Today is legendary Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s 53rd birthday. A few years ago, Alternative Nation compiled a list of Vedder’s 50 greatest lyrics in not particular order to celebrate his 50th birthday. Here is the list, happy birthday Ed!
1. I know I was born and I know that I’ll die, the inbetween is mine
Pearl Jam – “I Am Mine”
2. Truants move on, cannot stay long. Some die just to live
Pearl Jam – “Immortality”
3. I’m a lucky man to count on both hands the one I love
Pearl Jam – “Just Breathe”
4. While you were sitting home alone at age 13, your real daddy was dying, sorry you didn’t see him, but I’m glad we talked
Pearl Jam – “Alive”
5. Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away
Pearl Jam – “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town”
6. I am lost I’m no guide, but I’m by your side
Pearl Jam – “Leash”
7. I’m already cut up and half dead, I’ll end up alone like I began
Pearl Jam – “Corduroy”
8. I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky
Pearl Jam – “Black”
9. Lost nine friends we’ll never know, two years ago today
Pearl Jam – “Love Boat Captain”
10. Speaking as a child of the nineties
Pearl Jam – “Habit”
11. Are you woman enough to be my man? Bandaged hand in hand
Pearl Jam – “Hail Hail”
12. I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good
Pearl Jam – “Wishlist”
13. So sing just like him, fuckers, it won’t offend him, just me, because he’s dead
Pearl Jam – “4/20/02”
14. All the bills go by, and initiatives are taken up, by the middle, there ain’t gonna be any middle any more
Pearl Jam – “Porch”
15. Daddy didn’t give affection, no, and the boy was something that mommy wouldn’t wear
Pearl Jam – “Jeremy”
16. Escape is never, the safest path
Pearl Jam – “Dissident”
17. But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed, by faceless men, well, fuckers, he still stands
Pearl Jam – “Given to Fly”
18. All that’s sacred comes from youth
Pearl Jam – “Not For You”
19. I’ll never suck satan’s dick
Pearl Jam – “Satan’s Bed”
20. Under my breath, I swear by sin
Pearl Jam – “Last Exit”
21. I study your face, and the fear goes away
Pearl Jam – “Sirens”
22. And I listen for the voice inside my head, nothin’, I’ll do this one myself
Pearl Jam – “State of Love and Trust”
23. I was bitten, must have been the devil, he was just paying me a little visit, reminding me of his presence
Pearl Jam – “Red Mosquito”
24. Are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?
Pearl Jam – “Present Tense”
25. Back pages and days alone that could have been spent, together, but we were miles apart, every inch between us becomes light years now
Pearl Jam – “Light Years”
26. She lies and says she’s in love with him, can’t find a better man
Pearl Jam – “Better Man”
27. The swallowed seeds of arrogance, breeding in the thoughts of ten thousand fools that fight irreverence
Pearl Jam – “Insignificance”
28. I swallow my words to keep from lying
Pearl Jam – “In Hiding”
29. I’m at peace with my lust, I can kill ’cause in God I trust
Pearl Jam – “Do The Evolution”
30. Belief in the game controls that keeps us in a box of fear
Pearl Jam – “Faithfull”
31. Slide up next to me, I’m just a human being
Pearl Jam – “The End”
32. Don’t see some men as half empty, see them half full of shit
Pearl Jam – “1/2 Full”
33. I got scratches, all over my arms, one for each day, since I fell apart
Pearl Jam – “Footsteps”
34. Wind in my hair I feel part of everywhere, underneath my being is a road that disappeared
Eddie Vedder – “Guaranteed”
35. For every tool they lend us a loss of independence
Pearl Jam – “Grievance”
36. Gonna rise up, burning black holes in dark memories
Eddie Vedder – “Rise”
37. Freezin’, rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again
Pearl Jam – “Even Flow”
38. She scratches a letter/into a wall made of stone
Pearl Jam – “Why Go”
39. Oh dear dad, can you see me now, I am myself, like you somehow
Pearl Jam – “Release”
40. If I keep holding out, will the light shine through? Under this broken roof, it’s only rain that I feel, I’ve been wishing out the days, come back
Pearl Jam – “Come Back”
41. He won the lottery when he was born, took his mothers white breast to his tongue
Pearl Jam – “W.M.A.”
42. Self-realized and metaphysically redeemed, may not live another life, may not solve a mystery
Pearl Jam – “Mind Your Manners”
43. Look for love in evidence, that you’re worth keeping
Pearl Jam – “Unthought Known”
44. I’m so high the sky I scrape
Pearl Jam – “In My Tree”
45. All of five horizons revolved around her soul as the earth to the sun
Pearl Jam – “Black”
46. I guess it was the beatings made me wise
Pearl Jam – “Rearviewmirror”
47. And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky/A human being that was given to fly
Pearl Jam – “Given to Fly”
48. Who’s got the brain of JFK?
Pearl Jam – “Brain of J”
49. The TV, she talks to me, breaking news and building walls, selling us, what I don’t need, didn’t know soap made you taller
Pearl Jam – “Ghost”
50. I wonder ’bout his insides, it’s like his thoughts are too big for his size
Pearl Jam – “Off He Goes”