there's isn't a regular topic about this song.

Anyway, stip's answer to my post in the animal topic brought me to this song.

I've read a lot of times that lots of you are sick and tired of this song. Or never really liked it in the first place. Or would like to see it disappear from the setlists. It was my n° 2 behind GTF for a whole while on my list. And it still is the very first thing I'll play whenever I pick up my guitar. Really. It was also 1 of the 4 songs I got to hear 6 times and I was very happy every time. Don't know what it is about this song, but I really really love it. No matter how many times I've been listening to it/playing it. My dad, mom and sister are tired of it thought, just because I've been playing it too much.

That sound even before the intro starts on Vitalogy is probably the most haunting Pj thing I've ever heard. And the sound of Ed's guitar on the studio version is just perfection.

I love Betterman!

i'm not really a fan. i never really liked it to begin with though. that's probably because i got into pearl jam when vitalogy was out and this was a hit.

its a great song, but these days i enjoy the tag the most.

its also alot of fun to play.

didnt ed say he wrote it when he was 17?

This song is so perfect with a nice, extended Save it For Later tag!

9

its good a good song, but i am sick of it. i love the 2003 tour versions though.

Loved it on Vitalogy. Love it live, but it is overplayed.

It hit it's peak for me in 2000 when we got the Romanza intro / Betterman / Save it for later gems.

10-07-2000 Detroit is a great example of what I mean.

I think it's cool that Betterman hung around for so long then they finally decided to release it. Not my favorite PJ song by a long shot, but it's still cool with the whole story behind it & everything.

"This song's dedicated to the bastard that married my mama."

Betterman is the song that made me go from knowing who Pearl Jam is to having to know everything about them. I'll never forget hearing that song in the winter of 94 and buying Vitalogy soon after. I went back a week later and bought Ten and Vs., joined the fan club in May of 95 and the past 11+ years have been filled with Pearl Jam. I never tire of Betterman, I love the tags, I love the Romanza parts, I love the crowd sing a longs. The sadness and desperation prevail through the song, but they don't overtake the song. The jam at the end just sounds like the band is firing on all cylinders, especially the studio version. Thank God it made the Vitalogy cut after not surviving Vs.

its a bad radio song isnt it?

It is. The bad radio versions are neat

Let me strongly agree with everything Angus said.

same story with me it was one of the first pj songs i heard and i had no idea who they were...but i dont like it that much the tags make the song espically save it for later and the one of tb2k

If they had made a video for betterman it would have been their biggest hit ever. There is such a great sad story being told there.

One of my Top Ten songs. I got into Pearl Jam early as a teen during Ten, and I remember driving one day and hearing Betterman on the radio before it came out on Vitalogy and I was like...this is the best song ever.

Overplayed live, but live with it. It's not going away.

I'll never forget that Easter Sunday when I first heard Betterman. I had a biology test the next day and didn't study a lick for it because of the radio broadcast (I'm referring to 4/3/94). I stayed up all night listening to that broadcast, and ended up failing my bio test. The show, esp. Betterman, made it all worth it.

Like most of Ed's great songs, Betterman is amazing because it's so catchy while being so fucking brutally sad. It fits perfectly on Vitalogy.

If you aren't paying attention you can easily miss how sad it is.

I think I had a test the day after atlanta too. I loved whipping (I thought the line was bear with me for days afterwards) betterman and satan's bed at first sight. That live version of SB was my favorite pearl jam song for a few years. Sonic Reducer was great too. It took me a while to learn that it wasn't an original


That was such a great night. My first time ever getting to hear them live.

It's one of those songs, you know, the type of tune that just so completely captures an emotion, an experience that everyone can relate to it in some fashion, timeless

have you actually heard it? is there any possible way somebody could upload it?

2 of my friends (not PJ fans) became totally obsessed with this song not long ago. every time they were in the car together they would put it on. they would sing it at karaoke... ect.

i kind of got sick of it after that.

Same here. I don't really know everything about them, but it encouraged me to get into the band like I am now.

I had this fancy digital cable, and it had a live version of the song on it. The crowd was singing along louder than Eddie was. I was impressed. So I went and got the song. Planted a seed that grew into a large tree, I 'spose you could say.

Currently, I wouldn't say its one of my favorites, but I do enjoy it a lot.