30 Years Since Vs.
It must have been October 20, 1993. I was walking down the hall between classes at my high school. I was a freshman, barely a month into my high school experience. I was 14 and as yet unaware of all that would unfold in coming months (dating in fits and starts, the tragic death of a HS classmates' father...) much less the years ahead. I don't recall what classes I was transiting between. I don't know what I was wearing. I don't know much other than there was one thing that mattered that day, best illustrated by the conversation by two students (sophomores) walking in front of me: Soph 1: "You know all the words yet?" Soph 2: "Hell yeah, man." Soph 1: "Alright, what about 'Rats?'" Soph 2 (singing): "They don't eat, don't sleep..." Pearl Jam's second album, Vs. , had been out approximately 24 hours, functionally less if you consider that we'd all shown up to school the prior day (Oct. 19, the date known to me