I was reading another forum and i found that the reason of why Pearl Jam called vs to their second album was a tribute to Mission of Burma's Vs.

Years after Mission of Burma broke up, his guitar player released a single called 10.

Could anyone confirm that?

5 vs. 1

We all know that, but I just wanted to know what do you think about this new theory and if somebody had heard about it.

I highly doubt it.

I remember it being 5 against 1, not 5 vs 1...

Maybe vs. is Australian for against?

Don't bag him out for fucks sake...

evidentally ed was annoyed with people constantly comparing them with others, particularly nirvana. it was always pearl jam VS. nirvana, etc... so they decided to call it Vs. as it was the sentiment at the time. it also fit with the five against one lyric

that makes sense

The 5 against 1 book really gives the impression that it was Eddie against the other 4 members + Kelly Curtis.

I'm not buying the PJ vs Nirvana or Mission of Burma theory at all.

This is too personal, imo, to be about anything else:


five against one
torture from you to me
abducted from the street
i'd rather be...
i'd rather be with...
i'd rather be with an animal
why would you wanna hurt me?
so frightened of your pain...

dont you thinkg "5 against 1" more likely refers to the band memebers vs. something rather than eddie vedder vs. the rest of the band and their manager?

It's probably a little from column A and a little from column B

I think they addressed the "something" in Blood.

I think 5 against 1, and Animal in particular is about Eddie vs the band. I think the fact that there are such few actual lyrics in the song, means he was trying to make a point without going overboard and creating resentment between himself and the rest of the group.

Just my take. It's always made me wonder how the rest of the band feels about the song. It's undoubtedly one of their most popular and most played songs. I'd feel kind of strange playing it if I was a member of the band. (If my take is accurate).

That Five Against One book is evil and should be ritually burned.

*Take the piss outta me

I always thought animal was about a gang rape

this is what makes pearl jam great. they could've easily made a video for it and ended all discussion about what the song means. but they didn't, and to this day we can argue about the 3-4 different ways the song can be construed.

Isn't this song about the MTV video music awards

I also remember some long lost interview with stone(?) where some other alternate titles were mentioned. One I liked was something like 'Shark in bloody waters' (something like that).

I think it's the band against the world. The book really only hints on the possibility of it as Ed Vs the group and Kelly Curtis.

Noting that the book is bias in many ways...I doubt Ed would be crazy enough to pit himself against the band members.