What Is your All Time Favorite Pearl Jam Song And Why

Clarice · January 2010

I have some favorites...I love Present Tense, but has Í´m Hiding, Immortality, Black, Given to Fly and Light Years too.

Stonerlady · January 2010

This changes really often... At the moment it's Rearviewmirror. I'm watching them performing the song at Pinkpop Festival in 2000 over and over again.

But my all time favorite is Alive, I think. I'm even thinking about adding "I'm still alive" to a tattoo I wanna get as soon as I got enough money (it's gonna be something really big so it's really expensive as well

). It kinda fits into the tattoo and into my life, so yeah, I think my all time favorite is Alive.

Yield84 · January 2010

the lostdogs promo version of "hold on" is def one, know that i think of it, that i always listen to especially when having one of those days. Tough question to ask tho.. hmm..all time favorite? There are so many that do something different for me.. hard to choose.

panjok2 · March 2010

off he goes.........is pretty far up there ,I only wish I knew the story behind it!!!!
black.... is where it all started for me as well and it brings me back in time to my high school years!
very hard to choose because each one is my favorite for different reasons!

ItsOK921 · March 2010

Black, has been since day 1 and probaly always will be. It never gets old. The pure emotion of it all just gets me every time. I remember reading an interviewer with Ed. They asked him if he ever gets sick of singing the same songs over and over again. His reply mentioned Black and said you just can not sing that song and not feel the emotion of it.

Sad comes in a very close 2nd though.

cajunkiwi · March 2010

veddertown wrote:

Two years ago my friend Karen was murdered while on a backpacking holiday in New Zealand and the first Pearl Jam song I heard after was Sometimes. I don't remember it for specific lyrical reasons as such, just the message of desperate prayer within them and it was already my favourite song. It took a long time to come to terms with the fact I'd never see her again and I think about her so much. This song can't change anything but it has a power in it that makes me feel better connected to her in some way. If they play this in Dublin, Belfast or London in June I know I'll be in floods and wish she could be there to hear it too. RIP Karen, we miss you.

As someone from New Zealand, you just totally bummed me out. I'm sorry - that's horrible. Did they ever find who did it?

I sometimes have to avoid Light Years for a rather similar reason

aroundth3bend · April 2010

so hard to choose because pearl jam are so good... but it's got to be given to fly. i just love the way that it climbs like a wave. and when the chorus hits you, it feels like you're flying.

savman · April 2010

For the person who said "Nothing's impossible"

I beg to differ......

Abe Froman · April 2010

Either Porch or Blood. Porch because in 1991 it was probably the coolest thing I'd ever heard. Then watching MTV Unplugged sealed the deal forever. But when Ten was followed up by VS and Blood came on for the first time I knew I was gonna be obsessed from then on out. It is just so brutally heavy and cool. How lucky we all are that they are still making music.

Since then...

Vitalogy - Spin The Black Circle
No Code - Entire record. My favorite album ever.
Yield - Brain of J
Binaural - Grievance
Riot Act - Save You or Arc
PJ - Comatose
Backspacer - Got Some

whispering hands · May 2010

Hmmm we're gonna go from Ten to Backspacer on this one..
Off Ten is Jeremy cause that was me as a kid.. and I still totally feel that way about other people most of the time..

off of VS it's Daughter and RVM casue my mother SUCKED and they were both dedicated to her. ANd Indifference Indifference for the same reason as Jeremy.

Vitalogy- Leash ( again to my mother) and WMA cause I had a friend in college whose adopted brother was hung outside their back yard one year for being black..Three weeks later my friend commited suicide so that those sick biggoted assholes couldn't hang her.. their poor parents never got over that. P.S. all four boys are incarcerated for life for the crime of what they did to Thomas and for scaring Alma into suicide they won't get out for another 20 years.

No Code- Present Tense, because this song taught me that it's much less stressful and painful to oay attention to the now versus what already happened in life.

Yeild- Pilate. cause my dog was the best living thing in the world, better than any human alive, he was really an exa,ple as to how people should be to one another he taught me alot about trusting people and not wanting to kill them all.lol All Those Yesterdays, just a good song to remind yerself totake things easy.

Binaural- Sleight Of Hand just casue that shit is SOOOOOOOO me, and Nothing as It Seems casue while Nirvana like it is so true I love it.

Riot Act- You Are cause It's such a gorgeous song, and one day I'll have another love of my life to sing it to. and Cropduster, it just makes alot of things in my world make sense, gives me a new way to look at things.

Pearl Jam- LIfe Wasted, cause holy shit I think that one got written to tell me it may have been fucked up but I have a chance to leave the shitty parts of my life, and never return there again, which is my primary goal.
and Severed Hand, cause that totally describes the way I think about things sans hallucinegenics which I swear is what the song is about..

Backspacer- Speed Of Sound cause that's how my life seems to be going right now. and Just Breathe cause I'm constantly reminding myself to never take one minute for granted in life. as for needing or wanting someone that part has yet to come in human form, so for now I sing it to my cats.lmao
this is an interesting thread.

veddergrl73 · May 2010

Leash, by far. Even now that I'm older it reminds me to enjoy my youth...

joker10 · May 2010

Negro y otros, Tremor Christ .....

bnc620 · May 2010

I love reading everyone's responses to this topic. As a new fan, it is interesting to see other people's interpretations to songs, and I have been going and listening to them as I read the comments.

Mine:

Black-NEVER gets old; beautiful music and lyrics; reminds me of when I first heard of Pearl Jam ( early 90s?) and high school. I honestly get a nostalgic feeling whenever I hear the opening. AND Black is sexy.

Indifference-Love the lyrics and the music, and I can (and have) play it over and over.

Just Breathe-Absolutely beautiful!!

Release-I love the meaning behind this song, and PJ opened with it at my first (and so far only) concert. My brother had just talked about how they never do Release live anymore, and then PJ opened with it, and it was beautiful and special!!

Betterman-The lyrics are perfect and so true. I can relate.

Alive-Love the story and reminds me that people can make something beautiful out of something shitty. It shows Eddie's talent as a songwriter, and I like the idea that even after you go through shit, you can get through it and still be alive.

Immortality-I just like it. I love the music and Eddie's voice.

Joshoeuh · May 2010

Picking one is easy (for me), so I decided to put together a top 10. I want to stress that I love all Pearl Jam, but Ten through Vitalogy is definitely on a separate tier, IMO.

10. Betterman

I love the gradual build in this song... One second you think it's going to be slow throughout, and then the rest of the guys join Eddie to rock out through the rest of this one.

9. Daughter

I'll be honest, I used to skip this one pretty much every time it came on. I thought it was a good song when I listened to it, but it had been played on the radio so much that I was just sick of it... But over the last couple of years it has found itself on my "Can't Skip" list. The live versions with the tags on the end have won me over, and now I rarely ever skip it.

8. Porch

Porch is just an absolute rock song through and through, and I can't think of many other ways to describe it. Hear my name / Take a good look / This could be the day / Hold my hand / Walk beside me / I just need to say... Ahh, that's good stuff.

7. Corduroy

My favorite track off of Vitalogy... Especially love hearing it live.

6. Garden

To me, Garden captures everything you could possibly want in a Pearl Jam song... I haven't had the opportunity to read through this entire thread yet, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't on a couple more lists.

5. Yellow Ledbetter

One of the most popular and recognizable songs in the Pearl Jam catalogue. Whether you enjoy the song because you're trying to figure out the lyrics or you just love the sweet guitar playing of Mike McCready, Yellow Ledbetter is a sweet tune to jam.

4. State of Love & Trust

When people ask me why I love Pearl Jam so much, I point out this fact to them: Two of my top five favorite songs by them weren't even released on an official Pearl Jam album... SoLaT and Yellow Ledbetter just go to show you that you can't ignore a song just because it's hidden on a b-side or a soundtrack. If it's a Pearl Jam song, you better believe it's worth listening to.

3. Alive

Part 1 of the infamous Mamasan trilogy, and the beginning of the 3 easiest selections on this entire list... By this point, my descriptions aren't necessary and the music speaks for itself... I will say this, though... The only way to listen to Alive is with the volume cranked all the way up.

2. Rearviewmirror

Words can't describe how much I love this song, but I will tell you that for one entire summer I kept it on repeat in headphones in my ears as I went to sleep... So it played all through the night and was the song I woke up to. Does that give you any kind of indicator?

1. Black

Black has been my favorite song by ANY band since the first time I ever had the pleasure of listening to it. I could talk for years about this one, but just let the music do the talking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVlJAi3 ... r_embedded

Ty · May 2010

angelbaby wrote:

Hi I would have to say the song that i like the most is Reign O'er Me..Its true in many ways...

It's a song by The Who.

Mine is I Got Id, Release, Unthought Known and Habit!

Ayedavanita · May 2010

I don't think I could pick a favorite, even a favorite top ten. I just have too many favorites!

Wsteinbacher · May 2010

My favorite is Given To Fly.
It just has a beautiful an inspiring sound to it, same thing with the lyrics.
I do not know if my personal interpretation of the lyrics is directly in line with the true meaning of the lyrics, but here is what I get out of the song.
It is about a man who is so close to the edge, so broke down, on the brink of suicide. Upon making it to the ocean and stopping for his smoke the beauty of the ocean hit him as "A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw" and in this moment he realized that there is so much beauty in the world to take in, and this moment and though process saved him in a why. He no longer wanted to leave this earth but rather embrace it's beauty. In this moment of clarity he was "given to fly" He felt above all the bullshit that has been clouding his life. He then wanted to share this newly found frame of mind, but was written off, ignored, looked at as if he were crazy. But that did not change his new love for life, he was a new man and nothing could drag him down.

Like I said..this may not be Eddies intention lyrically, however this is how I take the song and to me it is the most beautiful that Pearl Jam has ever written.

Siroadrnr · May 2010

Rearview Mirror, its a great driving song, Alive, reminisces my life, I Got Shit, just plain ROCKS!!

Divka · May 2010

I need to quote a really cheesy movie here:

"I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens."

I can't even pick a favorite song from each album.

rafie · May 2010

Ever since I first heard indifference it has been my favorite song. Just breathe has become a close second. Both are just beautiful and what I believe love should be.

What Is your All Time Favorite Pearl Jam Song And Why

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