Pearl Jam’s “Alive” is without a doubt one of the most iconic songs to emerge out of the 1990s. The Seattle-based band released the song on their iconic debut album “Ten” in 1991. Pearl Jam decided to release the song as the album’s lead single, and it thus became the band’s debut single. But what makes the song so good? In this article, I’m going over 6 reasons why “Alive” is such an amazing song.
1. The Song Formed Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam’s journey began when guitarists Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and bassist Jeff Ament decided to distribute demo tapes in search of a vocalist. Gossard and Ament were previously part of the Seattle band Mother Love Bone, but the band abruptly ended after frontman Andrew Wood tragically passed away.
Thanks to former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons (who would later join Pearl Jam between 1994-1998) the tape found its way to Eddie Vedder in San Diego. Vedder listened to the tape and later ‘wrote’ lyrics over the demo song “Dollar Short” during a surfing session. He titled the song “Alive”.
Vedder recorded vocals over the tape and mailed it to Gossard and Ament. Both were blown away by Vedder’s vocals and immediately invited him over to Seattle to join Pearl Jam.
2. Stone Gossard’s Iconic Opening Riff
The instrumental of the song was written by Stone Gossard, like most songs on Ten. “Alive”, or “Dollar Short” as Gossard titled it, opens with an instantly recognizable – and now iconic – guitar riff. The relatively simple opening riff is one of the defining features of “Alive”.
Gossard started writing the riff when he was still part of Mother Love Bone. He stated Mother Love Bone’s lead singer Andrew Wood even sang lyrics over the demo track, but they never recorded it. Guitarist Mike McCready stated he knew Pearl Jam was going to be a proper band when they started playing the instrumental of “Alive”.
3. The Song’s Tragic Inspiration
“Alive” was inspired by the childhood experiences of Eddie Vedder. When Vedder was young he discovered that the man he believed was his father was, in fact, his stepfather, while his biological father had passed away. It became the inspiration for the song’s opening verse. Thankfully, the second verse of the song is fictional.
“It was a work of fiction based on reality,” Vedder said about the song. “In some ways, that was a way to get it out.” Vedder actually wrote two other songs around the character of “Alive”, “Once” and “Footsteps”. Together they form the Mamasan trilogy.
4. Alive’s Memorable but Misunderstood Chorus
Part of the greatness of “Alive” is its memorable chorus. It is, however, often misunderstood. The chorus is generally seen as resilient and inspirational: ‘I’m still alive despite everything I went through’. But Eddie Vedder’s original intentions were quite the opposite, as he revealed during VH1 Storytellers in 2006.
“In the original story, a teenager is being made aware of some shocking truths that leave him plenty confused. I know this because I knew the guy. I mean, the guy was me,” Vedder reflected. “So, he takes all this news as a curse: ‘I got to figure out a way to live with this’. It was a curse—’I’m still alive.”
But when Vedder saw the crowd’s reaction to “Alive’s” iconic chorus, he changed his mind about the intention behind the chorus.
“Every night, when I look out on this sea of people reacting in their own positive interpretation, it was really incredible,” Vedder continued. “The audience changed the meaning of these words. When they sing ‘I’m Still Alive’ it’s like they’re celebrating. And here’s the thing: When they changed the meaning of those words, it lifted the curse!”
5. Eddie Vedder’s Vocals
Nowadays, we are used to Eddie Vedder’s distinctive deep baritone voice. But in the early 1990s, Vedder’s vocal style set him apart from his – often higher-pitched – peers. Beyond that, Vedder’s raw emotional delivery on Ten is unparalleled. Given the fact that “Alive” was released as the album’s lead single, it isn’t too unreasonable to believe that most people were introduced to Vedder’s unique vocal style through “Alive”.
6. Mike McCready’s Guitar Solo
The last reason for “Alive’s” greatness is obviously Mike McCready’s iconic guitar solo. The song is often cited as one of the great rock guitar solos, but Mike McCready himself downplayed his creative contribution to the solo. He stated he basically copied the solo from “She” by Kiss, who in their turn stole the solo from The Doors’ “Five to One”.
Nevertheless, McCready’s solo ranks with the very best. The readers of Guitar World voted the solo the 29th best ever, while Total Guitar rated it number 26 on their list of 100 hottest guitar solos.
Overall, “Alive” is such an amazing song because it has an outstanding arrangement written by Stone Gossard, a deep tragic meaning inspired by Eddie Vedder’s personal life, an iconic guitar solo played by Mike McCready, and one of the most memorable choruses of the 1990s. Beyond that, “Alive” is also the very song that formed Pearl Jam.
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