Top 10 Songs by Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam has been around since 1990 when the band was formed in Seattle, Washington. Considered "the most popular bands of the 90's" by Allmusic.com, Pearl Jam, skyrocketed into mainstream music with the hit album, Ten. Since 1990, the band has produced 9 records and has been at the forefront of the alternative/grunge rock movement. Narrowing 9 records down to a top 10 list was challenging but here are my picks for the top 10 songs by Pearl Jam.

Top 10 Songs by Pearl Jam

#10- "Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town" found on the album Vs.

Eddie Vedder, lead vocalist of Pearl Jam and writer of this mouthful of a track, claimed that the song was about a woman getting on in years who lived in a small town where she gets stuck but her flame moves on. He comes back and she is just too embarrassed to say hello. (Source: Wall, Mick. Pearl Jam. Music Book Services Corporation, 1996. ISBN 1886894337)

#9- "Daughter" found on Vs.

This song made it to number on the Mainstream Rock charts and stayed there for 8 weeks. Daughter shed light on child abuse and kids with learning disabilities.

#8- "Better Man" found on the album Vitalogy

I'm biased since this was the first time I had ever heard Pearl Jam. I was 14 and this was the CD I received for Christmas with my CD walk-man, way before iPods! Better Man discusses the reality of abusive relationships. Vedder, who wrote the song, dedicated it to "the bastard that married my Momma" in 1994 at a concert in Atlanta, Georgia.

#7- "Around the Bend" found on the album No Code

Around the Bend was written like a lullaby and in my personal opinion one of the best songs off of No Code. This album ranked #1 in 1996 and was Pearl Jams last number one album until 2009's release of Backspacer.

#6- "Given to Fly" found on the album Yield

This song is just an awesome tune. Pearl Jam played it at a 2005 concert benefit for Hurricane Katrina relief and then segued into "Going to California" with Robert Plant joining in.

#5- "Nothing as it Seems" found on the album Binaural

This is a haunting ballad with distorted sounds that only add to the song.

#4- "World Wide Suicide" found on the album Pearl Jam

Anger at the war in Iraq and a subtle criticism of the United States government can be heard in this song.

#3- "Just Breathe" found on the album Backspacer

Listen to the song here Just Breathe Video and you will understand why it makes it on my list.

#2- "Jeremy" found on the album Ten

Based on true stories, Jeremy, is based on two boys, one that Eddie Vedder read about and the other about a boy he knew. Both stories are about boys who brought guns to school. One boy named Jeremy Wade Delle killed himself in front of his classmates in 1991. The other boy the song is about is one that went to school with Vedder who shot up an oceanography room.

And number one on the list is my all time favorite Pearl Jam song. It is the one that Pearl Jam refused to make a video for and also refused to release it as a single because of its personal nature.

#1 Pearl Jam Song- "Black"

It can be found on the album Ten, it is track number 5. View the MTV unplugged version here on YouTube.