“It gets me every time”: the Pearl Jam song that makes Mike McCready emotional
There’s much more to Pearl Jam than what meets the eye. While they are best known for Eddie Vedder’s bellowing on grunge staples such as ‘Even Flow’ and ‘Alive’, the band have continued to move forward and remain the only outfit of the genre’s Seattle-based big four that has not experienced the same level of destructive inner-band tragedy as the others. One of their brightest aspects has been that Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard and the rest of the band are a tight unit.
While Pearl Jam’s sound might not be for everyone, whether it’s the frontman’s unique vocals or their classic rock inclinations, the quintet are undoubtedly excellent songwriters. Their collective scope has allowed them to move with the times and keep themselves relevant, a feat many outfits of their stature fail to achieve.
One way they’ve achieved this cohesion is by embracing their place in the world, a testament to their unity as a band. This spirit is epitomised by their 2013 album, Lightning Bolt, where Pearl Jam delved more explicitly into human themes than ever before. Musically, they returned to basics while crafting longer songs than on Backspacer, freely experimenting with diverse sounds reminiscent of their early years, resulting in tracks with hints of prog alongside punk influences. This evolution is most apparent in Vedder’s lyrical approach.
When penning the lyrics, Vedder made a concerted effort to be more upfront with what he wanted to say. As a result, he openly examines topics such as ageing and relationships, leading to some of the band’s most profound moments, carried by the power of his voice. This tone was reflective of the band members all starting to feel their age in that they understood that being on the verge of their 50s meant that they were no longer so closely in touch with the world as they were when they started. This realisation was the culmination of them and their parents ageing, long relationships, friends dying, and their kids starting to know more about the world than them.
Given that Vedder was approaching such weighty subjects with his words, he was initially reticent to do so. Yet, he ultimately realised that death is something that no one can avoid and that writing music about edging ever closer to the end would actually act as a form of therapy to work through it and appreciate each day.
The most affecting track is the closer, ‘Future Days’, a tender number that discusses the death of Vedder’s friend and Frogs member, Dennis Flemion, who drowned in 2012. The frontman also blends this mournful sentiment with questions about the future of the world for his children, stating that people need to take care in the present to secure the future.
‘Future Days’ means a lot to Pearl Jam as a band. They debuted it at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in 2013, and the crowd received it as you might expect: with sincere adulation. Since that moving moment, lead guitarist McCready has revealed that it’s the one track by the band that makes him really emotional.
“It gets me every time,” he conceded.
He told Kerrang: “The thing that strikes me about that song is his (Eddie’s) harmony on it. It gets me every time. And the subject matter of ‘I’m older now… gets me too.”
There’s much more to Pearl Jam than people often give them credit for. While their later work might not be as heavy as the content of Ten or Vs., the maturity of the words and music has increased greatly over the years, with them moving into a realm of total spiritual substance. It’s far removed from the dark days of grunge.
