Alive

‘Son,' she said ‘Have I got a little story for you
What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but a...
While you were sittin' home alone at age thirteen
Your real daddy was dyin'. Sorry you didn't see him
But I'm glad we talked…'

I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive

While she walks slowly across a young man's room
She said ‘I'm ready...for you’
I can't remember anything to this very day
Except the look, the look...
You know where, now I can't see, I just stare…

I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive

‘Is something wrong?' she said
Of course there is
‘You're still alive’ she said
Oh and do I deserve to be?
Is that the question?
And if so...if so...
Who answers…who answers

I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive
I...I'm still alive




Previous Songs of the Moment
In My Tree
Red Mosquito
Porch
I Got Id
Release
Do The Evolution
Breath
Corduroy
Elderly Woman...
Leash
Hail Hail
Grievance
Love Boat Captain
Even Flow
Black Red Yellow
In Hiding
Can't Keep
Indifference
Insignificance
Whipping
Black
Smile
Push Me Pull Me
Rats
God's Dice
All or None
Yellow Ledbetter
Last Exit
Who You Are
Rearview Mirror
Hold On
Present Tense
Light Years

The only other song that may define Pearl Jam more than Alive is Corduroy. This is one of their masterpieces—one of the greatest songs in the history of rock music. From the amazing opening riff to the guitar solo at the end (my favorite of all time) Alive is a tour de force. The vocals are amazing—they are vulnerable, wounded, angry, and defiant—the embodiment of Ten and what was best about that era. It is a truly epic song, the likes of which they haven’t written since Given To Fly, and the ten remix on RVM is so tight it is likely Alive may never be topped.

It’s impossible for me to talk about Alive without talking about what separated Pearl Jam from the other bands of the time. Nirvana, AIC, Soundgarden, and the Pumpkins were all titanic bands with amazing talent, and all five of the grunge standard bearers were trying to deal with the same basic issues of the time---namely betrayal. The music of the early 90’s was written for the children of the children of the 60’s and early 70’s. The first great wave of rock music from that period was music that at its heart wanted to be transformative. It wanted to right the wrongs of the world and serve as a source of inspiration and emotional strength for the people who were going to do it. Then they grew up and gave the country 12 years of Regan and Bush. Instead of idealism you had a vacuous hedonism and a glorification of greed. The next generation of children, growing up in that aftermath, came of age in the shadow of the failure of their parents’ revolution. They felt cheated somehow. There was a sense that a great promise had been lost, and people had no idea where it went or what could and should come next. This was the mindset that animated at least the more thoughtful members of ‘generation x’. All the great grunge bands spoke to that experience—all were in some way an attempt to deal with that feeling of betrayal and aimlessness. The problem is that most of the music was nihilistic and either wallowed in or celebrated its pain.

Pearl Jam was really the only band to try and rise above it, and what made the early records so magnificent was that they expressed so powerfully not only the rage, anger, fear, and insecurity, but that almost all the songs had a moment of light, a way out. For Pearl jam that way out was through a celebration of two things—music and community. The early records had no idea about what to do. They couldn’t find the way out---but there was a palpable belief that a way out was possible, and that it was something we could find together. You can find this idea explicitly stated in, surprisingly enough, two songs that didn’t make Ten.--the end of breath and the middle of leash

If I knew where it was I would take you there
There’s much more than this

And

I am lost, I am no guide
But I’m by your side
I am right by your side


And that idea is what animates the best pearl jam songs, and it is what makes the concerts so amazing. The fist pumping yeahs that happen at the end of Alive during a show are a great example of that. They are almost always the highlight of the show for me, and they are because of the tangible sense of power and unity that they are a manifestation of.

And at this point I’ll end the detour and go back to Alive. While there may be lines from other songs that embody the positive spirit that animates the early records, no song encompases the meaning of ‘grunge’ music (at least as I laid it out above) better than Alive.

Alive, like all of ten, is a song about betrayal. What makes Alive so powerful is that the betrayal comes from the most intimate and fundamental of sources—our parents. The details of the song I don’t think are that important. Alive is about coming to grips with the bedrock foundations of your universe being called into question, about the most personal and intense violation one can imagine, the betrayal of what matters most by the people who matter most. But unlike the other grunge standard bearers, there is that moment of optimism. It’s quiet, and it’s guarded, but it’s there. The chorus is just three simple words repeated over and over again, but they are repeated with such tenacity, conviction, and coiled power that a simple statement of fact becomes a statement of purpose. I am alive, and as long as I am, no matter what happens, the world can be made over.

That’s the spirit that drives Pearl Jam’s music at its best and it was the spirit that made Pearl Jam the biggest and most important band of the time. And in that sense that Alive can be considered dated. If you were not in your teens/early 20’s at the time it is hard to appreciate how important that song was and how much it meant to people.

I’ll make this a separate post. The first one was long enough as it is. I’ve never liked the alive/once/footsteps story arc. If alive is really a song about incest it isn’t a very good one, and then once becomes a scene from a Rob Zombie movie. Footsteps is a powerful song because of the emotion, not because of the lyrics (which don’t actually say very much). If this is what those songs are about it is only at the most superficial level. With the exception of Release, almost every song on Ten is told from the POV of a particular character that isn’t Eddie. And I think he did that because Eddie was a little afraid of just how powerful and raw the feelings he was tapping into were. He wanted those little stories to be there as an intermediary between himself and the audience (a crutch he finally shed for good on Vitalogy). Eddie is not a good storyteller, and Alive isn’t a particularly good story. What matters about the song, and about Ten in general, is the sense of loss and violation and the struggle to rise above it.

Great riff, great chorus, cool lyrics, and even a guitar-solo I like. The song that got me into PJ, and I still love it. Five stars from me.

great song

This is Pearl Jam's best song. It's in my top ten of all time. The riff, the multi-part solo, the way Eddie sings the "I, I'm still alive". Everything about this song is perfect. The way in concert Ed's able to change the focus of the song to being about us, and the fist pumping "yahs".

I took my son to the Boston I concert for his 11th birthday. Alive was the closing song. Not only is the song powerful but the fan reaction is even more greater than the song. On the way out of the Fleet Centre my son goes "That last song was pretty good." Such an understatement. That last song epitomizes everything great in rock n' roll, the power, the passion, the anger, the redemption and the guitars. It still baffles me that this is not a concert mainstay.

wonderful song. the music is great and mikes solo is fucking awesome. the lyrics dont really touch me until the end, but eddie vedder's too bad of a singer so that helps.

also, hearing this live and seeing the crowd chanting "YEAH" during mikes solo is absolutely incredible.

edit: tyler your son is lucky to have a dad like you.

THEE ultimate debut song. I'm not an avid radio listener but sometimes, as I drive a truck, I've no option. I remember listening to some crappy station playing some crappy tune that I was about to turn over when, my cab was filled with the opening riff of alive. I was hooked. It's the song that changed my life in too many ways to discuss here. I guess it's harder for the younger ones on this forum to understand the impact it had on us older types. We were getting used to G n' R and the like. Nirvana were good too, but lacked the musicianship of PJ. Alive will always be in my top 3 songs ever, plus they always seem to play it in Ireland. Thay fucked it up last time though.

This is the first Pearl Jam song I ever heard, and it's still my favorite one.

never liked it. 1 star.

if they stopped playing it live, i wouldnt miss it.

one of the best songs ever made

I tell ya, this part of Alive in Vancouver 05, was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.

Awesome post BTW

Well it's the song that got me into PJ, so I'm gonna say it's a freakin' classic. It was great to see live at MSG in 2003.

Mike's Solo!!!!!

Wow Stip, that was deep. I see where you're coming from though. Great post!
I love this song, and Mike is just amazing. The intensity of the crowd is something that gives me goosebumps when I think about it. I wish I had been old enough when Ten first came out to see this live... I can't imagine the feeling of being in the crowd then.
Damn that would have been great.
I remember the first time I heard this song, I was in the car with my dad, I was 11. He cranked the radio and was pretty much screaming the lyrics. Not sure what the song had meant to him then... But it was that moment that had a profound impact on the music I listen to. Just seeing my dad's reaction to such a powerful song and from a band that I had barely heard of. From then on PJ has been #1 in my book

I'm at a frat party at college drinking a beer and shooting the breeze with a girl I would later start to date. We're having a good time and then all of a sudden the college radio station starts playing this song and it totally grabs my attention. "Whoa, what is that?" I'd later find out it was a new band called Pearl Jam and my friend had picked up their CD. "It's pretty good, you can borrow it if you want."

I did and I loved it. Alive, though, was the song that stayed with me the most. Some people see this as a story of someone who's been wronged, but I've always thought of it as a song about someone that overcame. This is in my all-time top 3 without question and the song that means the most to me.

Alive is the song I think that will always define Pearl Jam as a band. This is amzing and always will be five stars from me.

its definately my favourite mike solo.

Is something wrong?' she said
Of course there is
‘You're still alive’ she said
Oh and do I deserve to be?
Is that the question?
And if so...if so...
Who answers…who answers

I...I'm still alive


I agree with everything Stip said. For the record I'm 22 and am not a part of Gen X but the song for me, and the band in general, has always meant a lot to me. I agree with the significance Stip pointed out in how it relates to the generation but what makes this song great is how it still works today because it hits on timeless truths. It works for anyone who has every been thorugh any kind of traumatic expierence, which is pretty much anyone one.

Eddie was telling stories but in his stories he always hit on similar themes of pysical and pyschological abuse. Alot of these early songs feel like recovery for anyone looking ot overcome something traumtic. And like all the greats, the underlying idea is hope, that there is away to overcome.