411 Music Ten Deep: 9.25.09: Top Ten Pearl Jam Songs

Posted by Andrew Moll on 09.27.2009

As Pearl Jam releases their newest album, Ten Deep looks back and counts down their top ten songs. From "Black" to "Corduroy" to "Life Wasted" see the best of Seattle's finest in this week's edition of 411 Music Ten Deep!


(Disclaimer: All opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of 411 Music and its staff.)


Welcome to the tenth edition of 411 Music Ten Deep, your weekly musical countdown of whatever enters my mind during any given week. The fall season is officially here and that signifies the end of the summer that never really felt like it began, at least here in the Northeast. But there are some good things about autumn, from the beautiful foliage to the nice weather to, of course, football. There's also some good new music coming out around this time, one of them being the new Pearl Jam album that came out earlier this week. You can check out the review here, and it also leads us nicely into this week's topic, but before we get down to business we'll backtrack to last week and the comments over the Top Ten Videos of the Decade.





Yo Andrew, I'm real happy you wrote this column and all, and I'mma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! Of ALL TIME!
Posted By: Kanye West (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 12:12 AM

I'm gonna let you finish, but Tool makes some of the best music videos of ALL TIME!

*shrug*
Posted By: James (Registered) (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 06:32 AM

Andrew, Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all-time.....of all-time!
Posted By: JWestmoreland (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 09:40 AM

'Scuse me Andrew, I'll let you finish your list but Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time!
Posted By: Kanye West (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 01:02 PM

Great minds think alike.

I'm surprised that no one's said
pearl jam - do the evolution.
phenominal and I don't even like that band.
Posted By: Guest#3664 (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 09:13 PM

Great video, but not eligible since it was released in 1998.

Jesus christ ;_; I was having a great day and then I watched the Hurt video
Posted By: Guest#9504 (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 05:22 PM

My apologies.

do not understand the Beyonce Single Ladies beging considerd a great video its just Beyonce shakeing her ass and don't get me wrong thats a lovely site but certainly does not make for a great video
Posted By: asdfdfs (Guest) on September 19, 2009 at 12:24 AM

Well, I think you explained it all right there, didn't you?

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - GO WITH THE FLOW. Best video of the decade. Fact.
Posted By: Baron Skinny (Guest) on September 18, 2009 at 02:56 PM

Not including this video is a horrible oversight by me, since it deserves at the very least an honorable mention but probably should've had a spot on the list. Poor job by me.

Other great videos that people mentioned include "Crazy", "E-Pro", "Days Go By", "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Cochise" and a whole bunch more.



Top Ten Favorite Pearl Jam Songs



Pearl Jam has been my favorite band for as long as I can remember, dating back to about 1992 when I listened to my dad's cassette copy of Ten nonstop. And all these many years later I'm still a huge Pearl Jam fan as they release their ninth studio album this week, entitled Backspacer. That's gotten me thinking about the band and their work, so it seemed natural for me to come up with this week's list of the best Pearl Jam songs.

Of course, by "best" I really mean "favorite." So the songs on this list have nothing to do with general importance, popularity, notoriety or anything pertaining to public perception as to what the greatest Pearl Jam songs are. All ten songs chosen are the favorites of and me alone, and representative of nothing else but my personal opinion. And now that we all have the ground rules, let's take a look at the honorable mentions.


Some Honorable Mentions: "Alive"; "All or None"; "Dissident"; "Do the Evolution"; "Evenflow"; "I Am Mine"; "Immortality"; "Inside Job"; "Present Tense"; "Release"; "Sleight of Hand"; "Tremor Christ"; "Yellow Ledbetter"




10. "Sad"


"Sad" was originally recorded for the Binaural album and when people first heard it on the b-sides and rarities collection Lost Dogs they rightfully wondered just how in the hell it didn't make the cut for Binaural. It's a mystery for sure but thankfully it was eventually released since it's one of the most and beautiful and affecting songs in their catalog. Written from the perspective of a man dealing with the passing of the love of his life, songwriter Eddie Vedder masterfully captured his struggle in moving on without here, with lyrics like, "And there's no reason that she'd pass/And there is no god with the plan, it's sad/And his holiness is proof, it's sad/He could only love you, it's sad." It's impossible not to feel for the guy that Vedder is singing about as he delivers the lyrics with his trademark intensity and earnestness.





That's one of the things that he's been consistently good at over the years; taking personal stories and turning them into anthems that everybody can relate and sympathize with. If you hear a line like "If just one wish could bring her back, it's sent," doesn't move you, then I'm not really sure what to say. Throw in a killer opening riff and a blistering Mike McCready guitar solo, and you've a got yourself a complete song that ranks amongst Pearl Jam's best. Of course all of this once again raises the question as to how it wasn't included on Binaural, a solid album but one that could have definitely used a jolt like Sad to make it a batter album. According to Jeff Ament, since "Sad" was such a great pop song, it didn't really fit with the rest of the record. That sounds like an odd reason for leaving something off, but at least the song was released and it pretty quickly became a fan favorite, and deservedly so.





9. "Rearviewmirror""


In its music and lyrics, "Rearviewmirror" is all forward moving, from the charging drums to Vedder's lyrics about, as he described them, "leaving something, a bad situation." One of the standout tracks from the band's second album Vs., "Rearviewmirror" once again shows off Vedder's skill at making the personal into something bigger and more intensely cathartic. Lyrics like, "I couldn't breathe, holdin' me down/Hand on my face, pushed to the ground/Enmity gauged, united by fear/Forced to endure what I could not forgive," show what the person Vedder is singing about had to go through while lines about seeing things clearer "Once you, were in my/Rearviewmirror," show their ultimate redemption. But the whole thing is propelled by the music which rises and rises throughout with a passion that perfectly complements the lyrics and vocals. Things get increasingly intense and forecul as the song goes along and the person gets farther away.





There's a real hook to the song that, despite the subject matter and intensity, make it really accessible for people to latch onto. It's all in search for that one cathartic moment, although to be honest the whole song feels cathartic. But for one brief moment after Vedder sings, "I gather speed from you fucking with me/Once and for all I'm far away/I hardly believe, finally the shades are raised," it feels as if he pauses to reflect and sigh, but the songs continues on and gets more and more passionate and intense with Vedder quickly joining them. Things get so powerful at his point that it almost overwhelms you, and that feeling got to the band members as well. Drummer Dave Abbruzzese was pushed so hard during the recording that at the end of the track, you can hear him throwing his drum sticks against the wall. But whatever was done worked because the whole band delivered an amazing performance that is as directly energetic as any they have ever recorded. "Rearviewmirror" also serves as one of their best live tracks because of that, and also why it's one of their best studio tracks as well.





8. "Life Wasted"


The band was beginning to loosen up a bit come 2006, and it was immediately evident from the first song off their eponymous album, "Life Wasted." This was the intense, catchy arena rock that people had been pining for for years but the band only intermittently delivered. But they leave it all out here, with plenty of big riffs, loud drums and soaring vocals. This was the new mature Pearl Jam that was unafraid just being a kick ass rock and roll band. The lyrics are still somewhat heavy, with Vedder singing, "You're always saying that there's something wrong/I'm starting to believe it's your plan all along/Death came around, forced to hear its song/And know tomorrow can't be depended on." He's also not afraid to reflect on his past, singing "I have faced it, a life wasted/I'm never going back again/I escaped it, a life wasted/I'm never going back again/Having tasted a life wasted/I'm never going back again." It's all about not letting things drag you down and focusing on the positive things in your life.





Vedder said that the lyrics came to him when he was driving home from the funeral of his friend Johnny Ramone and that they represent an appreciation for life. It's not all somber stuff on the song though, as Vedder lets out a little laugh before heading into the last chorus that sets the stage for another amazing McCready solo. This was one of the first times in a long while that he was allowed to just go all out, and he takes full advantage of the opportunity. The whole feels loose and comfortable, like it was the song that band had been waiting to write, perform and release for years. And for fans looking for a return of the old Pearl Jam, they got quite a taste of it with "Life Wasted," arguably the best song they band has written this decade and one of their best straight-forward rockers, which is really saying something.





7. "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"


Eddie Vedder's low baritone has always driven a lot of the anthemic Pearl Jam tracks, but they're usually better suited for ballads, and I don't think it was better put to use than with "Small Town." Backed by a delicate arrangement from the rest of the band, Vedder sings about two former lovers reuniting after years apart; the woman that stayed in the titular small town and the guy that left the town and became successful elsewhere. She can't make the connection at first, as Vedder sings, "I seem to recognize your face/Haunting, familiar, yet I can't seem to place it/Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name/Lifetimes are catching up with me." Most of the time Vedder is at his best when voicing himself through the perspective of other characters and there's quite a lot of meaning put behind the repeated line of "Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade way." There's a real aching and longing in his voice that is greatly enhanced by the acoustic arrangement behind him that shows a delicacy that band hadn't displayed up to that point.





For a band like Pearl Jam at that point, "Small Town" stood out amongst the impassioned rockers and ballads of their first two albums. The song still stands out though because of the quality of the melody and of Vedder's vocals. He does a great job of singing lines like "I changed by not changing at all, small town predicts my fate/Perhaps that's what no one wants to see/I just want to scream hello/My god it's been so long, never dreamed you'd return/But now here you are, and here I am/Hearts and thoughts they fade away" with the perfect amount of emotion. Instead of a great, bombastic moment of true love, we get a tenderness that fits the situation incredibly well. The woman isn't able to let her feelings be known, and the song fades just as the moment does. It all comes together for one of the best ballads they've ever written.





6. "Hail, Hail"


I realize that "Hail, Hail" probably isn't generally considered as one of the great Pearl Jam tunes, but it's always been one of my favorites and comes of what I believe to be is an incredibly underrated album in No Code. The song bursts out of the gate with a opening riff that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the experimental feel of much of the other songs on the album. I like the experimental Pearl Jam as much as anybody else (alright, I probably like it just a bit more than most people), but there are times when you just need a great rock song, and that's what "Hail, Hail" is. The song is led by the guitars as McCready and Stone Gossard show they could work together as well as any guitar duo, creating a charging groove that dominated a lot of good Pearl Jam rockers. Vedder's lyrics detail a struggling relationship, and could have been a metaphor for the band's relationship at the time as tensions grew around this time. Any problems though were channeled into this song as the band delivers a solid, intense performance.





Part of the reason I've always liked this song so much is because it's got some of my favorite Vedder lyrics, especially the first verse of "Is there room enough for both of us?/Both of us apart?/Are we bound out of obligation?/Is that all we've got?/Get the words, and then I get to thinkin'/I don't wanna think, I wanna feel/How do I feel?/How do I?" There is also a bit of a challenge to fans and critics who were unsure of the band's increasingly isolationism, as they hadn't made a video in years, were making more experimental music and had sued Ticketmaster. Vedder sings "Oh, I could be new, you underestimate me" with a certain amount of cheekiness that also comes across as defiant, and it shows off the personality that helped make Vedder a star. Certain songs can always get you going, and for me one of those is "Hail, Hail", a great showcase for two talented guitarists while also having some great lyrics to boot.





5. "Black"


One of the early demos that Stone Gossard wrote before the band was actually formed, "Black" is probably the most emotional song in the Pearl Jam catalog. It's also an incredibly personal statement on an album full of them. The reason "Black" stands out amongst them is because it reaches for intense and dramatic heights, and succeeds at doing so. Singing about a man that has had his heart breaking, Vedder steps into his shoes and milks all the emotion out of the song that he can, delivering an amazing performance that is perhaps still his most stunning achievement. The passion he puts into the track is breathtaking and probably the best example of the earnest and sincere Pearl Jam that became stars. Despite becoming a big hit while not even being an official single, the song retains an immense power to this day that can't be taken away no matter how many times one hears it or how often the band plays it in concert. The song is simply too good to be denied.





The track's beauty is what makes it so memorable, as Vedder sings heartbreaking lyrics like "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star/In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why/Can't it be, can't it be mine." It reaches its emotional peak towards the end of the song as we get a long string of "Do do do do do do dos" while Vedder's voice still soars, the piano line continues on and McCready delivers more great blues guitar work. It's the type of personally important song that most bands don't even attempt to write, but pearl jam went for it all with "Black" and undoubtedly succeeded. Probably the best version of the song I've heard is the one in the video above from MTV Unplugged that features Vedder adding at the end, "We belong together!" just to add to the emotion of it all.





4. "I Got Id"


It's tough to really call this a "Pearl Jam" song since only two members of the band played on it. Vedder and then-drummer Jack Irons were joined by producer Brendan O'Brien on bass and Neil Young on guitar for one of the best songs ever written about unrequited love. Young's presence is all over the song as it sounds quite a bit like "Cinnamon Girl" in its riff while he also performs a guitar solo that only he could deliver. But the melody on the song is inescapable as its leads to a rousing chorus that belies the song's content. At the beginning, Vedder sings, "My lips are shaking my nails are bit off/Been a month since I've heard myself talk/All the advantages life's got on me/Picture a cup in the middle of the sea." He runs the gamut of emotions on this song, from longing to love to depression, Vedder encapsulates exactly what it feels like to be in that situation. I'm sure most people can relate to lyrics like "Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night/Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night."





The lyrics mainly deal with not acting when the time is right, and having to deal with the regret of that afterwards. But there's also a direct self-loathing that Vedder usually avoided, but doesn't do here. He sings, "An empty shell seems so easy to crack/I got questions, don't know who I could even ask/So I'll just lie alone and wait for the dream/Where I'm not ugly and you're looking at me," and then "If just once I could feel love/Oh stare back at me, yeah." Like I've mentioned, few songwriters have ever been better at taking personal problems and subjects and turning them into things everybody listening is able to relate to. We've all been in that place of regret of not pulling the proverbial trigger, and that feeling is what can lead one to sing, "Oh, I paid the price, never held you in real life." Lyrically, this might be Pearl Jam's best song and it's only enhanced by the great work of Young and his excellent solo.





3. "State of Love and Trust"


"State of Love and Trust" came out right at the height of the grunge movement as part of the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's love letter to Seattle, Singles. In the middle of songs from Jimi Hendrix, Smashing Pumpkings, Mudhoney, Soundgarden and more, "State of Love and Trust" is able to stand out, with its frantic energy that never ceases. Most of the lyrics are pretty ambiguous, but Vedder has said it was about being faithful (which makes sense considering the title), while Ament theorized that it was about Vedder's interpretation of the movie itself. Whatever the motive, Vedder delivers pretty good lyrics here, singing, "Promises are whispered/In the age of darkness/Want to be enlightened/Like I want to be told the end, end, yeah." There also some pretty heavy lyrics as the song goes along, with Vedder singing, "And I listen, yeah,/For the voice inside my head/Nothin', I'll do this one myself/Oh, ah, and the barrel waits/Trigger shakes/Aimed right at my head/Won't you help me/Help me from myself."





But while the lyrics certainly make one pause and think, the stars of this song are the guitars, and also drummer Abbruzzese, who are all insistent to their forward propulsion. McCready especially does his expected solid work, delivering a solo that's good even for his standards. This the kind of balls-out rocker that the band wasn't really doing at this point and also provides the template for the type of punk rock song they should have done in later years. (Instead of, oh, I don't know "Spin the Black Circle." But I digress.) I don't have many songs left on my Pearl Jam concert list, but "State of Love and Trust" is right at the top because of its infectious energy that only briefly pauses to let you catch your breath.





2. "Given to Fly"


This is an inspirational anthem that definitely ranks as one of Pearl Jam's best songs. Sure it apes Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" pretty blatantly, but we won't let that get in the way of our enjoyment of this soaring track that comes across like a wave. The regularly builds to massive heights before coming back down to earth as Vedder his parable about a man blessed with ability of flight who must still deal with the problems on land. The parts where the song reaches those heights are pretty much magical and examples of the powerful music that Pearl Jam has continuously strived for. They succeed with "Given to Fly" with an epic of a song that worries not about pretenses or anything else. Not many bands could get away with lyrics like "A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw/Delivered him wings, 'Hey, look at me now'/Arms wide open with the sea as his floor/Oh, power, oh/He's.. flying.....whole," but Pearl Jam can since they have no problem with being earnest. In fact, in many ways that is what keeps them going and makes them great.





Unfortunately our soaring hero comes back to the surface and is beaten and stabbed despite just wanting to "share
his key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere." Thankfully he rises above it all and is still able to fly. Or, as Vedder puts it, "Well, fuckers: he still stands." It's a triumphant moment that is matched by the soaring instruments that are nothing if not incredibly moving and inspirational. It's a fable of sorts, the story of a many that can suddenly take flight but Vedder is able to ground the story into one of triumphing that which wishes to hold you down. When he sings at the end, "And he still gives his love, he just gives it away/The love he receives is the love that is saved/And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky/A human being that was given to fly," you can't help but want to be that particular human being.





1. "Corduroy"


I'll be honest. I'm not really sure I can come up with a concrete reason as to why I prefer this Pearl Jam song to all their others. It's not the most furious rocker, the most beautiful ballad; it doesn't have the best lyrics, solo, or arrangement, nor was it the biggest hit. Mainly, I think I have it ranked at number one because, well, I simply get more enjoyment out of listening to it than I do from any other Pearl Jam song. Forsaking a typical verse/chorus/verse structure is the highlight of what not so coincidentally is my favorite Pearl Jam album, Vitalogy. This is a straight-forward rock song, though; one with crunching guitars and powerful vocals from a man known for them. The guitars are a little rough around the edges, providing a great backdrop for Vedder's statement on fame his relationship with it. Opening slowly and quietly, the song bursts into the first lyrics where Vedder sings, "The waiting drove me mad, you're finally here and I'm a mess/I take your riches back, can't let you roam inside my head." He later opines, "I'm already cut up and half dead/I'll end up alone like I began."





Clearly fame didn't sit well with Mr. Vedder, but it at the very least afforded him the opportunity to make great songs that were dominated by great riffs and melodies that are just as great today as they were in 1994 when Pearl Jam were the biggest band in the country. But that wasn't what the band wanted, as Vedder sings, "Everything has chains, absolutely nothing's changed/Take my hand, not my picture, spilled my tincture." He's still the same guy he was before, but now has to deal with fans and media and everything else that comes with being an unintentional rock star. Ultimately this is my favorite Pearl Jam song, and of their crowning achievements is because I can hear it as many times as humanly possible and never tire of it. There's an effortlessness to it that is appealing, and that combined with Vedder's lyrics and vocals, the killer dual guitar riffs, and the always stellar rhythm section make "Corduroy" a great listen every time. It's the perfect combination of all the qualities that have made Pearl Jam one of the great American rock bands of all-time.



That'll do it for this week folks, thanks for reading. If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to let me know, and make sure to leave your own lists in the comments. I'll see you all next week. And if you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white.