It's a tough choice.


I think Corduroy is the song that best defines the bands image. and Alive is the song that best defines the bands music.

Corduroy is a song that even people who hate Pearl Jam, will admitt to liking. But Alive is the song that probably recieves the most radio play.

I don't know...They're both awesome

I added a couple of zeros if you don't mind.

The puke and cry emoticons were a bit much, and there wasn't a "banging-head-on-desk" emoticon. So I went with what I had. but yeah, if any song off the new record is a definitive song, it is probably Inside Job.

No problem

you guys can all maybe suck my choad then.

Alive is going to destroy this poll...but personally, Given to Fly is MY song, it's what defines Pearl Jam in my mind

Given to Fly, to me it is Pearl Jam. The theme of the lyrics encapsulate present day Pearl Jam.

Then what the hell are you doing with an In My Tree nickname and an Indifference signature?

Tough call. I think they all define PJ well, and while none of them are my absolute favorites I'm not sure which one of my favorites would be more fitting. I think the one that encapsulates what PJ is about the most is probably Given To Fly with the music, vocals, and lyrics.

Alive, for sure.

Even before clicking on the thread i thought of alive

im pretty torn. this is the hardest poll yet. the only thing really separating any one of these songs from the other two a classic mike solo. so i vote for alive

i went with whats the song that best defines them, and cord definately does, though i think GTF is ten times better of a song

Alive without a doubt in my mind.

I'm gunna agree with whoever said EVenflow...I dunno..When i think Pj i think of Evenflow before Alive.

I would go with Rearviewmirror as my pick over these three songs, for several reasons;

1-In my opinion, it's better than those three songs, although not by much.
2-It's far more representative of their sound, I think. Corduroy and GTF do this pretty well, but Alive sticks out a little bit. Although the songs on Ten are pretty much all stellar, they are very different in sound and structure from most of their other stuff. This makes sense; Ten was made and written before they had really gelled as a band. Some of Eddie’s big influence (the punk-rock sound and such) hadn’t really come to the forefront because he hadn’t had a chance yet to become a force in the band musically. That started on Vs, and continued throughout all of their albums; Rearviewmirror is just more representative of their sound, moreso than Alive I’d say.
3-Tackles pretty much of all of Eddie’s central themes; alienation, parental repression, abuse and neglect followed by a carthasis and escape (whether through music, driving away).
4-Each band member is represented very well and has a chance to shine.
5-I haven’t met a person who has disliked it. Take my dad for example, not a large Pearl Jam fan, but he’s always been interested in knowing what I’m listening to. I pop Vs. in in the car one day, and we’re driving along, running errands and stuff, and he pulls over about halfway through Rearviewmirror; what had been background music before grabbed him. All he said afterwards was “Wow.” Now this is the most extreme reaction I’ve seen to this song, but I usually get the same type of reaction; people simply have to stop and listen.

All these songs are great; Alive in particular is one of my favorites. But I think Rearviewmirror is the song I would pick out of their catalogue, play it for someone and say “This is what this band is all about.”

i voted for GTF because of the lyrics, not because of the music. if it had to be because of the music, Corduroy would have got my vote but as a song that would represent the band, you really gotta have a set of lyrics not too stuck in time or place, something that Ed could sing on any tour despite his age or political climate or simple acquired wisdom. as much as i love Alive, i don't think that it represents the band at all lyrically althought it's an awesome text.

Alive

If someone said who is Pearl Jam?

I would put on this song and most people would of heard of it.