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)

Push Me Pull Me
Pearl Jam Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I had a false belief
I thought I came here to stay
We're all just visiting
All just breaking like waves
The oceans made me but who came up with love?
Push me pull me push me or pull me out
Push me pull me or pull me out {2X}

So if there were no angels would there be no sin?
You better stop me before I begin
But let me say: if I behave can you arrange a spacious hole in the ground
Somewhere nice make it nice
Where the land meets high tide
Push me, pull me, or pull me out
Push me, pull me? {2X}

Like a cloud dropping rain
I'm discarding all thought
I'll dry up, leaving puddles on the ground
I'm like an opening band for the sun

Push me, pull me {6X}
I've had enough, said enough, felt enough, I'm fine, still in it?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Pearl Jam's Push Me Pull Me are a mix of introspective questioning and self-reflection. The opening line "I had a false belief, I thought I came here to stay" highlights this theme, with the singer thinking they are going to be able to stay in one place forever, only to realize later on that everything is transient and subject to change. The imagery of waves breaking like visitors serves to drive home this point, with life being compared to the ocean as something that is constantly in flux.

The next lines "The oceans made me but who came up with love? Push me pull me push me or pull me out" introduce another layer of questioning, with the singer reflecting on the origins of love and the forces that shape our lives like push and pull. This line serves as a good example of the song's overall theme of questioning the nature of existence and trying to understand what forces govern our lives.

The next verse again touches on morality with the line "if there were no angels would there be no sin?" raising a religious connotation, as if asking if there is no one to judge us for our sins, do they still exist? The singer begs to be stopped before they begin to warn that they may be thinking of something sinister. The following lines again question the nature of existence with the singer asking if they can arrange for their own burial, and if it's possible to make the burial space "somewhere nice where the land meets high tide".

Overall, Pearl Jam's Push Me Pull Me is a song that explores the deep, existential nature of life and existence, posing big questions about sin, love, and the forces that move us.

Line by Line Meaning

I had a false belief
I believed something that wasn't true

I thought I came here to stay
I thought I would remain in this place forever

We're all just visiting
None of us belong here permanently

All just breaking like waves
We are all ephemeral like waves that eventually break

The oceans made me but who came up with love?
I am a product of nature, but the origin of love is mysterious

Push me pull me push me or pull me out
I am undecided about staying or leaving, so someone else should make the choice for me

So if there were no angels would there be no sin?
Is morality subjective or objective?

You better stop me before I begin
I am about to say something controversial, so someone should intervene

But let me say: if I behave can you arrange a spacious hole in the ground
If I go against my nature and behave, can you provide me with a comfortable place to live when I die?

Somewhere nice make it nice
I want the place to be pleasant

Where the land meets high tide
By the sea where the water and earth meet

Like a cloud dropping rain
I am letting go and becoming carefree

I'm discarding all thought
I am ridding myself of intellectual baggage

I'll dry up, leaving puddles on the ground
I am becoming empty, leaving only remnants of myself behind

I'm like an opening band for the sun
I am insignificant compared to the grandeur of the sun

Push me, pull me {6X}
I am still uncertain about staying or leaving

I've had enough, said enough, felt enough, I'm fine, still in it?
I have experienced enough but am content with my current situation, yet still uncertain about staying or leaving

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Michael Gough

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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