Last week, while on tour in Europe, Eddie Vedder unleashed an anti-war rant that some fans interpreted as anti-Israel, given the current situation in Gaza. But rather than back down from his comments, he took to Facebook to suggest that fans shouldn’t be surprised that such a sentiment would come from the famously pacifist singer. As Consequence of Sound reports, the Pearl Jam frontman doubled down on his statements with a cover of John Lennon’s iconic peace anthem “Imagine.”
“I think it is the most powerful song ever written,” Vedder said prior to his rendition. “Which is why I have never played it. It seems like maybe there is a reason to play it. If you’d like join me or use your voices or hold a light there might be some people out there that need to know they are not alone.”
He then goes on to give a stirring, if subdued, interpretation of that track’s high drama. It’s at least as moving as Pearl Jam’s recent cover of Frozen‘s “Let It Go.” You can see fan-shot footage of the performance above.