From the fury of ‘Go’ to the quiet heartbreak of ‘The End’, we rank 25 Pearl Jam songs that have stayed with us through decades of listening.
When a band has been around as long as Pearl Jam has, 36 years and counting, with a dozen studio albums, several compilations, soundtracks, greatest hits, and hundreds of official live bootleg releases, choosing the 25 best songs seems too daunting a task to take on. Well, I’m taking it!
First, a bit of background on why I believe I’m qualified to attempt such a feat. I was a freshman in college in 1991 when the band released its debut album Ten and I had already been a fan of some of the Seattle bands that were about to change music forever. Bands such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Green River were on my radar by then (Nirvana’s Bleach once got stuck in my car’s cassette deck and I didn’t mind one bit), so listening to Ten once it was released in late August of 1991 was the natural next step.
I saw Pearl Jam play live for the first time in 1992 and have gone on to see them a total of 33 times, the last being at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2024. I’ve travelled to multiple states within the US and even left the country once to see them play. I’m also the author of a book called SLACKER - 1991, Teen Spirit Angst, and the Generation It Created (Inspired By You Books, 2025) chronicling the history of grunge and its impact on music, culture, mental health, and all that Gen X lived and continues to live through. So you can say I’ve been listening to and essentially researching this music for nearly four decades.
All that being said, music is subjective so this list will be as well. My intention is to highlight Pearl Jam’s 25 best songs, not just sonically, but with the emotion (both vocally and musically) the band is known for, as well as the band’s impactful lyrics that are just as important as the music is in a band such as Pearl Jam. My goal here is to imagine I’m introducing someone to Pearl Jam for the first time and to give them a full, 360-degree view of what they’re about. From the busy, fast riffs and pounding drums of the early days to the slower, acoustic songs with poetic and self-reflective lyrics, and everything in between. Oftentimes a band’s hidden gems never make it to radio or MTV…not that MTV is a thing anymore but it was a huge tastemaker back in Pearl Jam’s heyday of the 90s and early 2000s.
Songs for consideration were only taken from Pearl Jam’s 12 studio albums, various EPs, and the compilations, Lost Dogs (B-sides & rarities) and Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003). None of the live albums, band members’ solo albums, or side projects were considered.
Here we go…
25) The End (Vedder, 2009, Backspacer)
This has to be one of Eddie Vedder’s most vulnerable and heartbreaking songs. With nothing but an acoustic guitar (played by Vedder) and some strings and horns added to the mix, this song proves that lyrics and a passionate vocal delivery are sometimes all you need to write a classic. A gut-wrenching story about looking back on your life as it’s coming to an end and calling yourself out for the mistakes and missteps you’ve made and the heavy regret that comes with them. If Vedder ever channelled his inner Paul McCartney (think ‘Blackbird’ or ‘Mother Nature’s Son’), ‘The End’ is the result.
24) Man of the Hour (Vedder, 2003, Big Fish soundtrack)
Inspiration comes in many forms and in the case of Pearl Jam’s ‘Man of the Hour’, that inspiration stemmed from Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish. Burton approached the band asking them to write a song for the film’s soundtrack. After a screening, and almost being moved to tears by the story, Eddie Vedder wrote the song, recorded a demo, and Pearl Jam recorded it just days later. A sombre song, drenched in inescapable warmth, with beautiful slide guitar work, tells the story of a son saying goodbye to his dying father while trying to come to terms with their strained, distant, yet loving relationship.
23) Present Tense (Vedder, McCready, 1996, No Code)
Pearl Jam is one of those unique bands known for its fast, loud rock songs, almost as much for its softer, more contemplative tunes. It’s difficult to rank them for many reasons, but the opposing styles of music the band creates are the main one. ‘Present Tense’ actually combines both styles. Opening with whispered vocals, accompanied by a few melodic guitar notes, the lyrics take centre stage. The theme is exactly what the title suggests. Leave the past and future alone, and live for the now. Once the message is fully delivered, the entire band comes in loud and heavy for several minutes to close the track out as if to hammer home the lyrical theme with intensity and purpose.
22) Long Road (Vedder, 1995, Merkin Ball EP)
Some bands go to great lengths to mask their musical influences; when it comes to ‘Long Road’, not only didn’t Pearl Jam hide one of its biggest influences, they had that influence join them on the song. As a companion piece to Mirror Ball, an album recorded with the one and only Neil Young, PJ recorded and released the EP, Merkin Ball, where ‘Long Road’ lives. A song about profound loss and the need to acknowledge the person who is now gone, the track is dark and moody but contains a subtle sense of peace buried deep within. Uncle Neil lends his talents on the pump organ to give the song its melancholic feel.
21) Breath (Vedder, Gossard, 1992, Singles soundtrack)
The Singles soundtrack was a staple during the early 90s grunge and alternative movement, and rightfully so. With bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Pearl Jam lending songs, how could it not be? Pearl Jam’s ‘Breath’, originally slated for inclusion on the band’s debut album, Ten (but somehow didn’t make the cut), wound up on this soundtrack and only added to the growing superstardom the band was experiencing. This mid-tempo rocker has all the elements of a classic Pearl Jam song. Great riff, intense vocal delivery, and an undeniable groove.
20) In Hiding (Vedder, Gossard, 1998, Yield)
Something that Pearl Jam have been masters of from the start is the ability to write big, emotional choruses. ‘In Hiding’ is no exception. I’m fond of saying that great music is something you feel more than you hear and this track has that in spades. Guitarist Mike McCready essentially said this in an interview with MTV in 1998 about the song: ‘Just something about it that strikes me. Even in the earlier demo stages when I heard it I knew it was something that had to happen.’ Not relying solely on the music here, Eddie Vedder’s lyrics discuss the importance of just disappearing and shutting the world off every once in a while just to recalibrate and make sure you’re not losing the plot.
19) Nothingman (Vedder, Ament, 1994, Vitalogy)
The instant this song begins, the delicate guitar strumming sends you off to a lonely beach gazing at the ocean while trying to hold onto what you have. Musically it’s slow, deliberate, and steady but Vedder’s vocal performance leaves you with the notion that everything can fall apart at any moment. The desperation in his voice, against the steady wave of music, creates a beautiful tension that becomes more intoxicating as the song plays on.
18) Off He Goes (Vedder, 1996, No Code)
If Pearl Jam were a country band, ‘Off He Goes’ would likely be the band’s crowning achievement. Taking a page out of the elegance of the Neil Young acoustic playbook, the beauty of this song is hard to argue against. It moves along at just the right pace, all the while telling the story of the difficulty, disappointment, and confusion of dealing with a friend who is in and out of your life. Written by Eddie Vedder, and described in an interview with Spin Magazine, the friend in the lyric is him: ‘“Off He Goes” is really about me being a shit friend. I'll show up and everything's great and then all of [a] sudden I'm outta there...’
17) Hard To Imagine (Vedder, Gossard, 2003, Lost Dogs)
If a song (and Pearl Jam has at least one more on this list) can sound like a dream, I wouldn’t mind falling asleep each night if ‘Hard To Imagine’ was going to be the soundtrack to said dream. I cannot stress enough how closely connected music can be to our emotional state. Pearl Jam has an uncanny knack for tapping into the sullen, dark emotions we all feel from time to time with a subtle push toward getting out of it somehow. This track, essentially forgotten by the band over the years, lulls you into a hauntingly beautiful mindset with its slow but purposeful movement, leading straight into those big, cathartic choruses they so often deliver.
16) Given to Fly (Vedder, McCready, 1998, Yield)
An epic jaunt of a song, ‘Given to Fly’ fits perfectly into a familiar place throughout the Pearl Jam catalogue: escape. With a quiet, jangly guitar open (more on that in a bit), soon to be followed by a soft but driving tom-filled drum beat, and finally classic Vedder sing-to-scream vocal delivery, this song soars into the stratosphere and leaves the listener feeling great even when it's over. As for that guitar part I mentioned, it was certainly influenced by Led Zeppelin’s ‘Going To California’ and the 70s rock gods let Pearl Jam know it. In an interview with Mike McCready, Zeppelin’s Robert Plant playfully jabbed: ‘To repeat yourself as regularly as we do as entertainers, you know this. I mean, how many times have you played “Going to California”? Oh sorry, whatever your song is called.’ Led Zeppelin is no stranger to accusations of ‘borrowing’ bits or even entire songs from other people, so his good-natured response here was nice to see.
15) Last Exit (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1994, Vitalogy)
Pearl Jam’s third album, Vitalogy, was written at a time of great angst, confusion, and disillusionment within the band. Its opening track, ‘Last Exit’, embodies this with desperation, ferocity, and grit. By late 1994 (the album was released on 22 November of that year), Kurt Cobain had died by suicide, the grunge movement was as big as can be, and Pearl Jam was now the most famous rock band on the planet…and also at the brink of personal and professional destruction. ‘Last Exit’ is like a punk rock diary entry for all of this, with the need to escape, quit, and even contemplate suicide as strong possibilities. After some instrument-tuning noise, the song blasts off with drummer Dave Abbruzzese’s shotgun-like snare hits that drive the song toward the raw, purposely underproduced riff and groove assault by the rest of the band. Eddie Vedder’s lyrics propel the themes and messages of the track from the start without hesitation, ‘Lives opened and trashed, “Look Ma, watch me crash”, no time to question why’d nothing last, grasp and hold on, we’re dying fast, for better or for worse, a best we began.’
14) Rearviewmirror (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1993, Vs.)
The writing and subsequent releasing of both Vs. and Vitalogy (13 months apart) show Pearl Jam at its most furious and energetic, reflecting both the culture at the time and the personal lives of its members at the height of fame, public scrutiny, inner strife, and personal demons. The music and lyrics became the beneficiary of such creative (albeit difficult) inspiration. ‘Rearviewmirror’ is a shining example of this as the song embraces the purging of a bad situation and trying like hell to get as far away from it as possible, never to return. A hypnotic, circular guitar riff (something the band has used and mastered throughout its career) captures the listener long enough for the groove and vocal melody to kick in. As the song progresses, you can feel a slight tension (vocally and musically) arising and slowly building. This all pays off in the end as the outro is as angry, aggressive, and manic as the band gets. Eddie Vedder is singing and growling (layered and overdubbed at times for maximum effect) at the same time; that hypnotic riff that started the song is relentless, Mike McCready goes off with a stinging lead, Jeff Ament’s bass is driving and forceful, and Dave Abbruzzese’s pounding drums actually sound like they’re going to explode. I’m exhausted just writing this. You can even hear him throw sticks against the wall as the song ends as if to say ‘that was insane.’
13) Immortality (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1994, Vitalogy)
Another slow-burner, ‘Immortality’ highlights Pearl Jam’s musical restraint and lets the vibe and lyrical content do all of the emotional heavy lifting. As previously discussed, Vitalogy was a make-or-break time for the band and thus the music was mostly dark, introspective, and dripping with pain. A cautious opening electric guitar riff with light feedback behind it starts the track and sets the tone. The mood is sullen and carried forward right from the first line, ‘Vacate is the word, vengeance has no place so near to her, cannot find the comfort in this world.’ The lyric goes on to describe hopelessness and despair due to not fitting into a world lived in and judged by the scrutiny of the public eye. There’s contemplation of suicide as well and considering the album was released just months after Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain died by suicide, the assumption was the song was written for him. Eddie Vedder, the song’s lyricist, denies this and states it’s about his own ‘delicate state of mind’. This makes sense as, at the time, Eddie was the only other person who could possibly understand Kurt’s discomfort with living with massive fame due to being in the biggest rock band in the world.
12) Animal (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1993, Vs.)
Another circular guitar riff, ‘Animal’ is relentless in its power and aggression from the start. No intro needed here as the band all start this quick rocker in unison. Although the riff is ridiculously catchy, it’s full of muscle and grime that give the song its initial weight. As it continues, you begin to realise that Vedder’s growl-infested, scratchy vocal delivery and drummer Dave Abbruzzese’s pounding assault take the song to the next level. Not lost, however, is the funk-laden groove provided by bassist Jeff Ament against Mike McCready’s blistering guitar solo at the end. Everyone in the band is a songwriter and thus lent those talents to songs all throughout the Pearl Jam catalogue but on a song like ‘Animal’, with all five members as locked in and unified as they were, the band’s true superpower is on full display.
11) Indifference (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, Vs., 1993)
The era of the album (unlike today’s single-driven music industry) relied heavily on track listings. Bands took the order of songs on a record quite seriously as either the lyrics, from song to song, sometimes told a story, or the music was constructed in such a way, song after song off each song, that a purposeful vibe was being created. The album opener and closer played the most significant roles in this game. Pearl Jam know this all too well and with ‘Indifference’ closing the band’s second album, Vs., the listener is left subdued, a bit mournful, but eagerly wanting more. This was done with a very sparse musical composition, leaving tons of space for the mood and lyrics to take centre stage. The idea of channelling hope for others while enduring personal pain and finding the strength to persevere through it is the theme here. The emotional ride this song takes you on, using some of Vedder’s best lyrics, and the band’s interplay with them, has led some people to refer to this slow track as one of Pearl Jam’s heaviest and I completely understand why. Lines like ‘I will hold the candle til it burns up my arm, I’ll keep taking punches until their will grows tired’ or ‘I’ll swallow poison, until I grow immune. I will scream my lungs out, til it fills this room’ stick to your soul like sonic glue.
10) Footsteps (Vedder, Gossard, 1992, ‘Jeremy’ single/Lost Dogs, 2003)
We’re in the weeds now but it’s necessary to go there since this is the start of the top ten. If you don’t know the origin story of Eddie Vedder’s first interaction with the band that would become Pearl Jam, it comes down to an instrumental cassette tape given to him by mutual friend, Jack Irons, formerly of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Eddie listened to the tape and then went surfing where he came up with lyrics and melodies for what would become ‘Alive’, ‘Once’, and ‘Footsteps’. The first two songs would wind up on Pearl Jam’s debut album, Ten, and ‘Footsteps’ wouldn’t see the light of day until it was included on the ‘Jeremy’ single in 1992 and then the Lost Dogs compilation more than a decade later. There was a version of it (with a different title and different lyrics) called ‘Times of Trouble’, sung by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell on the Temple of the Dog album released in April of 1991, several months before Pearl Jam released Ten. Back to the cassette tape Vedder made. Affectionately named ‘Momma-son’ (sometimes written as Mamasan), the trilogy is about a young man who discovers the man who raised him wasn’t his biological father (‘Alive’) but wasn’t made aware of this until his real father had passed away, then loses his mind and goes on a killing spree (‘Once’), finally caught and imprisoned on death row blaming his mother for the trauma in his life (‘Footsteps’). It’s semi-autobiographical as Eddie Vedder was raised by a stepfather but was under the impression it was his real dad, while his real father was only known to him as a ‘family friend’ whom he met a couple of times but wasn’t made aware of his true identity until that man sadly passed away. As for the song itself, it’s a slow, acoustic ballad that captures all of the anger and grief of the story you just read. A twang-laden, Stone Gossard riff and hushed, guttural vocal performance by Eddie Vedder as a man about to die is as intense as a song can get with such little musical accompaniment. If the song doesn’t give you chills, check your pulse.
9) Daughter (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1993, Vs.)
There’s something about an acoustic-based Pearl Jam song that always seems to hit just right. A melodic, mid-tempo song, ‘Daughter’ became a huge crossover hit for Pearl Jam as much of what was released prior was faster and heavier. A spacious and sprawling, folk rock-tinged song about a young girl with an apparent learning disability who is abused by her parents isn’t the most radio-friendly material but the song’s appeal is undeniable. As usual, Vedder’s lyrics create powerful imagery as a family believes their daughter is simply defiant (not learning disabled) and so they refuse to admit that she’s not ‘normal’ and when ‘the shades go down’ the abuse begins. Jeff Ament’s upright bass provides the dark mood the lyrics project and the rest of the band pushes forward with just enough movement to get the young girl through her day as she must endure more abuse only to one day, ‘rise above’ and live the life she wants to, not the one her parents are actively trying to destroy. This song is a great example of how difficult topics, in this case child abuse, throughout the 90s grunge movement, were able to break into the mainstream and allow artists to talk about the darker side of life out in the open. Life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine and discussing this truth was a staple of the times and genre and I believe it’s one of the reasons it became so popular and continues to have meaning to this very day.
8) Hail, Hail (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, 1996, No Code)
No Code, released in 1996, was the first curveball Pearl Jam threw at its fanbase since the band’s debut in 1991. The album, for the most part, was a departure, if not a full-on transition, from its previous work. A few songs, though, ‘Hail, Hail’ being one, rock as hard as many Pearl Jam songs from earlier records. The feel of this song is tight, urgent, and a bit chaotic. An instantly catchy and memorable riff, with a driving beat, and a bassline that walks all over the song takes the listener on a ride that feels more like 1993 Pearl Jam than ‘96. Vedder’s lyrics depict a relationship that’s about to fall off a cliff, yet the participants want answers before the inevitable crash. ‘Ah, is there room for both of us? Both of us apart? Are we bound out of obligation? Is that all we got?’ A review published in the Tampa Bay Times said of the song, ‘It’s a driving lament that works like a charm. It’s an appealing, cathartic tale of a love gone wrong.’
7) Corduroy (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1994, Vitalogy)
For a song that was never released as a single, ‘Corduroy’ certainly acts like one. The song peaked at #13 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart and according to Setlist FM, Pearl Jam has played the song live 642 times since its debut in 1994 with the most recent performance less than a month ago at the Ohana Festival. The reason is simple: it’s just a really great song. From the slow-building, noodling guitar intro with a slightly haphazard drum beat by its side, into that oh-so-satisfying crunch of a main riff, this song has everything a hard, Pearl Jam rock song should. Rage-filled, poignant lyrics, melodic guitar parts, crashing drums, groove for days, and a loose but emotional instrumental outro that leaves you wanting more. The song’s theme is on par with many of the lyrics on Vitalogy. Anger, disillusionment, and confusion surrounding the sudden fame and god-like status the band so quickly achieved and Vedder’s disdain for having to deal with it all. The title of the song refers to a corduroy jacket Vedder bought at a thrift store for under $15 that was selling for $650 at designer outlets once the band got famous.
6) Porch (Vedder, 1991, Ten)
‘Porch’ is chaos disguised as a song. It’s a frantic, punk-rock-inspired blast of angst on an album that is known more for its classic rock roots. Part of the explanation for this is that it’s the only song on Ten that is solely credited to Vedder as the songwriter. ‘What the f*ck is this world running to? You didn’t leave a message, at least I coulda learned your voice one last time’ is the jumping-off point for the track. The bewilderment in Vedder’s voice, coupled with a jangly, distorted guitar riff, leads into powerful blasts of drumming by Dave Krusen, heavier guitars, a busy as sh*t bassline, and a few perfectly placed angered wails and screams to create even more angst for good measure. The build-up in this song is palpable and full of anticipatory energy. When you listen to it for the first time you can tell it’s going somewhere crazy but you need to take the journey already laid out to get there. No skipping ahead. A song about frustration and longing, ‘Porch’ finally boils over during the last third of the track…you can hear the chaos funnelling itself into a full-on blitz of sound and fury before it all comes crashing down without a single regret.
5) Go (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Abbruzzese, 1993, Vs.)
As one of Pearl Jam’s most ferocious and aggressive songs, and the fact that it opens the follow-up album to the gigantic hit that was Ten, ‘Go’ announced to the world that the pristine polish of Ten is not to be expected on this album. It’s gritty and dirty. It feels unsettling and a bit schizophrenic and I wouldn’t want it any other way. The main riff is credited to then-drummer Dave Abbruzzese, as he came up with it while strumming an acoustic guitar. The rest of the band heard it, plugged in, joined in, and exploded into a furious jam that birthed this classic. After a short, noisy intro, the band collects itself, rips into the riff like a rocket launch and…blast off. I’m going to bring back that ‘circular’ term I’ve used a few times before because that’s what this riff is. It’s definitely a style the band is good at and suits them well. It’s not only powerful, but the repetitiveness is manic in all the best ways that music can be. As for the lyrics, they’re up for interpretation as they tend to be vague. Vedder has famously said it’s about his old pickup truck he was driving at the time, thus the line ‘Please don’t go on me’ as the chorus. Call me a cynic but a song this powerful and this robust probably isn’t really about a truck that may or may not start upon turning the key. Whatever it’s about, I don’t really care because the vocal melody and the pure driving steamroller of a song are plenty for me to latch onto.
4) Release (Vedder, Gossard, Ament, McCready, Krusen, 1991, Ten)
Certain songs have the ability to take you away to places you didn’t know existed but somehow always knew you needed to be. ‘Release’ is the sound of a soul that’s speaking out loud for the first time. One of the first songs the band, then called Mookie Blaylock, worked on with Eddie Vedder (he had flown to Seattle based on that cassette tape from Jack Irons I spoke about earlier) was spawned from a jam session with atmospheric, ambient music evoking an impassioned vocal and lyrical response from Vedder. With a quiet, fingerpicked electric guitar to start the song, followed by a low chant-like groan from Vedder, and bass and drums to flesh out the spacious track, ‘Release’ almost immediately turns into a mournful, one-sided conversation Vedder has with his deceased father. ‘Oh dear dad, can you see me now? I am myself like you somehow. I’ll ride the wave where it takes me. I’ll hold the pain, release me.’ The lyrics alone, although brilliant, do not do the song justice. The sheer pain in Vedder’s shaky, baritone voice, while his new bandmates steadily bring the music to a crescendo, takes you away from your life and thrusts you into his. ‘I’ll wait up in the dark for you to speak to me, I’ll open up, release me.’
3) Alive (Vedder, Gossard, 1991, Ten)
This is an anthem. I do not use the term lightly, but this is undoubtedly a rock anthem. It’s also the first single the band released. Talk about setting the bar high, geez! A quick slide into what’s become a classic blues-inspired riff, the music of ‘Alive’ fits beautifully with the first song of the trilogy on that now infamous cassette tape. A song about being led to believe your stepfather was your biological father and your biological father was a family friend who died before you knew who he really was or got to know him in any meaningful way deserves a f*cking anthem. The verses are dark in sound and nature, almost spoken instead of sung, and the chorus is soaring and full of emotion. The varying styles play off one another incredibly well. An unsung hero of both the verse and chorus is the foot-stomping drum beat employed by Dave Krusen. It gives a vibrant and physical energy to a song already flush with feels. After what seems like the natural end to the song, mainly because the lyrics are finished, the band explodes into an extended outro of groove and rhythm, only to be topped by what would become one of the greatest guitar solos of all time by Mike McCready. If you don’t believe me, Guitar World magazine ranked it at #44 on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time.
2) Black (Vedder, Gossard, 1991, Ten)
Another non-single that has lived its life as one of the biggest singles of the 90s and beyond. ‘Black’ peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. The stars aligned when this song was written and recorded. It’s not only a beautiful ballad by any metric you want to use, it’s a song that lands at the intersection of Pearl Jam’s musicality and Eddie Vedder’s lyrical prowess. It’s arguably the best combination of both in a single Pearl Jam song. The grunge era, as noted earlier, allowed for vulnerable and heartbreakingly painful emotions to be put on display through words and music. ‘Black’, a song about lost love that will never return and the pain that comes with that tragic realisation, tugs at every heartstring the listener has and then some. ‘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?’ You would be hard-pressed to find another lyric, sung with such angst, honesty, and grief as this in any other song. Even before the first lyric is sung, the low-in-the-mix, echoed guitar intro screams of the sombre tale about to be told. In Pearl Jam Twenty, Eddie Vedder discussed the meaning behind the lyric: ‘It’s very rare for a relationship to withstand the Earth’s gravitational pull and where it’s going to take people and how they’re going to grow… I’ve heard it said that you can’t really have a true love unless it was a love unrequited. It’s a harsh one, because then your truest one is the one you can’t have forever.’ Turning that sentiment into a song, and nailing it emotionally, lyrically, and musically is a very rare feat. Not to mention, this song was worked on the very first day Eddie arrived in Seattle from San Diego…yeah, those stars were certainly aligned and we’re all better off because of it.
1) State of Love and Trust (Vedder, McCready, Ament, 1992, Singles soundtrack)
The casual fan may not know this song, let alone be able to understand its place at #1. The die-hard fan though, they get this, even if they don’t fully agree. Here’s the thing, what Pearl Jam captures in the 3 minutes and 43 seconds of ‘State of Love and Trust’ is literally everything that makes this band so great and incredibly relatable. Released on the Singles soundtrack in 1992, the song was written more than a year before this version came out. The track was up for inclusion on the band’s debut Ten, yet for some insanity-filled reason wound up on the cutting-room floor instead. That sounds bitter, I’m aware. But c’mon, can you blame me? The opening guitar riff is dripping with groove, followed by a quick but bombastic drum fill, then fills out with more guitars, bass, and Eddie Vedder’s classic throaty rasp that does nothing but create instant connection with the listener. This song is the sound of a band caring and wanting you to care as well. It’s overflowing with youthful energy and exuberance. It’s completely intoxicating. It’s the kind of song that even when it ends, you can see and feel your body still moving to the beat that remains in your brain, the post-song bounce if you will. This is where the magic of music lives, and to capture it so early in a band’s career is astonishing. According to bassist Jeff Ament, this version of SOLAT isn't even the best one!! Ament said this in a 2009 interview with Billboard: ‘The version of “State of Love and Trust” with Dave Krusen on drums is so much better than what ended up being released. He really plays that song in the spirit it was written in. It has a much trashier, Crazy Horse feel to it. It's awesome.’ This version was eventually released on the 2009 reissue of Ten. So the song I have at number one isn’t even the best version of the song according to the band…wild!
There you have it, the Top 25 Pearl Jam Songs as this writer/historian sees it. Now, I realise some major hits didn’t make it onto my list but I did consider most of the songs you’re probably thinking of as they were likely on my original list of 71 tracks I started with. Some songs that were given serious consideration include:
‘Jeremy’, ‘Even Flow’, ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’, ‘Not for You’, ‘Brain of J.’, ‘Insignificance’, ‘Save You’, ‘Thumbing My Way’, ‘Severed Hand’, ‘Gone’, ‘I Got Id’, ‘Hold On’, ‘Alone’, ‘Yellow Ledbetter’, and several others. A Top 50 would have been easier, but I have to try to sleep once in a while.
Phorography By: Danny Clinch