Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder discussed his security job he had before joining Pearl Jam on the new Vs. 25th anniversary special on SiriusXM. He discussed the job when recalling how he came up with the guitar riff for “Rearviewmirror”. Alternative Nation transcribed Vedder’s comments.
“It was about the past, and at that point, after the first record, I went from being the security guard to being in a band that was recording a record in a really nice place. Rearview mirror, I don’t mind talking about that one at all, because that was just a little mantra I would play on guitar (hums riff).
I remember working late shift security and getting home, kind of torched at 9 in the morning after traffic, and playing because I wanted to play something, but I was too braindead to do anything complicated. It was like a meditation. I played that thing for years and years, and at some point it became time to make a song of it. All of the chord changes were there, and that day I decided what it was going to be about.”
Vedder joined Pearl Jam, first known as Mookie Blaylock, in 1990. He didn’t use the riff for 1991’s Ten, but used it when it came time to record Vs. in 1993.
