The Story Behind “Society” by Eddie Vedder

In 2007 Eddie Vedder wrote the soundtrack for Sean Penn’s movie Into the Wild. The movie is based on the life of adventurer Christopher McCandless. After graduating from university, McCandless decided to give up all of his possessions and adopt a nomadic lifestyle. McCandless longed for an authentic connection with nature, and as a consequence, decided to leave society behind.

The most popular song on Eddie Vedder’s Into the Wild soundtrack is “Society”. The lyrically profound tune perfectly resembles the motives of Christopher McCandless. But what’s the story and meaning behind the song? Let’s find out!

The Story Behind the Song

When Sean Penn received the rights to produce Into the Wild, he instantly started thinking about music to accompany the movie. Penn considered music an important extra element to convey Christopher McCandless’ story. He initially used pilot tracks by Neil Young and Cat Stevens, but quickly realized the movie needed an original soundtrack. So, Penn decided to reach out to his friend Eddie Vedder.

Pearl Jam’s frontman Eddie Vedder instantly connected with the story of Christopher McCandless, and consequently, arranged a meeting with Sean Penn in Seattle.

“I brought up like a three-hour-and-15-minute cut of the movie, and we sat and watched that,” Penn told Billboard. His (Vedder) words were, ‘It’s on,’ and that was it.”

But Vedder wasn’t the only musician Penn contacted. He also reached out to songwriter Jerry Hannan, whom Penn met in a bar years earlier. He gave Hannan a script in hopes he could come up with a few songs for Into the Wild. The script inspired Hannan to write “Society”, a song that impressed Vedder.

“I got a random call from Sean,” Hannan told Rob Janicke. “It went something like this: ‘Hello?’ ‘Jer, Eddie (Vedder) likes your song.’ ‘Well, that’s good.’ ‘Can you fly to Seattle RIGHT NOW?’ ‘Ya’ ‘Ok, call my secretary and head to the airport.’ ‘Ok.’ … pretty exciting.”

Hannan quickly hopped on a flight to Seattle. In the next few days, Hannan met and recorded “Society” with Eddie Vedder. The actual recording took only three takes, which materialized in a matter of 20 minutes. Hannan couldn’t believe how good Vedder sounded singing his “Society”. After recording the track Hannan fine-tuned some elements, and voila, “Society” was ready for Eddie Vedder’s soundtrack Into the Wild.

The song eventually appears as the eighth track on the album. It is one of the highlights of Into the Wild. And although “Society” was never released as a single, it became Eddie Vedder’s most popular song as a solo musician.

The Meaning of Society

“Society” is undeniably a song about an individual who questions modern society. The individual realizes he disagrees with society, modern living, and materialistic mindsets. He desires to leave it all behind and decides to pursue freedom. It makes the song a farewell message to society.

Although written for Into the Wild, writer Jerry Hannan feels a strong personal connection with “Society”.

“It seems no matter how hard I try to be a part of it all, I can’t,” He told Rob Janicke. I’ve tried to do other jobs besides music to make more money or be more stable or fit in, but I just get pissed off at this artificial world that everyone is getting sucked into.”

Hannan’s opinions strongly reflect Chris McCandless’ reasons for leaving society behind. This is obviously the reason why the song aligns so perfectly with the movie. Eddie Vedder stayed true to Hannan’s original, but vocally elevated the song to a new level.

Interested in more stories behind Eddie Vedder songs? Click here