Formed after the demise of Gossard and Ament's previous band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with their debut album, Ten, in 1991. Ten stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for nearly five years, and has gone on to become one of the highest-selling rock records ever, going 13× platinum in the United States. Released in 1993, Pearl Jam's second album, Vs., sold over 950,000 copies in its first week of release, setting the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release at the time. Their third album, Vitalogy (1994), became the second-fastest-selling CD in history at the time, with more than 877,000 units sold in its first week.
One of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam's members often shunned popular music industry practices such as making music videos or participating in interviews. The band also sued Ticketmaster, claiming it had monopolized the concert-ticket market. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame."
Pearl Jam had sold more than 85 million albums worldwide by 2018, including nearly 32 million albums in the United States by 2012, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 in its first year of eligibility. They were ranked eighth in a readers' poll by Rolling Stone magazine in its "Top Ten Live Acts of All Time" issue. Throughout its career, the band has also promoted wider social and political issues, from pro-abortion rights sentiments to opposition to George W. Bush's presidency. Vedder acts as the band's spokesman on these issues.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam
Studio albums
Ten (1991)
Vs. (1993)
Vitalogy (1994)
No Code (1996)
Yield (1998)
Binaural (2000)
Riot Act (2002)
Pearl Jam (2006)
Backspacer (2009)
Lightning Bolt (2013)
Gigaton (2020)
Given To Fly
Pearl Jam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But he tuned out
A bad time nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor waiting locked out
He got up outta there ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up set him down on his knee
Delivered him wings "hey look at me now"
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh power oh
He's flying
Whole, high wide, oh
He floated back down 'cause he wanted to share
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
By faceless men, well, fuckers
He still stands
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
The love he receives is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly
Flying
Oh, oh
High flying
Oh, oh
He's flying
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
The song "Given to Fly" by Pearl Jam is most commonly interpreted to be about addiction, overcoming obstacles, and soaring towards freedom. The lyrics begin with a reflection of someone who could have found enlightenment or salvation but instead tuned themselves out. The line "a bad time nothing could save him" implies that this individual was in a state of despair and had lost all hope. The second stanza describes how he overcame this feeling of being "locked out" by running for miles and eventually making it to the ocean. The ocean represents a symbol of escape from his problems, and the act of having a smoke in a tree further reinforces this idea that he found solace in nature.
The chorus is where the song really picks up momentum with the lyrics "He's flying, oh, oh. High flying, oh, oh." The individual is exuberant and liberated, with "delivered him wings" being a metaphor for freedom from the chains of addiction. The final verse suggests that the singer's newfound freedom was still fraught with challenges. He still tried to spread love and help others, but he was met with violence and disappointment. The final line, "a human being that was given to fly" reminds the listener that anyone has the potential to achieve greatness, but for some people, it requires overcoming unimaginable pain and sorrow first.
Line by Line Meaning
He could've tuned in, tuned in
He had the option of tuning in to the world, but instead he chose to ignore it
But he tuned out
He gave up, stopped paying attention
A bad time nothing could save him
He was going through a hard time and nothing could make it better
Alone in a corridor waiting locked out
He felt trapped in his situation, waiting for an opportunity to escape
He got up outta there ran for hundreds of miles
He decided to escape and began running to get away, for a long distance
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
He reached his destination, sat in a tree and had a relaxing smoke
The wind rose up set him down on his knee
Suddenly, the wind blew strong enough to knock him to his knees
A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
He was hit by a powerful wave that felt like getting punched in the face
Delivered him wings "hey look at me now"
The experience of getting hit by the wave was exhilarating, making him feel like he can fly
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
He felt free, with the ocean as his new grounding
Oh power oh
The feeling of power was overwhelming, almost indescribable
He's flying
The newfound sense of freedom and power have given him the ability to 'fly' beyond his past struggles
Whole, high wide, oh
He feels complete and free, beyond his previous limitations
He floated back down 'cause he wanted to share
He came back down to earth because he wanted to share his newfound strength and power with others
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
He discovered a way to unlock the chains that were holding people back and want to share it
But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
He faced opposition and violence from people who didn't want change
By faceless men, well, fuckers
The people who opposed him were anonymous and cruel
He still stands
Despite the opposition he faced, he still stands and won't back down
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
He still has love to give, and wants to share it without expecting anything in return
The love he receives is the love that is saved
When he gives love without expecting anything back, the love that he receives in the end is genuine and fulfilling
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
Sometimes you can look up and see a symbol of his freedom and resistance in the sky
A human being that was given to fly
He was given the power to overcome his past struggles and help others do the same
Flying
He has transcended above his past struggles
Oh, oh
Expressing the feeling of freedom and power
High flying
The feeling of freedom and power is unbreakable
Oh, oh
An exclamation of pure emotion
He's flying
Reaffirming that the singer is indeed flying above all that weighed him down before
Oh, oh
An emotional and impactful climax to his journey to freedom
Oh, oh
A final exclamation of what it feels like to be free
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Eddie Vedder, Mike Mccready
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind