Vedder is known for his powerful baritone vocals. He was ranked number 7 on a list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time", based on a readers' poll compiled by Rolling Stone.
In 2007, Vedder released his first solo album as a soundtrack for the film Into the Wild (2007). His second album, Ukulele Songs, and a live DVD titled Water on the Road were released in 2011. His third solo album Earthling was released in 2022.
In 2017, Vedder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam.
Early life
Vedder was born Edward Louis Severson III in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, on December 23, 1964, to Karen Lee Vedder and Edward Louis Severson, Jr. His parents divorced in 1965, when Vedder was an infant. His mother soon remarried, to a man named Peter Mueller. Vedder was raised believing that Mueller was his biological father, and he went by the name Edward Mueller for a time. Vedder's ancestry includes Norway (Severson) and Dutch, German and Danish (Vedder).
While living in Evanston, Vedder's family fostered seven younger children in a group home. In the mid-1970s, the family, including Vedder's three younger half-brothers, moved to San Diego County, California. It was at this point that Vedder, who had received a guitar from his mother on his twelfth birthday, began turning to music (as well as surfing) as a source of comfort. He particularly found solace in The Who's 1973 album, Quadrophenia. He said, "When I was around 15 or 16... I was all alone—except for music." His mother and Mueller divorced when Vedder was in his late teens. His mother and brothers moved back to the Chicago area, but Vedder remained with his stepfather in California so he would not have to change schools.
After the divorce, Vedder learned the truth about his parentage: Mueller was really his stepfather. Vedder had met his biological father briefly as a child, but had believed that Severson was merely an old friend of his parents. By the time Vedder learned the truth, Severson had died of multiple sclerosis. During his senior year at San Dieguito High School, Vedder moved out to live on his own in an apartment, supporting himself with a nightly job at a drug store in Encinitas. Because of the pressure of work and school, Vedder dropped out of high school. He joined the rest of his family in Chicago, and it was at this time that he changed his name to Vedder, his mother's maiden name.
In the early 1980s, while working as a waiter, Eddie earned his high school GED, and briefly attended a community college near Chicago. In 1984, Vedder returned to San Diego, with his girlfriend Beth Liebling and his friend Frank. He kept busy recording demo tapes at his home and working various jobs, including a position as a contracted security guard at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Vedder had several stints in San Diego area bands, including Surf and Destroy and the Butts. One of those bands, called Indian Style, included future Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk. In 1988, Vedder became the vocalist for the San Diego progressive funk rock band Bad Radio. The music of the original incarnation of the band was influenced by Duran Duran; however, after Vedder joined Bad Radio, the band moved on to a more alternative rock sound influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Musical style and influences
Critic Jim DeRogatis describes Vedder's vocals as a "Jim Morrison-like vocal growl". Greg Prato of AllMusic said, "With his hard-hitting and often confessional lyrical style and Jim Morrison-esque baritone, Vedder also became one of the most copied lead singers in all of rock." Vedder has inducted the Doors, Neil Young, the Ramones, and R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in his induction speeches he has cited them all as influences. Other influences that Vedder has cited include The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, U2, the Who, Pink Floyd, the Jackson 5, Frank Zappa, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Tom Waits, Huey Lewis, Bob Dylan, and the Pixies.
Vedder was heavily inspired by the early Jethro Tull sound, stating that: "I'm a big fan of Jethro Tull, and I listen to this record [Stand Up] every night before I go on stage!"
Vedder's lyrical topics range from personal ("Alive", from Ten; "Better Man", from Vitalogy) to social and political concerns ("Even Flow", from Ten; "World Wide Suicide", from Pearl Jam). His lyrics have often invoked the use of storytelling and have included themes of freedom, individualism, and sympathy for troubled individuals. Other recurring themes include the use of water metaphors, as well as the idea of leaving everything behind to start again (featured in such songs as "Rearviewmirror", from Vs.; "MFC", from Yield; "Evacuation", from Binaural; and "Gone", from Pearl Jam).
Although best known as a vocalist, Vedder also plays guitar on many Pearl Jam songs, beginning with the Vs. songs "Rearviewmirror" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town". When the band started, Gossard and McCready were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively. The dynamic began to change when Vedder started to play more rhythm guitar during the Vitalogy era. McCready said in 2006, "Even though there are three guitars, I think there's maybe more room now. Stone will pull back and play a two-note line and Ed will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that." Vedder's guitar playing helped the band's sound progress toward a more stripped-down style; the songs "Rearviewmirror" and "Corduroy" (from Vitalogy) feature Vedder's raw, punk-influenced guitar playing. As he had more influence on the band's sound, Vedder sought to make the band's musical output less catchy.
He said, "I felt that with more popularity, we were going to be crushed, our heads were going to pop like grapes." He has also contributed performances on the ukulele, harmonica, accordion, and electric sitar to various Pearl Jam recordings.
Tonight You Belong to Me
Eddie Vedder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To somebody new
But tonight
You belong to me
Although (although) we're apart
You are a part of my heart
But tonight
Wait down by the stream
How sweet it will seem
Once more just to dream in
The moonlight
My honey I know
With the dawn
That you will be gone
But tonight
You belong to me
But tonight
You belong
To me
Eddie Vedder's song "Tonight You Belong to Me" speaks of the agony of being separated from a loved one who now belongs to another after a break-up. Vedder's melancholic lyrics express the desire to hold on, to reclaim the love that was once shared, even if only for a moment. The pain of separation is evidenced in the lines, "Although (although) we're apart/You are a part of my heart/But tonight/You belong to me."
The second stanza poetically describes the act of waiting by a stream, "How sweet it will seem/Once more just to dream in/The moonlight." Even though the singer knows that they will be parted again by dawn, they choose to savor the moment and cherish the memory of the love that was once shared. The song's title emphasizes this feeling of longing and desperate hope, "But tonight/You belong to me."
In summary, "Tonight You Belong to Me" is an emotional song that teases listeners with the possibility of a romantic reunion between two lovers who are no longer together. It's a poignant reminder that even if love ends, the memory of those sacred moments and the hope of their return can linger on forever.
Line by Line Meaning
I know (I know) you belong
To somebody new
But tonight
You belong to me
I understand that you may currently be in a relationship with someone else, but for this evening, I am hoping that you will be with me
Although (although) we're apart
You are a part of my heart
But tonight
You belong to me
Even though we are physically separated, you still hold a special place in my heart, and for the time being, I would like you to be mine
Wait down by the stream
How sweet it will seem
Once more just to dream in
The moonlight
If you were to join me down by the creek, it would bring back fond memories and would create a romantic setting under the stars
My honey I know
With the dawn
That you will be gone
But tonight
You belong to me
Although I am aware that come morning, you will leave me, for now, I would like to savor this moment and have you all to myself
But tonight
You belong
To me
Solely for this night, I desire that you dedicate your company and attention to me
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Billy Rose, Lee David
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rayenalvearrojas1391
I know (I know) you belong
To somebody new
But tonight
You belong to me
Although (although) we're apart
You are a part of my heart
But tonight
You belong to me
Wait down by the stream
How sweet it will seem
Once more just to dream in
The moonlight
My honey I know
With the dawn
That you will be gone
But tonight
You belong to me
But tonight
You belong
To me
@arturhenrique5477
When I listen to this I get this picture of a man playing the ukulele on a hospital bed and singing it with his wife that is terminal and is due to pass during the night or something... It makes me really sad but I also find it a very beaultiful scene
@valentine5051
I think it's because they took the key of the song down! It changes the feeling completely to a more bitter sweet oen
@domo201
That’s so beautiful and bittersweet..
@marianadias8595
I'm crying... that's so bittersweet
@mordecaialivanallenoshea7532
I picture Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters walking on a beach at night and I smile.
@berenebairona4839
Was that neccesary to comment 😪
@AlejoSkCardo
im so high and this sounds pretty good
@user-hq8ts6uj6x
hands down best comment
@adog4310
uM
@urmomisanormalhuman2543
LMAO