He’s no Lennon

Some people can unlock the secrets of the sages by watching a rerun of “Gomer Pyle.” Reviewing the new Pearl Jam CD, “Riot Act” (“Pearl Jam’s hope again burns bright,” Nov. 10), Steve Hochman analyzes Eddie Vedder’s singing, “To the universe I don’t mean a thing / And there’s just one word that I still believe and it’s love.” Hochman goes so far as to claim that this evokes the Great Man himself, John Lennon. However, going on the lyrics alone, I have the feeling that the often acerbic Lennon might have taken Vedder to task for such neo-hippie prose. Had Paul McCartney or the Moody Blues used these identical lyrics in a song from their last releases, Hochman would have ripped them from here to, well, all across that universe.

Steve Smith

San Gabriel