The Bob Dylan and Eddie Vedder Collaboration We So Badly Need—but Never Got

As long as Bob Dylan stories keep getting unearthed, we will keep telling them to you. At this point, who knows how many we have told, but regardless, they keep revealing the hidden secrets of the mythical man. That being so, we have another one, and it includes Dylan, Pearl Jam, and their frontman, Eddie Vedder.

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Mostly everybody knows that Bob Dylan has always been very willing to share his songwriting talents with the greater music community. We could go through his long list of collaborations, but that would likely take up the entire article. Thanks to his reported selflessness, Bob Dylan nearly wrote a song for and alongside the one and only, Pearl Jam.

The Mutual Admiration Between Bob Dylan and Eddie Vedder

Even though Bob Dylan has never publicly covered a Pearl Jam song, he still is a fan of theirs. The exact reasons as to why is unclear, but his admiration almost resulted in a collaboration with Vedder. Contrary to Dylan, Vedder, and Pearl Jam have been rather open about the profound respect they hold for Dylan. Specifically, Vedder and the band have covered numerous Dylan songs, including “Masters of War,” “Forever Young,” “Girl From The North Country,” and several others.

Given their mutual admiration, it seems the two have founded quite the relationship. Though, and according to Vedder himself, a relationship that hasn’t amounted to anything other than invaluable conversation. According to Farout, on an arbitrary night in New York, the two nearly joined minds and put pen to paper. Nothing was produced, but beers were consumed.

Regarding the story, Vedder started off by stating, “He calls me Eddie and I call him Bob. He actually likes our music a lot.” “Did he ask me to write a song with him? I didn’t take that seriously” and “We’d had a few pints that night. It was about seven in the morning, and we’d been up all night in this Irish pub in New York, Tommy Maken’s,” he shortly concluded.

Well, that’s it, that’s the minimal and cryptic story Vedder shared about his potential collaboration with Dylan. Frankly, would anyone expect anything more? After all, both of these musicians like to lurk in the shadows and tease everyone when they have the chance, and as long as we can remember, we’ve been biting. With that in mind, maybe take this story with a grain of salt and let it reside in the world of music legend.

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