to me: "Your interpretation book helped me lots. I knew what the basic storyline behind the song, but I didn't know the exact details." so i felt really good bout it :). (Thank you Brian for the essay- it's great work! ) 

Jeremy Analasys 

by Brian Chaisson (bricha@pa-1.pa.ednet.ns.ca) 

"Jeremy", written by Eddie Vedder, is a song about a teenage boy who committed suicide in front of his classmates. 
In a Richardson, Texas lived 16 year old Jeremy Wade Delle. 
He had recently transferred from a Dallas school. 
Not many people knew much about Jeremy, but he was described as loner who attended class sporadically.
One day in second period, Jeremy's teacher asked him to get an admittance slip from the office because he had missed the previous class.
Jeremy returned with a gun and shot himself in front of thirty classmates. 
When Eddie Vedder read about Jeremy in the newspaper, it stirred up memories of a fellow classmate of his from elementary school. 
People would tease his former classmate who would hit those who tease him. 
Eddie decided to combine both his memories and the newspaper article and write the song "Jeremy". 

Jeremy Lyrics 

At home Drawing pictures....of mountain tops...with him on top... 

lemin yellow sun... arms raised in a V...dead lay in pools of maroon below.. 

daddy didn't nnnnn King Jeremy the wicked... ruled his world... 

Jeremy spoke in..class..today...Clearly I remember ...picking on the boy... 

seemed a harmless little fuck...but we unleashed a lion... 

gnashed his teeth and bit the recess' lady's breast...how could I forget.. 

and he hit me with the suprise left...oh dropped my jaw wide open just like the day... 

oh...like the day i heard...daddy didn't give affection.. 

and the boy was something that mommy wouldn't wear... 

King Jeremy the wicked ruled his world...Jeremy spoke in...class..today.. 

Try to forget this... Try to erase this... From the blackboard. 

Song Interpretation 

The first verse of the song describes Jeremy drawing pictures. 
These pictures have Jeremy on top of mountains with all the people who tease him lying below him dead.
Jeremy gets his revenge by imagining that he is killing the people who taunt him. 
He stands with his arms raised in a ³V² shape in the picture. 
The "V" is for victory with is revenge. 
Jeremy can not get his revenge in reality, so he draws these pictures and creates his own little world where he is mightier than his peers. 

The second verse explains how Jeremy's parents did not pay any attention, or care too much about him. Eddie shows how the responsibility of the parents can influence a child's life. The parent¹s are not caring and supportive enough towards Jeremy. 
Jeremy creates his own little world, separate from reality, where he is the ruler or king. 

The chorus is simply "Jeremy spoke in class today". 
Though short and simple, the meaning is more complex. Jeremy did not actually speak in class, he committed suicide.
He commits suicide to escape the problems he has dealing with reality. And metaphorically he speaks by making a point that some thing in society needs changing. 

The third verse is a flashback to Eddie's past.
He remembers a boy who when teased would unleash is anger against those teasing him. In the second verse Eddie shows how Jeremy¹s parents have to take some responsibility for the way Jeremy was and what happened to him. In this verse he makes the point that Jeremy's parents are not solely to blame; that his peers and society must take some responsibility for his death. The fourth verse reinforces the responsibility that the parents should take in Jeremy's death. It also repeats how Jeremy ruled his imaginary world. The fifth verse is the chorus plus three other lines. He ends the song with these three lines: "Try to forget this..." , "Try to erase this..." and "from the blackboard". Eddie is saying these lines sarcastically because anyone faced with this situation will not be able to forget even if they try. People closely involved in a situation similar, will feel guilt and it will leave a mark in their memory. 

Poetic Analysis 

The title of the song, "Jeremy", is the name of the boy in Texas who committed suicide in front of his class. 
It is also a symbol of any teenager who is like Jeremy and has similar problems. 
It is also a symbol of the problems facing many teenagers in today's society. 
The first verse contains visual imagery with the "lemon yellow sun" and "dead lay in pools of maroon below". The word "maroon" is a euphemism for blood that the dead lay in. 

The second verse Jeremy is compared to royalty when he is called "King Jeremy". 
He rules his own little world. The chorus contains a metaphor when Eddie writes "Jeremy spoke in class today". Jeremy does speak but not literally. He makes a point by committing suicide. 
The point is that society needs to be reevaluated. 

The third verse is a flashback to Eddie's childhood. He remembers a peer from elementary who, when picked on, who fight back against those teasing him. The theme of appearance versus reality is aroused in the lines "Seemed a harmless... but we unleashed a lion". 
The boy whom they were teasing seemed harmless, but he fought back. 
A metaphor is used when the boy's anger is compared to a lion that has just been unleashed. "A surprised left" is metonymy for a punch. 
There is a metaphor in the fourth verse when Eddie compares Jeremy to a item of clothing that is disliked in the line ³and the boy was something that mommy wouldn't wear". 
There is repetition of Jeremy being compared to royalty. 
In the last verse, Eddie uses sarcasm when he writes "try to forget this". 
Anyone involved in such a tragic incident will not be able to forget it no matter how hard they try. There is also a metaphor of the blackboard compared to someone's memory. 
[to be continued..]