Even Flow

"Even Flow" features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard. Bassist Jeff Ament said, "I knew it was a great song all along, and I felt that it was the best song that we got the worst take of on the first record. There were a hundred takes on that song, and we just never nailed it."Marsh, Dave. [https://web.archive.org/web/19981201035648/http://www.musicianmag.com/art/pearljam/ "Pearl Jam: Art and Economy"]. Musician. April 1998. Drummer Dave Krusen said, "I was pretty green back then and 'Even Flow' suffered from too much fluctuation." He added that "it was really tough for me. I don't know why. Not sure why we didn't use that one from the demo as well, but I know it felt better."{{cite web |url=http://www.vater.com/education/behindthescenes/InTheStudio/DaveKrusen/index.cfm |title=Dave Krusen: Looking Back at Pearl Jam's Ten |last=Brandolini |first=Chad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226012234/http://www.vater.com/education/behindthescenes/InTheStudio/DaveKrusen/index.cfm |archive-date=February 26, 2009 |website=Vater.com |access-date=July 28, 2016}} 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."Quinn, Bryan. [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/2009/03/09/q-a-session-with-pearl-jam-86908-21184381/ "Q+A session with Pearl Jam"]. Daily Record. March 9, 2009.

An alternate version of the song was recorded with drummer Dave Abbruzzese in 1992 while the band was recording songs for the soundtrack for the 1992 film, Singles.{{cite web | url=https://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_12-xx-93_-_modern_drummer.htm | title=Dave Abbruzzese of Pearl Jam | access-date=July 1, 2007 | author=Peiken, Matt | work=Modern Drummer | date=December 1993 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629145947/http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_12-xx-93_-_modern_drummer.htm | archive-date=June 29, 2012 | df=mdy-all }} This version was used for the music video,{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SPMfr38fCA|title=Pearl Jam — Even Flow|access-date=October 11, 2008|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}} and was used in single releases in the United Kingdom. This version is on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).

"Even Flow" was written in the key of D major,{{Cite web|last1=Stone|first1=Gossard|last2=Jam|first2=Pearl|last3=Eddie|first3=Vedder|date=August 1, 2011|title=Even Flow|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0095854|access-date=October 2, 2021|website=Musicnotes.com}} with Gossard performing his parts in open D tuning and McCready complementing it with a similar rhythm pattern in standard tuning.DiPerna, Alan. [https://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_07_xx_92_Musician_Magazine.htm "Alternate Tunings Climb the Alternative Charts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165320/http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_07_xx_92_Musician_Magazine.htm |date=March 3, 2016}}. Musician. July 1992. The recorded version of the song actually sounds slightly sharper than D major, with everything tuned up—accidentally or otherwise—around one quarter of a step. The song features a funk guitar riff by Gossard.

McCready on the song:

That's me pretending to be Stevie Ray Vaughan, and a feeble attempt at that. Stone (Gossard, Pearl Jam guitarist) wrote the riff and song; I think it's a D tuning. I just followed him in a regular pattern. I tried to steal everything I know from Stevie Ray Vaughan and put it into that song. A blatant rip-off. A tribute rip-off, if you will!Gilbert, Jeff. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gs0595.shtml "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!"], Guitar School, May 1995.

The vocal line that appears in the main verse begins with a very prominent tritone interval.

The stark lyrics by Vedder for "Even Flow" describe the experience of being a homeless man.{{cite web |last=Clay |first=Jennifer |url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/rip1291.shtml |date=December 1991 |title=Life After Love Bone |work=RIP |access-date=June 23, 2007}} The subject sleeps "on a pillow made of concrete" and panhandles passersby for spare change. In addition to being illiterate, he may also be mentally ill, as he "looks insane" when he smiles and struggles to keep coherent thoughts ("Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies/Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away").

At Pearl Jam's March 28, 1994, concert at the Bayfront Amphitheater in Miami, Vedder introduced the song by saying, "I thought I'd throw in a bit of street education while you still have an open mind. ... Right across the street there's a little homeless community that lives under the bridge. You should just know that those people ain't all crazy and sometimes it's not their fault. This song is called 'Even Flow'."[https://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Live_Song_Quotes.htm "Live Song Quotes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507085127/http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Live_Song_Quotes.htm |date=May 7, 2013}}. PearlJam10YearsAgo.no.sapo.pt. April 7, 2002.

At the May 12, 2008, show in Toronto, Vedder stated that the song was written under the Space Needle in Seattle. At a subsequent show in Seattle on August 8, 2018, Vedder revealed that the song was inspired by a homeless Vietnam War veteran (also named Eddie) whom he befriended while working on the band's first album. Vedder wrote the song after learning that the man had died while the band was touring.Rietmulder, Michael. [https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/photos-pearl-jams-home-shows-rock-for-a-cause-on-night-one-at-seattles-safeco-field/ "Review: Pearl Jam, Seattle fall in love all over again at joyous Home Shows on Night One at Safeco Field"]. Seattle Times. August 8, 2018.

The alternate studio recording of "Even Flow", which was recorded in 1992 with Abbruzzese, was released as a CD single and 12-inch white vinyl in the United Kingdom. The original version was used in single releases in the United States. The song was released as a single in 1992 with a previously unreleased funk{{cite web |url=http://clubs.calvin.edu/chimes/article.php?id=6401 |title=Chimes: Lost Pearl Jam songs will not lose appeal with fans |access-date=October 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022144410/http://clubs.calvin.edu/chimes/article.php?id=6401 |archive-date=October 22, 2014 }} B-side titled "Dirty Frank", which can also be found as an extra track on European releases of Ten and as an alternate version on the compilation album, Lost Dogs (2003).{{Cite book |last1=Bernard |first1=M. Corbett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENGGDwAAQBAJ&dq=Even+Flow+lost+dogs&pg=PT274 |title=Pearl Jam FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Seattle's Most Enduring Band |last2=Corbett |first2=Bernard M. |date=April 1, 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-61713-661-0 |language=en}}

The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Canada, the song reached the top 80 on the Canadian Singles Chart. "Even Flow" peaked at number 27 in the UK and number 22 on the Australian Singles Chart. It was a moderate top 20 success in New Zealand.

Chris True of AllMusic called "Even Flow" "the somewhat less ballady more swaggering follow up to the breakout single 'Alive'." True said that the song "doesn’t even really have an intro—it just starts and keeps going—and the band seems more in the groove than on the overly earnest 'Alive'." True said that the song "confirmed that Pearl Jam were more than just one hit grunge rock wonders."True, Chris. [{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t2403282|pure_url=yes}} "Even Flow > Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on May 16, 2008. The song was placed at number 77 on a list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080531001214/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/20947527/page/32 "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"]. Rolling Stone. June 12, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2011. "While most Seattle guitarists descended from Black Flag and Sabbath, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready updated the Stones' arena blues for a darker age. Grumbling riffs, frenetic runs and evil-laugh wah-wah created what McCready later cracked was a 'tribute rip-off' to Stevie Ray Vaughan." It was also included on VH1's countdown of the "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs" at number 30."100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". VH1. According to Nielsen Music's year-end report for 2019, "Even Flow" was the fifth most-played song of the decade spanning the years 2010 to 2019 on mainstream rock radio with 132,000 spins. All of the songs in the top 10 were from the 1990s.{{Cite web |url=https://loudwire.com/nirvana-most-played-radio-rock-band-decade/ |title=Nirvana Were the Most-Played Band of the Decade on Rock Radio |last=Trapp |first=Philip |date=January 14, 2020 |access-date=January 23, 2020 |website=Loudwire}} In 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number three on their list of the 10 greatest Pearl Jam songs,{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/top-10-pearl-jam-songs/|title=Top 10 Pearl Jam Songs|first=Jacob|last=Uitti|work=American Songwriter|date=December 30, 2021|accessdate=March 10, 2022}} and Kerrang ranked the song number eight on their list of the 20 greatest Pearl Jam songs.{{cite web|url=https://www.kerrang.com/the-20-greatest-pearl-jam-songs-ranked|title=The 20 greatest Pearl Jam songs – ranked|first=Sam|last=Law|work=Kerrang|date=January 19, 2021|accessdate=March 10, 2022}}

In February 2023, the song received a spike in listens and streams due to a meme on the social media app TikTok. The meme, known as "Steezus Christ", involves the 2010 video game Skate 3, in which characters dressed up to look like Jesus Christ perform incredibly complex tricks, notably the Christ Air.{{Cite web |title=Jesus Skating in Skate 3 to Pearl Jam's "Even Flow" / Steezus Christ |url=https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/jesus-skating-in-skate-3-to-pearl-jams-even-flow-steezus-christ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Know Your Meme}}{{Better source needed|date=May 2023}}

Pearl Jam originally hired director Rocky Schenck to film a music video for "Even Flow". On January 31, 1992, on their way to England to begin a European tour, the band members came to Los Angeles to film the video. The concept for the video was based on an idea by Gossard.Weisbard, Eric, et al. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml "Ten Past Ten"]. Spin. August 2001. Schenck filmed Pearl Jam in a zoo setting. He had arranged a nighttime shoot at an old, closed facility, brought in different wildlife, and set up his lights among the cages and in the trees. Along with the animal footage, the members of Pearl Jam were filmed individually and as a band, standing on the side of a cliff and air jamming. The shoot took hours, and the band was not pleased with the end result. Schenck's shoot was considered a waste of time and money by the band; it also damaged Abbruzzese's wrists significantly. After shooting had finished, he was taken to the emergency room where he was advised not to put strain on his wrists. Abbruzzese would drum on the band's European tour with a splint attached to his hands.

The original music video for "Even Flow" was ultimately replaced by a performance clip directed by Josh Taft, who had previously directed the "Alive" music video for the band, and who later directed the music video for "Oceans".{{cite web | url=http://www.pearljam.com/timeline/ | title=Pearl Jam: Timeline | access-date=June 27, 2007 | publisher=Pearljam.com |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080109033804/http://www.pearljam.com/timeline/ |archive-date = January 9, 2008}} The video consists of performance footage of the band filmed during a January 17, 1992, show at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. The video shows Vedder climbing the theatre, then jumping down between fans at the concert, and ending with McCready throwing his guitar towards the camera. Taft was filming that night not with his occupation as a director, but as a friend of Gossard's. At one point during the show, Vedder shouted indignantly: "This is not a TV studio, Josh! Turn those lights out, it's a fucking rock concert!". Taft left this incident in his final cut, but MTV clipped it out when it aired the video.

The footage used in the video is actually spliced from different songs: for instance Gossard and McCready each play two different guitars, Vedder wears a hat at some point and the theatre climb actually occurred during "Porch".{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060510011044/http://www.twofeetthick.com/style/images/cc/92/setlist_moore0117.gif "Pearl Jam Concert Chronology: 1992"]}}. TwoFeetThick.com. Taft's presence at the Moore Theatre show, and the fact that he had filmed sufficient footage to compile into a music video, proved to be a break for the band. Otherwise, with Epic ready to provide MTV with an "Even Flow" video and Schenck's version already completed, Pearl Jam would have had little choice but to go with it, and the band members unanimously despised Schenck's version when they saw the final edit. The alternate studio recording of "Even Flow", which was recorded in 1992 with Abbruzzese, was used for the video as the band felt it synched up well with the live footage. The video was released in April 1992.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/artist.php?last=Pearl%20Jam&first=&sortord=1|title=Pearl Jam music videos|access-date=February 22, 2008|publisher=Music Video Database|archive-date=March 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314192028/http://mvdbase.com/artist.php?last=Pearl+Jam&first=&sortord=1|url-status=dead}} The full January 17, 1992, show was released in 2013 as an audio download, Seattle, WA 17-January-1992.{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/seattle-wa-17-january-1992-live/688139049|title=Seattle, WA 17-January-1992|date=August 18, 2013|access-date=June 11, 2017|publisher=iTunes}}

"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. "Even Flow" has gone on to become the band's most performed live song, having been played more than 800 times (the next most played song, "Alive", is at more than 730 performances).{{cite web|url=http://pearljam.com/music/lyrics/997/studio/20854/even_flow?ref_album_id=18650|title=Even Flow|year=2010|publisher=Pearljam.com|access-date=May 12, 2016}} Over the years, the tempo of the song has become slightly faster in live performances. Live performances of "Even Flow" can be found on the "Dissident" single, the live album Live on Two Legs, the compilation album Wild and Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection, various official bootlegs, the live album Live in NYC 12/31/92,{{cite web|url=http://fivehorizons.com/tour/cc/t1992p2.shtml|title=1992 Concert Chronology part 2|last=Bruns|first=Jean|year=2004|publisher=Five Horizons|access-date=February 10, 2011}} the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set, the live album Live at Lollapalooza 2007, and the Drop in the Park LP included in the Super Deluxe edition of the Ten reissue. Performances of the song are also included on the DVDs Touring Band 2000,{{cite web|url=http://pearljam.com/music/releases/dvd/touring-band-2000|title=Touring Band 2000: Releases — DVDs|publisher=Pearljam.com|access-date=February 10, 2011}} Live at the Garden,{{cite web|url=http://pearljam.com/music/releases/dvd/live-garden|title=Live At The Garden: Releases — DVDs|publisher=Pearljam.com|access-date=February 10, 2011}} Immagine in Cornice,{{cite web|url=http://pearljam.com/music/releases/dvd/immagine-cornice|title=Immagine In Cornice: Releases — DVDs|publisher=Pearljam.com|access-date=February 10, 2011}} and the MTV Unplugged DVD included in the Ten reissue. On Live at the Garden, McCready performs an improv within "Even Flow" that goes on for nearly five minutes.

• Eddie Vedder – vocals
• Mike McCready – lead guitar
• Stone Gossard – rhythm guitar
• Jeff Ament – fretless bass{{cite web |url= https://www.guitarworld.com/features/jeff-ament-pearl-jam-evenflow |title= How Jeff Ament discovered a slide harmonic on Pearl Jam’s Even Flow|date=2023 |website= Guitar World}}
• Dave Krusen – drums

CD (US, Australia, Austria, Brazil, and Germany) and Cassette (Australia)

1. "Even Flow" (Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard) – 4:53
2. "Dirty Frank" (Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Gossard, Mike McCready, Vedder) – 5:32
3. "Oceans" (remix) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 2:46

CD (UK) and 12" Vinyl (UK)

1. "Even Flow" (new version) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:04
2. "Dirty Frank" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:32
3. "Oceans" (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 2:42

7" Vinyl (UK) and Cassette (UK)

1. "Even Flow" (new version) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:04
2. "Oceans" (remix) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 2:46

7" Vinyl (The Netherlands) and Cassette (New Zealand)

1. "Even Flow" (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:53
2. "Dirty Frank" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:32

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|artist=Pearl Jam|title=Even Flow|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=2024|access-date=July 3, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|title=Even Flow|artist=Pearl Jam|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=2023|id=16355-1667-1|access-date=November 17, 2023}}

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{YouTube|CxKWTzr-k6s|"Even Flow" (Official music video)}}
• [{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t2403282|pure_url=yes}} Review of "Even Flow"] at AllMusic

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Category:1991 songs

Category:1992 singles

Category:Epic Records singles

Category:Pearl Jam songs

Category:Protest songs

Category:Songs about homelessness

Category:Song recordings produced by Dave Krusen

Category:Song recordings produced by Eddie Vedder

Category:Song recordings produced by Jeff Ament

Category:Song recordings produced by Mike McCready

Category:Song recordings produced by Rick Parashar

Category:Song recordings produced by Stone Gossard

Category:Songs written by Eddie Vedder

Category:Songs written by Stone Gossard