Pearl Jam – State Of Love And Trust
Back in the early 1990s when grunge was exploding in Seattle, young filmmaker Cameron Crowe was in the right place at the right time and pitched the right project to Warner Brothers. The end result was Singles – a movie about love, friendship, and music, set against the background of the grunge scene. Unlike many films made about musical movements, the soundtrack had its finger on the pulse of the scene as the film came out – showcasing bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and the Smashing Pumpkins.
The film launched the careers of Bridget Fonda, Kyra Sedgewick, not to mention (a very hairy) Matt Dillon, who plays Cliff – the lead singer of grunge band ‘Mother Love Bone’. If you look closely, you can see his backing band in the film are real musicians. At the time the movie started shooting, they were a band called Mookie Blaylock. halfway through shooting, they changed their name – to Pearl Jam.
The band had only formed a matter of months before, and attracted lead vocalist Eddie Vedder up to Seattle from California. They contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the film – Breath, and State of Love and Trust. An early version of the latter appeared on the 2009 reissue of the band’s debut album Ten, but apart from that it existed solely as a live track.
As an example of the best of the early 90s guitar underground, there aren’t many songs out there to top State of Love and Trust. Eddie Vedder has called it a song about being faithful, Cameron Crowe says it’s a song that is ferocious – and about battling with your instincts in love. One thing is for sure, it’s a hell of a tune.
