What Is your All Time Favorite Pearl Jam Song And Why

mavi · May 2010

Live I really enjoy Comatose, Spin the Black Circle, Leash and Porch. Love to rock out at shows.

But Thumbing my Way has my heart. I clearly remember the first time I heard it and how it made me cry half way into it. The line "All the rusted signs we ignore throughout our lives, choosing the shiny ones instead" is a life lesson, one that hit me hard and good. And the music is one of the most beautiful things I have heard in my life. So yeah, that's the one!

Very close to my heart as well are Footsteps and Low Light.

droptheleash9 · June 2010

Nothingman

I can remember exactly when and where I was when I first heard this song and how I knew right there that this song was one that I would continue to listen to and love forever. This song got me through a lot of tough times when my parents were going through a divorce because my dad was such a jerk. I can still remember after all of there fights just going into my room and listening to this song on repeat and may sound corny but gave me a lot of strength to keep on chugging rather than feel sorry for myself. I agree with what others have said that this isn't really a fair choice because of pearl jam's extensive catalog (I will say that In My Tree would be my second), but, nonetheless, this song is awesome both musically and lyrically.

Ashkorsair · June 2010

well here goes;

all time whammy bammy favorite:
Black, handsdown my favorite song ever and ever. EVERYTHING fits in that song, emotion, fancy tunes, great singing. darn its great.

Ten: see above

Vs. : Indifference, that song just closes the album off with a bang without bangin itself. its quiet, and contains some very strong vedder vocals imo

Vitalogy: Immortality, it resonates with something in me. cant really put my finger on it, but whenever i hear this song i zone out and it takes me to places i have never been or ever will be.

No Code: In My Tree/Present Tense, i cant really decide between these two. Present Tense appears to be written as a warning for me specifically as i tend do dwell on the past. I KNOW it makes 'more sense to live in the present tense', but man its hard when the past was awesome and the now isnt.
The percussion in In My Tree lifts it up and up until it passes way beyond my tree and enters the stuff off legends. excuse me i am off putting No Code on....best pj album imo.

Yield: In Hiding, i felt like this songs lyrics during my teens. i still get shivers if i hear it, but then i get shivers with most pj songs

Benaural: Insignificance, turn on your telly, watch the news. nuff said.

Riot Act: You Are, but it was a close call with Save You. in the end the fact that it is a Matt song edged it before 'feelin cocky and strong, can't let u go'.....

Lost Dogs: Sad, great piece of guitar work there. loved it instantly

Pearl Jam: Severed Hand, it rocks and it rocks hard. when i first listened to the avocado album this song stood out and it still does for me. 'Do u want some more, and i said yeaahhh'....

Backpacer: Amongst the waves, i absolutely have to crank it up when i am driving. singing loudly i actually feel as though my soul can be saved. 'better loud than to late'

sorry for any grammar problems i am from the netherlands and english is secondary for me

Maaz · January 2011

Alive, because last Year I was dead for a few seconds...

and so, We´re all still Alive, YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!

PJstyle · January 2011

I watch the board all the time, but I don't weigh in too often.

I have a running top 3 songs of all time...I'm adamant about them and all my friends know this.

1. State of Love and Trust: All time favorite song (especially the unplugged)...Don't ask me why, but the themes really hit home. A few favorites from the song include the lyrics, 'I want to be enlightened like I wanna be told the end.' I love that... Also, the free spirited existential undertones of, ' Nothing!....I'll do this one myself.' Over all I think the song is a lot about the speed of life and the decisions involved being your own...and that alone is hard. Who are we to choose who we are to be? The freedom is heavy with responsibility. How I interpret it for myself; the Barrel is the future, the trigger is my willingness...and my head is all the possibilities. Perhaps you know the feeling of making decisions and living with them when you know fully well nothing is inherently wrong or right for you.

2. Force of Nature (I know this might come under scrutiny) What I love so much about this song is the conviction the man has for the love that has somehow left him 'shipwrecked' Not to mention these lyrics:

'One man stands alone, Awaiting
For her to come home
Eyes are closed,.. You cannot know
But his heart don’t seem to roam.'

3. NOT PJ - but Springsteen's Lost in the Flood - the live version (From Hammersmith) - Holy shit that guy knows how to sing a song with emotion.

Thanks for reading

M

Gerald Richey · February 2011

State Of Love and trust, and Fatal I love the line "If he's truely out of sight is he truely out of mind"

Gibson72 · February 2011

Alive

The opening riff gets everyone yelling.
The end when the crowd yells "yeah" over & over. So much fun in concert.

Staggering Genius · March 2011

Although I go through intervals with favorite songs, Better Man and Nothingman are constants.

Better Man is painful and special to me and is the song that made me love Pearl Jam.

Nothingman gave me chills when I heard it live and I think it is a beautifully written and performed song.

goingape · March 2011

I know sounds a little cheese, but ALIVE is my favorite song. It has always ranked in my top 5 of PJ songs, but since december 2010 that has been #1. In dec, 2010, my mom decided to hit me with, guess what, you know the guy that you thought was your father for 32yrs? Well theres a good possibility that he is not your father. The year before you were born I had a fling and there is a possibility he is your father. I am 32, my parents divorced when I was 3 and my mom moved 1600 miles away and has been there ever since. I take the dna test with the guy I thought was my father and sure enough. My mom is a hewer. The guy who I thought was my father for 32yrs is not, and my mom cant remember enough about my actual father to let me look for him. F-me

vittles · March 2011

Songs like; Just Breathe, Betterman, Black, and Indifference all deserve their own pedestal for being great. However, my favorite all time Pearl Jams songs are Unthought Known and Yellow Ledbetter. Unthought Known is one of my favorites because aside from it being a great song, my daughter was born while this song was playing on the radio.
I have to say Yellow Ledbetter is my other favorite. The beginning guitar solo, and for the whole song, the music literally envelopes your heart and fills your soul with an undescribable calm. Ed's deep voice and profound lyrics not just add to the music - it heightens the whole song.

little_wish · March 2011

I know it's a cover, but I've never had a song hit me as hard as Love Reign O'er Me.
No matter what mood I'm in, no matter how happy or sad I'm feeling, it kicks me up the arse and just fills me with energy.
An amazing song, and I have one of my most favourite PJ memories because of it.

I was looking for my holiday single with it on a few weeks ago and it seems to have been lost when I moved house, absolutely gutted as I finally got a record player for Christmas.

But hey, iPod speakers will still work for me :-)

Malcolm-Edge · March 2011

I would have to say Elderly Woman.

To me its about a long lost love. Someone who you loved and longed over, but as time passed the memories and feelings faded. Then you run into the person years latter and you try to recall. Its an amazing song. The way Eddie sings it conveys the emotion so well.

Close second has to be Betterman, title mine Better(wo)man though.

Just the feeling of being in love with someone, yet you know its wrong. You want to leave, you know theirs something better, but youre to fearful to leave the familiar comfort of everything you have. So you lie to yourself and everyone else. I first heard a live version (Gorge 05 I think...) I fell in love with every aspect of the song. Guitar arpeggio, the melody, and how he sings it. Its best when the crowd sings however!

illegal pants · March 2011

i fricken love given to fly, but at the end of the day small town resonates with me more...

just a perfect song, i love the studio version, love it live, love it love it love it live

i'll never forget how a friend described it, like every soul in the crowd is reaching out to connect with Ed during 'hellooooo' - not corny

plus i'm from Adelaide!