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Pearl Jam — Alive
Album: Ten
Avg rating:
7.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4498









Released: 1991
Length: 5:40
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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

Oh, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, oh

Oh, 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
'Cept the look, the look
Oh, you know where
Now, I can't see, I just stare

I, I'm still alive
Hey, I, but, I'm still alive
Hey, I, boy, I'm still alive
Hey, I, I, I'm still alive, yeah

Oo
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh

Is something wrong? she said
Well, 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, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, I, but, I'm still alive
Yeah, I, oh, I'm still alive
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Wow, uh-huh
Yeah, uh-huh
Oh, wow, uh-huh
Yeah, uh-huh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh
Oh
Comments (534)add comment
One of more than one 10 from Ten
 xrdstv wrote:



Like The Smiths - How Soon is Now.



I Agree!
 joejennings wrote:

Please play more songs from this album!!!   Thank You!



 longliverp wrote:

Ten




I Agree! ...Works for me!
It seldom or never gets better than this.  Simply awesome.  
Was and remains one of the smokingest hottest song crescendos in r & r.  Head banging bliss. 
 CCSandman wrote:

Yeah, it's a real classic, isn't it? Timeless, yet definitely recognisable of a time - I'm not making sense to anyone but myself... soz!




IDK, It makes a LOT of sense to ME!
 arranrjames wrote:

There should be a rating button for “Anthem”




Like The Smiths - How Soon is Now.
Ten
Please play more songs from this album!!!   Thank You!

Shuggie Bain

Fuuuuh.

Vedder is 58. 
Yeah, it's a real classic, isn't it? Timeless, yet definitely recognisable of a time - I'm not making sense to anyone but myself... soz!
I didn't find out until I was 56.
LOVE the guitar work on this entire album…just some pure fretboard pentatonic magic there.
This hits home for me every time...except my mother never told me.  Found out a few months after she died in a letter from my "real" father who lived in another country. Like a knife in my heart but I'll never know the truth. And yes, somehow I'm still alive...
Bill says: "Now we're going to up the energy level just a little bit". I got a good laugh out of that. Thanks.
I'm glad he still is!
Thirty fucking years ago. I was 11 when this came out. Son of a bitch.
This song gives me chills and takes me back to my first concert ever.  Pearl Jam and Sound Garden in a hockey arena. ca (um...) 1993
Epic sound. I liked their later music less.
The only reason I can't rate this a 10, is that a live performances take it over the top. Imagine 40K fans in an major league ball park belting this out together with Ed and getting your face melted by a solo that is pure fire. One of the anthems of my youth still gets me to this day.
This song gets better with every year that passes
11
 hfillmore wrote:
I don't normally write negative reviews but I think Pearl Jam are overrated and this song particularly bombastic. 
 
Perhaps you think genuinely kick ass rock and roll is overrated. Because this is that. 
Sorry kid....the guy you thought was your father wasn't.  
And oh by the way your real daddy was dying while you were turning thirteen.
And you never knew him.

OOOF!  Think that's a punch to the gut of any thinking person?  

And done by (what appears to be) your self-involved mother? 

Yeeesh. 

If this song is a reflection of Eddie's life then he's done well in overcoming it. 

He's done so despite the apparent influences of those you wouldn't wish on your worse enemy. But then again...without 'em Eddie wouldn't have grown up to be the man he is today?

So it goes I suppose.

Highlow
American Net'Zen
 mdnlsn wrote:
PJ's Ten is definitely in the conversation about best debut albums of all time. 
 
Compared to the rest of their output, I'd agree.
 hfillmore wrote:
I don't normally write negative reviews but I think Pearl Jam are overrated and this song particularly bombastic. 
 
I have always loved this album top to bottom.  Now, I will agree with you on any of their records ever since.
 hfillmore wrote:
I don't normally write negative reviews but I think Pearl Jam are overrated and this song particularly bombastic. 
 
Bombastic it is, but it all fits together perfectly. And every band member shines wonderfully, as you can shine in your twenties (without knowing it yourself, only to find this out when you're 40 or something). These guys were 100% alive and overflowing with creativity.
A rare 9 for me. This was THE album of the year for my friends and I back when we were in college (now almost 30 years ago!), listening to it on road trips, giving our friends hell if they didn't know every word to every song on the entire album. It just didn't get better than this. Man, this station is FULL of nostalgia. How am I supposed to get any work done??!!!
 hfillmore wrote:
I don't normally write negative reviews but I think Pearl Jam are overrated and this song particularly bombastic. 
 
To each their own.

To this cancer survivor, it is an extremely poignant song.  Solid 10.
I don't normally write negative reviews but I think Pearl Jam are overrated and this song particularly bombastic. 
 junebaby65 wrote:
That monotone drone....PSD here I come!
 
Then go listen to Michael Buble'!
 Stodoroff wrote:
PLEASE stop! Not what I want from my RP! 
 

need more Leonard Cohen?
PJ's Ten is definitely in the conversation about best debut albums of all time. 
Thanks Bill & Rebecca 
for many reasons... rate 10 
8 to a 10 for too many reasons to mention.  But one important one is having experienced survivor's guilt.
There should be a rating button for “Anthem”
Like many songs by PJ, it's a rocking great song about some deep and terrible real life things. Why are we all still alive and we might not deserve to be?...

Only reason this is not a 10 is that any version played live is sooo much better that hearing the studio version seems like it's missing something.
With the fairly recent passing of Tom Petty and Chris Cornell, I wonder what goes through Eddie Vedder's mind when he sings this song. I imagine he rode some rough waves after the death of Kurt Cobain, what with all the media attention and hating being on the cover of Time magazine, etc. What a pleasant surprise that he turned into such a stable, kind and thoughtful human being. Maybe singing this song helped.
I know many folks love this song, but I never understood its appeal. It's mediocre at best, and they have far, far better material.
I just finished watching "The Dirt", the Netflix biopic about Motley Crüe. One scene showed a giant billboard of this album cover outside the Crue's rehearsal space as the band is imploding inside, Tommy Lee saying "We're being left behind!!!". For sure, this album was a huge watershed moment as the 80s glam rock/metal scene faded into obscurity. Though it is neat to see how it has all endured, and nostalgia ensures that Nikki Sixx and Eddie Vedder can still make a living. 
PLEASE stop! Not what I want from my RP! 
 ppopp wrote:
I would go so far as to saying Pearl Jam is the finest rock band ever to come out of the US.

Here's why - they hit the ground running with an album which made them instant mega-stars and millionaires. But despite all the insanity which goes with what that does to a band, and the crumbling of the music genre they were labeled under shortly afterwards, they managed to keep it together to continue releasing really good albums and touring perpetually. For 20+ years and counting.

Pearl Jam can be forgiven for being prolific with their drummer replacements. They are still good to their roots, and are as consistent as any out there.

Pearl Jam have genuine significance in rock 'n' roll history. They are a huge piece of the puzzle that was the last big movement in music to grab the music world by the scruff neck and say "This is what's happening now, and it's bigger than anything else out there right now." And nothing has been bigger since. And they get extra brownie points for being a big part of what killed-off Big Hair Metal practically overnight.

I love metal in the 80's, but the moment I saw Whitesnake's guitarists pretending to play the riff to In The Still Of The Night with a violin bow, I realized it had all gone way too far. Peroxide hair, perms, spandex everything, eye-liner, looking moody in publicity shots, power ballads, more power ballads......Thank you for your contribution PJ.
 Yessir

One of the best debut rock albums ever.
Air guitaring in the office! And it's all RP's fault.
 junebaby65 wrote:
That monotone drone....PSD here I come!
 
Adios! 
That monotone drone....PSD here I come!
God. I DO enjoy this song so much!!!{#Bananajam}  {#Drummer}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lh26SAF8y0
My favourite Pearl Jam song to air guitar to. Channeling my inner Jeff Ammet right now. {#Bananajam}
 2020sk wrote:

Surely Faithful Foal?

 
I think that is the best thing I have seen all year{#Exclaim}
 kurtster wrote:
Hah !  I'm actually playing the vinyl of this album right now.

 
error>>>>error......HOW CAN YOU HAVE TWO SOURCES "ON" AT ONCE. (That's my wife.....talking to ME! YOU must be a male, too; seems to be a "guy thing")
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Hell to the yeah.  Gen X ear candy. 
 Faithful_Fool wrote:
 animals horse nodding dorf blaze GIF

 
Surely Faithful Foal?
I'm always late to realize just how good these guys were/are.
 animals horse nodding dorf blaze GIF
 kcar wrote:

Jethro Tull — To Cry You a Song  —>  Pearl Jam — Alive

{#Stop}
 

On a dreary rainy afternoon the world slid towards Hell, riding a trainwreck of a segue...

 
Anything after most Tull would be a relief for me.
Image result for pearl jam crowd surfing gif
Hah !  I'm actually playing the vinyl of this album right now.

Still love this.


must be PJ TEN day....

Black a few hours ago....

...and now Alive....

....can't wait for Jeremy


Mike McCready can do no evil, but Eddie Vedder's voice always annoyed me.
heard this song after getting fired from a job I enjoyed.

Every time I hear it (forget the lyrics) I am reminded to rise and stay alive!

Jethro Tull — To Cry You a Song  —>  Pearl Jam — Alive

{#Stop}
 

On a dreary rainy afternoon the world slid towards Hell, riding a trainwreck of a segue...
{#Notworthy}
{#Bananajam}
Can't explain why this record and this whole album speaks to me when much of grunge leaves me a little cold. This is still raw, screamy gorgeousness for me.
{#Dancingbanana_2}
 edvj wrote:


 
Ha! This.


{#Hearteyes}
y e s
2016...IT'S GONNA' HAPPEN!



Yesss! {#Bananajam}
{#Heartkiss}mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm   
 scrubbrush wrote:
After the great rock-n-roll drought of the 80s, this was the album that gave me hope. 

 
yeah, the 80's were a wasteland for music, when Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg came out I said hey the kids are all right after all
PIGGING AWESOME. CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS!!!  {#Bananajam}
WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Eddie's lyrics and his honest, heart-felt, raw emotion rips your chest open to force in the message. He is one of the few performers who has that kind of power.
darned near perfect rock n roll 
{#Hearteyes}
After the great rock-n-roll drought of the 80s, this was the album that gave me hope. 
awesome band. Seattle rock/grunge at it's absolute finest. 'TEN' was a storming album, a must have.
 {#Cheers}ppopp wrote:
I would go so far as to saying Pearl Jam is the finest rock band ever to come out of the US.

Here's why - they hit the ground running with an album which made them instant mega-stars and millionaires. But despite all the insanity which goes with what that does to a band, and the crumbling of the music genre they were labeled under shortly afterwards, they managed to keep it together to continue releasing really good albums and touring perpetually. For 20+ years and counting.

Pearl Jam can be forgiven for being prolific with their drummer replacements. They are still good to their roots, and are as consistent as any out there.

Pearl Jam have genuine significance in rock 'n' roll history. They are a huge piece of the puzzle that was the last big movement in music to grab the music world by the scruff neck and say "This is what's happening now, and it's bigger than anything else out there right now." And nothing has been bigger since. And they get extra brownie points for being a big part of what killed-off Big Hair Metal practically overnight.

I love metal in the 80's, but the moment I saw Whitesnake's guitarists pretending to play the riff to In The Still Of The Night with a violin bow, I realized it had all gone way too far. Peroxide hair, perms, spandex everything, eye-liner, looking moody in publicity shots, power ballads, more power ballads......Thank you for your contribution PJ.

 


Eddie's explanation of the lyrics and how the fans mutated them into a healing process for him is amazing. Watch storytellers.
 Kaw wrote:
The singing habits of the singer are annoying. Mumble mumble, whaaaa!!!, mumble mumble, wheeee!!!, mumble mumble, still alive.

 
So tell me, who is your favorite rock and roll band.
One of the concerts I regret that I missed...

It was 1992, I believe and we were all sitting in a dorm room debating on whether we should go see this new band called Pearl Jam at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Out of laziness we decided not to go – man we should have gone! Hell we were living right down the street!
 
  ppopp wrote:
I would go so far as to saying Pearl Jam is the finest rock band ever to come out of the US. 

Here's why - they hit the ground running with an album which made them instant mega-stars and millionaires. But despite all the insanity which goes with what that does to a band, and the crumbling of the music genre they were labeled under shortly afterwards, they managed to keep it together to continue releasing really good albums and touring perpetually. For 20+ years and counting. 

Pearl Jam can be forgiven for being prolific with their drummer replacements. They are still good to their roots, and are as consistent as any out there.

Pearl Jam have genuine significance in rock 'n' roll history. They are a huge piece of the puzzle that was the last big movement in music to grab the music world by the scruff neck and say "This is what's happening now, and it's bigger than anything else out there right now." And nothing has been bigger since. And they get extra brownie points for being a big part of what killed-off Big Hair Metal practically overnight.

I love metal in the 80's, but the moment I saw Whitesnake's guitarists pretending to play the riff to In The Still Of The Night with a violin bow, I realized it had all gone way too far. Peroxide hair, perms, spandex everything, eye-liner, looking moody in publicity shots, power ballads, more power ballads......Thank you for your contribution PJ.

  
Sasha2001 wrote:

Great comment, but the death of hair metal probably had more to do with Guns N' Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" which was released in 87'. Reason being that even though Guns came out of the same LA scene as all those other hair bands, their music rocked dirtier and illustrated how facile and derivative their contemporaries efforts were. Also, Appetite cleared space in the pop rock consciousness for harder and more alternative metal acts like Metallica, who blew up in 88', The Cult, and Jane's Addiction. After the success of these bands the hair bands ditched the spandex and hairspray and started wearing more black leather and tattoos just...like...Guns N' Roses.

By the the time Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Pearl Jam's "Ten" appeared in the Summer if 91' the hair metal movement was dead and buried. In fact, it was Seattle's own Queensryche who broke through a year earlier in 1990 with their prog-metal anthem "Silent Lucidity" and showed that there was a middle ground for reformed hair metallers still looking for relevance in a wide-open landscape.

In fact, there's an argument to made that Pearl Jam and Nirvana's huge popularity actually closed off avenues for rock creativity by inspiring so many grunge imitators. At it's best this annoying trend inspired the modern rock radio format that, needing to fill hours of programming introduced the main stream to bands like The Pixies and Sonic Youth, but at it's worst popularized copycat Grunge acts like Bush and Silverchair. 

Anyway, hope this helps. 

 
Excellent commentaries both.
 ppopp wrote:
I would go so far as to saying Pearl Jam is the finest rock band ever to come out of the US.

Here's why - they hit the ground running with an album which made them instant mega-stars and millionaires. But despite all the insanity which goes with what that does to a band, and the crumbling of the music genre they were labeled under shortly afterwards, they managed to keep it together to continue releasing really good albums and touring perpetually. For 20+ years and counting.

Pearl Jam can be forgiven for being prolific with their drummer replacements. They are still good to their roots, and are as consistent as any out there.

Pearl Jam have genuine significance in rock 'n' roll history. They are a huge piece of the puzzle that was the last big movement in music to grab the music world by the scruff neck and say "This is what's happening now, and it's bigger than anything else out there right now." And nothing has been bigger since. And they get extra brownie points for being a big part of what killed-off Big Hair Metal practically overnight.

I love metal in the 80's, but the moment I saw Whitesnake's guitarists pretending to play the riff to In The Still Of The Night with a violin bow, I realized it had all gone way too far. Peroxide hair, perms, spandex everything, eye-liner, looking moody in publicity shots, power ballads, more power ballads......Thank you for your contribution PJ.

 
Great comment, but the death of hair metal probably had more to do with Guns N' Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" which was released in 87'. Reason being that even though Guns came out of the same LA scene as all those other hair bands, their music rocked dirtier and illustrated how facile and derivative their contemporaries efforts were. Also, Appetite cleared space in the pop rock consciousness for harder and more alternative metal acts like Metallica, who blew up in 88', The Cult, and Jane's Addiction. After the success of these bands the hair bands ditched the spandex and hairspray and started wearing more black leather and tattoos just...like...Guns N' Roses.

By the the time Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Pearl Jam's "Ten" appeared in the Summer if 91' the hair metal movement was dead and buried. In fact, it was Seattle's own Queensryche who broke through a year earlier in 1990 with their prog-metal anthem "Silent Lucidity" and showed that there was a middle ground for reformed hair metallers still looking for relevance in a wide-open landscape.

In fact, there's an argument to made that Pearl Jam and Nirvana's huge popularity actually closed off avenues for rock creativity by inspiring so many grunge imitators. At it's best this annoying trend inspired the modern rock radio format that, needing to fill hours of programming introduced the main stream to bands like The Pixies and Sonic Youth, but at it's worst popularized copycat Grunge acts like Bush and Silverchair. 

Anyway, hope this helps. 
This is a great song, but it takes a step back compared next to Tull's "Cry You a Song".
 Kaw wrote:
The singing habits of the singer are annoying. Mumble mumble, whaaaa!!!, mumble mumble, wheeee!!!, mumble mumble, still alive.

 
This.

and to think that this "style" has become a trademark for all the grunge inspired (Bush, STP), post-grunge (Creed, Nickelback) and post-post grunge bands (The Calling) that came (and keep coming) after...

Secondly: If you want good music with the same "feel" but good, go for Screaming Trees.
BONUS: You can actually sing Lenny Kravitzs Fly Away over the chorus chords. 
Godlike
This song should be -9.
What only 7.9?
 Piranga wrote:
Most Excellent, then and now.

 
Damn I cannot play this loud enough on my headphones!
I was young when I heard this song the first time and it was love on first listening. 
This song accompanied me for so long and now I'm hearing it here. Thank you Bill!

 
 ppopp wrote:
I would go so far as to saying Pearl Jam is the finest rock band ever to come out of the US.

Here's why - they hit the ground running with an album which made them instant mega-stars and millionaires. But despite all the insanity which goes with what that does to a band, and the crumbling of the music genre they were labeled under shortly afterwards, they managed to keep it together to continue releasing really good albums and touring perpetually. For 20+ years and counting.

Pearl Jam can be forgiven for being prolific with their drummer replacements. They are still good to their roots, and are as consistent as any out there.

Pearl Jam have genuine significance in rock 'n' roll history. They are a huge piece of the puzzle that was the last big movement in music to grab the music world by the scruff neck and say "This is what's happening now, and it's bigger than anything else out there right now." And nothing has been bigger since. And they get extra brownie points for being a big part of what killed-off Big Hair Metal practically overnight.

I love metal in the 80's, but the moment I saw Whitesnake's guitarists pretending to play the riff to In The Still Of The Night with a violin bow, I realized it had all gone way too far. Peroxide hair, perms, spandex everything, eye-liner, looking moody in publicity shots, power ballads, more power ballads......Thank you for your contribution PJ.

 
Moving this great comment up.
While PJ can be found on any number of rock stations, for some reason they seem to fit nicely here, especially as a break in what can sometimes become sleepy-time on RP.
McCready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'Nuff said...
 averybadcat wrote:
eddie vedder, the substance that was always missing from inside jim morrison
 
You are right.  I'm sure there were many substances inside Jim Morrison's body when he died.  I doubt Eddie was one of them. {#Cool}
 averybadcat wrote:
eddie vedder, the substance that was always missing from inside jim morrison
 
Hey, that's a good comment!
YEAH!
Bob On, mates!
{#Guitarist}{#Hearteyes} 
Hee Kaw uit Apeldoorn, dat was me niet opgevallen want ik vind de zang niet zo belangrijk maar de de bas ne gitaren zijn toch wel geweldig om jezelf lekker te laten opzwepen. Het lijkt wel echt "live"maar dat staat er niet bij.
Die zeurderige zang vind ik van de Counting Crows, daar kan ik niet tegen, overigens goede muziek verder.
Leuk dat er meer nederlanders naar radioparadise luisteren. Dat is beter dan de nederlandse radio met veel geklets.

Pieter uit Den haag,

pkoelmans@ziggo.nl 
Of all their massively popular early classics, this is the one that I absolutely never ever get tired of, in concert, in my Ipod, or on any form of what we used to call radio.
The singing habits of the singer are annoying. Mumble mumble, whaaaa!!!, mumble mumble, wheeee!!!, mumble mumble, still alive.
eddie vedder, the substance that was always missing from inside jim morrison
I recall all the vitriol; "Nirvana rules, but Pearl Jam sucks," and vice versa, in those days. Seems that some gems from each still ROCK!
I could not agree more with you...
 
Piranga wrote:
Most Excellent, then and now.

 


 Art_Carnage wrote:
Wow. This has NOT aged well. A relic from another time.

 
I completely disagree. The ending is about as high-energy rock and roll as it gets. It's my Exhibit A for Headbanger Central. 
Most Excellent, then and now.
 cosmiclint wrote:
I'm in one of the northern churches, where it's a bit too cold for buck ass naked dancing, but I love this song too!
 
I live in a homeless camp these days, and we be lucky here that it is summertime right now in the northern hemisphere...  if it were winter now, then everybody in my homeless camp would have frozen gonads...  we be dancing...

hope life is grand for you right now, cosmiclint... 
 Art_Carnage wrote:
Wow. This has NOT aged well. A relic from another time.

 
Just thinking that as I completely ignored it in the background. Though the local "alternative" station continues to play it like its 1991.
Wow. This has NOT aged well. A relic from another time.
Just watched the documentary PJ20. Reminded me how incredible this album was (and still is) when it came out. One of the few albums by any artist where I can really say i love just about every song (even the seriously over-played).
F**K YEAH - Next week in Berlin!!!!!
I just can't get past the bombastic delivery.....