Pearl Jam is an American grunge/alternative rock band formed in Seattle, Wa… Read Full Bio ↴Pearl Jam is an American grunge/alternative rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), as well as Matt Cameron (drums), who joined in 1998. Keyboardist Boom Gaspar has also been a touring/session member with the band since 2002. Drummers Jack Irons, Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain, and Dave Abbruzzese are former members of the band. Pearl Jam outsold many of their contemporaries from the early 1990s, and are considered one of the most influential bands of the decade, being dubbed as "the most popular American rock and roll band of the '90s".

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)

In The Moonlight
Pearl Jam Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In the moonlight
Gettin', why I ought to get back
It's a, this day is sure to relapse
It's getting closer to up-ends

In the moonlight
Given two lost wings
A beautiful star, I see

A wonderful sense of feeling

In the moonlight
Feel, it's a love draw nearer
Darkened days, I spent in
A night bird is following you all the time

Under a star-lined ceiling
In darkness, I see
All your senses revealed
In the moonlight

It's, it's the love draw nearer
Darkened days, I spent in
A night bird is following you all the time
It's a love draw nearer

Darkened days, I spent in
A night bird is following you

Is following you
A night bird is following you all the time

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Pearl Jam's "In The Moonlight" are poetic and somewhat abstract, but there are a few themes that emerge when examining the song more closely. The song seems to be about longing, specifically the longing for love and connection. The moonlight is a powerful symbol throughout the song, representing the possibility of finding love, but also suggesting a sense of mystery and uncertainty.

The opening lines of the song set the tone: "In the moonlight, gettin', why I ought to get back." This suggests a sense of urgency and restlessness, as if the singer is searching desperately for something. The next line, "this day is sure to relapse," adds to this sense of unease, as if the singer is anticipating a letdown.

The central image of the song is that of a "night bird" following someone. This bird may represent the singer's desire for connection, or it may be a symbol of the feeling of being watched or pursued. The final lines of the song repeat the idea that the night bird is "following you all the time," reinforcing the idea of longing and the search for connection.

Overall, "In The Moonlight" is a haunting and evocative song that captures the feeling of searching for love in a world that can be dark and uncertain.

Line by Line Meaning

In the moonlight
Under the soft glow of the moon's light

Gettin', why I ought to get back
Feeling a pull to return to something or someone

It's a, this day is sure to relapse
Anticipating a setback or regression

It's getting closer to up-ends
Things are approaching a turning point or major change

Given two lost wings
Feeling disempowered or helpless

A beautiful star, I see
Finding beauty in something despite feeling lost

A wonderful sense of feeling
Experiencing a positive emotion

Feel, it's a love draw nearer
Feeling that love is becoming closer or more real

Darkened days, I spent in
Enduring a difficult or dark time

A night bird is following you all the time
Feeling haunted by something or someone from the past

Under a star-lined ceiling
Beneath a sky full of stars