Pearl Jam, Greta Thunberg paint grim picture of environment's future in 'Retrograde' video
Pearl Jam's music video for "Retrograde" is out — and it isn't pulling any punches.
The video, featuring 17-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg, paints an incredibly grim picture of what's ahead for the world if drastic changes aren't made to protect the environment.
"Retrograde" is a track from "Gigaton," the Seattle-based group's 11th album and its first new one since 2013's "Lightning Bolt." It was released in late March — one of only a few highly anticipated albums not to be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Other performers, including Lady Gaga and Norah Jones, have opted to delay releasing albums due to COVID-19.
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Pearl Jam tapped Australian director Josh Wakely to craft the animated video, released online Thursday. In it, a traveler drives up to a strip mall, where he meets with a fortune teller.
That fortune teller is Thunberg, and the images seen in her crystal ball are startling. There are avalanches, as well as floods that envelop the Eiffel Tower and even the Space Needle in Pearl Jam's hometown.
Band members Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron make their appearance at one point during the video by stepping out of tarot cards.
While the climate change-influenced scenes depicted in the video are shocking, they're not necessarily surprising given the song's lyrics, such as these: "Stars align they say when times are better than right now // Feel the retrograde spin us round, round // Seven seas are rising forever future's fading out // Feel the retrograde all around, round."
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Climate change isn't the only controversial topic tackled on "Gigaton." Other tracks call out President Donald Trump. "Seven O'Clock" refers to Trump as "Sitting Bull****," a reference to Native American leader Sitting Bull. And "Quick Escape" makes mention of traveling across the globe "to find a place Trump hadn't (expletive) up yet."
Contributing: Patrick Ryan
Follow Gary Dinges on Twitter @gdinges
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Greta Thunberg brings climate change activism to new Pearl Jam video
