Even Flow is the third song to appear here from Pearl Jam’s debut masterpiece record – Ten. More information about my connection to this music and the founding of Pearl Jam is in my article on their debut single ‘Alive‘. Today’s track Even Flow is the second single from the record and features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard. It peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Rock Tracks.
Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh, he don’t know, so he chases them away
Oh, someday yet he’ll begin his life again
Life again, life again
It is one of the first Alternative-Seattle music songs I remember hearing. I was blown away by the rawness of it. Even Flow, like the rest of the record presented a cutting-edge new sound that stripped all the varnish off the ostensible music which preceded it. It paved the way for others to follow a similar ‘grunge’ sound in their recordings. The contrast between what we were accustomed to hearing in the late 80’s to this groundbreaking new sound on Ten couldn’t be more stark. My bohemian friends and I way back then were sold and we listened to little else than Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Sound Garden.
Despite Even Flow’s huge success as a single, the band members recall doing upwards to a hundred versions of the song, but none were completely satisfied with any of them. Guitarist Mike McCready stated, “We did ‘Even Flow’ about 50, 70 times. I swear to God it was a nightmare. We played that thing over and over until we hated each other. I still don’t think Stone is satisfied with how it came out.“
Even Flow was first performed live at the band’s October 22, 1990 concert in Seattle at the Off Ramp Café. Pearl Jam performed the song for its appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1992. It has gone on to become the band’s most performed live song, having been played more than 800 times.
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Great choice!
Thanks Sheree. You like Pearl Jam?
A classic! I loved listening to it while commuting to college.
It is indeed a classic . I was at Uni when this came out. It was great to read your reflections on it.
Please feel free to visit me on my blog. I believe we share similar interests. No pressure.
I followed you and I look forward to reading your articles. I’m just looking at San Francisco peaks now 🙂
Welcome, and thank you.
My intro to the band. Still sounds good.
Yeh, it holds up well.
You forgot to mention that scorching solo by Mike Mccready, it is so epic. And there is a reason why it is played so often live, even after almost 30 times seeing them live, that song always grabs me for sheer intensity and intent from the band.
Yes, I overlooked it. Super, that you’ve seen them almost 30 times. Where did you mainly see them? Thanks for following the blog Ørjan . Cheers.
I have seen them all over Europe and a couple of times in New York. Me and my wife are slight PJ nerds. I wrote this: https://wremertravels.com/2021/08/24/pearl-jam-albums-ranked-from-not-so-bad-to-totally-epic-2/
I’m reading it now. It’s really good. Thanks for sharing. I admit I’m unfamiliar with much of Jam’s stuff after the Seattle – Alternative grunge scene took off in the 90’s. I agree that 10 is a classic. I think it’s one of the best records I have heard released in the last 30 years. I envy you have seen them in so many places. I regret not having seen them. Saludos.
Thanks🤘 I think they have developed to become one of the greatest rock bands of the last 30 years. Go and see them live if you can, always epic 3 hours shows, European crowds are best in Italy and Spain I would say. Saludos.
Will do, if I win the lottery! Haha