Let It Go, Eddie Vedder?

At this point in life, who hasn’t listened (and sang) to Oscar-winning musical track Let It Go? [MV] If there’s a ranking for “reasons why Frozen is memorable”, that song would rank under the Top 3 reasons at the very least. It’s easily one of the most popular Disney track nowadays and lots of people still listen and sing along to the song. I still like the song a lot, but I can also admit it’s pretty overexposed despite its very strong self-empowerment factor that made it stood out along with the animated sequence featuring Elsa and Idina Menzel’s powerful vocal performance.

However, absolutely no one expected Pearl Jam (one of my favorite bands) to actually cover the song, if only for a few seconds.

I could have shown you only the 40-second clip in which Vedder belts the song, but I’d prefer you hearing Daughter (plus Just Breathe) live in its entirety just because; also, that’s the source video from which Pearl Jam’s Let It Go [1] viral video was taken.

And according to one of his closest friends, here’s why he actually did it: his five year old daughter requested him to perform the song. [3]

You gotta give credit to Vedder for doing this because it takes balls to sing a Disney song in front of a rock crowd that may or may not appreciate this kind of thing. Granted that it is a staple thing for Vedder to sing something entirely different during Daughter and it’s been that way for more than 20 years — Blitzkrieg Bop [2] from The Ramones got covered briefly when I saw them live 3 years ago — but you’ve never heard Let It Go quite like this, let alone being performed by Pearl Jam. And it was a totally unexpected moment for everyone in Milan as well as the entire world considering the band was heading for a cover of Dead Moon’s It’s O.K. before Eddie sang Elsa’s uplifting words.

The transition was nice and you can make an argument as to why Daughter and Let It Go sort-of share similarites in their lyrics, but the high notes of the chorus is way too much for Vedder and that’s one aspect in which it’s valid to criticize him because it sounds quite off key rather than just labeling him and the band as has-beens or sell-outs. After all, he did it for his daughter. Who wouldn’t have done the same thing for a beloved one?



4 Responses

  1. Steven says:

    I thought he did a pretty good job. The fact that he did it for his own daughter just makes him a cooler dad. Plus, I bet he saw the movie with his girls and couldn’t help but sing it.

    • Rodrigo says:

      @Steven, I actually liked it too, even if Vedder’s singing felt a bit off key. Granted he can’t match Menzel’s high vocals at his age, but the way PJ tailored it to fit him was really great.

  2. amy says:

    Can we ever catch you in your private moment singing to Let It Go? xD

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