We wanted to:

1. get up a link to the full video and transcript of Eddie Vedder’s speech and performance of “Imagine” in Portugal on Friday since we hadn’t been able to find a complete version until now, and

2. put our full endorsement as an organization behind Mr. Vedder on the issue. So to be clear, The Voice Project fully supports Eddie Vedder, his anti-war stance and his right to express his views. We believe in freedom of expression, and we believe in anti-war. We wish we were seeing more individuals and more organizations make the same stand.

As reported in RollingStone today: Over the past week, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has made a number of comments speaking out against war and has dismissed speculation that they were directed at Israel. Most recently, at his July 18th solo show in Meco, Portugal, the singer addressed his feelings about war at length and, for the first time in his career, performed John Lennon’s “Imagine,” accompanied only by acoustic guitar, to further illustrate his opinion. 

Here’s a transcript and video of Eddie Vedder’s July 18th short speech and performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine”:

[According to Consequence of Sound he said first, “You know, if you are anti-war, if you’re anti-war it doesn’t mean you are pro-one side or the other in a conflict…”]
[Video starts. Ed speaking]
…however it does make you pro-many things.
[reacting to peace sign]
What have you got there?
[cheers]
Alright. You came to play!
You’re not alone!
[aside: Take this seat, it’s good. That’s nice, they won’t matter.]
So anti-war makes you pro-many things.
It makes you pro-peace.
It makes you pro-human.
Makes you pro-evolution.
Makes you pro-communication.
Pro-diplomacy.
Pro-love.
Pro-understanding.
Pro-forgiveness.
You know, some people don’t understand how you can be pro-soldier…if you’re anti-war, you’re pro-soldier because you don’t want the soldier to be put in harm’s way, to sacrifice himself, or herself, for some reason that’s not..for no good reason. I have many, many…we have many, many friends of the group and throughout our lives we’ve met incredible people, and uh…in the armed forces, and we have an understanding and they listen to our music and they get it. So I’m not sure, it’s…you know sometimes if you speak out, people are going to misunderstand and they might take things a certain way or another, but…if you don’t speak out, you don’t know…you know, if someone doesn’t like it, it probably means it has some kind of meaning…it’s not just bullshit, it’s not just nothing.

So this next song, I…I always thought it was probably the most powerful song ever written. I think it’s the most powerful song ever written. Which is why I’ve never played it. It seems like maybe there’s a reason to play it.
[filmer: “Imagine, John Lennon”]
If you’d like to join me or use your voices…or hold a light, there might be some people out there that need to know that they’re not alone.
—
Ed’s July 16 open letter entitled “Imagine That — I’m Still Anti-War” is posted here at the Pearl Jam website.