THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

458-Pearl Jam-Alive.

1991-Number 16 single.

Best Bit-At 3.39. The lyrics are about a young man who finds out that the man he thought was his father, is actually his step father, and his real father is dead, and to top it all off, his mother ‘comes on to him,’ and you thought you were having a bad day!

Pearl Jam were formed in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1990, by Eddie Vedder, (lead vocals, and rhythm guitar) Stone Gossard, (guitars, and keyboards) Jeff Ament, (bass, and keyboards) Mike McCready, (lead guitar) and Dave Krusen (drums.) Krusen left in 1991, and after a further three drummers, Matt Cameron joined in 1998, and at the time of writing these five make up the current line up of Pearl Jam. The group were originally called ‘Mookie Blaylock,’ but after signing to ‘Epic Records’ changed to ‘Pearl Jam.’ ‘Mookie Blaylock’ was an American professional basketball player, whose official number was ’10,’ Pearl Jam would later title their debut studio Album ‘Ten,’ from where this song ‘Alive’ was taken. The name ‘Pearl Jam’ came about as Eddie Vedder’s great-grandmother was called ‘Pearl,’ and then after the group had attended a Neil Young (see also best songs 602 and 559) concert in which Young extended his songs as improvisations (i.e. ‘jams’) of 15–20 minutes in length, the name was born.

Pearl Jam who are critically acclaimed, and are considered to be one of the most influential ‘Rock’ bands of the 1990’s, were inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ in 2017′ in their first year of eligibility. Pearl Jam play in the musical genres of ‘Alternative Rock,’ ‘Grunge,’ and ‘Hard Rock,’ and have sold in excess of 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling ‘Rock’ acts of all time. The discography of Pearl Jam includes 12 studio Albums released between 1991-2024, and 46 singles released within the same time period, there is also one extended play, (EP) three official compilation Albums, and 23 live Albums available. In America all of their studio Albums have made the top 5, with five of their Albums reaching Number 1, while on the Billboard Hot 100, five of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Last Kiss’ from 1999, charting the highest at Number 2, ‘Alive’ was never issued as a single in America, so was unable to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, Pearl Jam have had three Number 2 Albums, ‘Vs,’ (1993) ‘Lightning Bolt,’ (2013) and ‘Dark Matter,’ (2024) while 13 of their singles have made the UK top 40, with ‘Spin the Black Circle’ from 1994, peaking the highest at Number 10.

‘Alive’ was the first of four singles released from Pearl Jam’s debut studio Album ‘Ten’ from August 1991, the song was co-written by Stone Gossard, (music) and Eddie Vedder, (lyrics) with the production being by Rick Parashar, (1963-2014) and Pearl Jam. Rick Parashar was born Rakesh Parashar, on December 13th, 1963, in Seattle, Washington, United States, he died on August 14th, 2014, from complications arising from a pulmonary embolism, at the age of 50. In 1985 Parashar and his brother Raj founded the ‘London Bridge Studio,’ in Seattle, and due to Rakesh Parashar’s production work, the studio became the centre of the Seattle music scene. His credits include multi-platinum releases for Temple of the Dog, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, Dinosaur Jr. and Nickleback (see also best songs 415.)

The music to ‘Alive’ was one of three demos written by Stone Gossard just prior to Pearl Jam’s formation. He circulated the tracks in the hope of finding a singer, and drummer to form a band, as his previous group ‘Mother Love Bone’ had disbanded due to the death of the lead singer Andrew Wood (1966-1990.) On hearing the tracks Eddie Vedder wrote his own lyrics, and vocals, and sent them to Gossard, who was immediately impressed. The songs first verse is about Eddie Vedder’s real life experiences about finding out that he had not been told the truth about whom is real father was until it was too late to meet him, as his father was dead. The songs second verse is pure fantasy about the horror of incest, as the boy is molested by his mother. The other two demos which were sent to Vedder would become the songs ‘Once’ and ‘Footsteps,’ which continue the story. In ‘Once’ the boy goes mad and starts killing people, and in ‘Footsteps’ the boy is sentenced to death, and blames his mother, Vedder called these songs the ‘Momma-Son’ trilogy.

The extended guitar solo played by Mike McCready at 3.39. is considered to be one of the best, being ranked Number 44 on ‘Guitar World’s’ list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitar Solos.’ My own personal opinion is that if it went on a couple of minutes longer it might get somewhere close to ‘Freebird,’ (see also best songs 12) but only somewhere.

While she walks slowly across a young man’s room, she said I’m ready for you. Why I can’t remember anything to this very day, ‘cept the look, the look, oh, you know where. Now I can’t see, I just stare, I, I’m still alive.’