Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town

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"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"
"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" cover
Song by Pearl Jam
from the album Vs.
Released October 19, 1993
Recorded 1993
Genre Grunge
Length 3:15
Label Epic
Writer(s) Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder
Producer(s) Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
Chart positions
  • # 17 US Modern Rock Tracks
  • # 21 US Mainstream Rock Tracks
Vs. track listing
"Rats"
(Track 9)
"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"
(Track 10)
"Leash"
(Track 11)

"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" is a song by Pearl Jam which appears on their 1993 album Vs. The length of the song's title was a reaction by the band to the fact that most of their songs featured one-word titles.[1] The song is often referred to simply as "Small Town" by the band and their fans. The song was not released as a single, however it still managed to reach #17 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and #21 on their Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and is still played on popular rock radio. The song was included on Pearl Jam's greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003.

The lyric page for the song in the album's liner notes featured a picture of an "elderly woman," but at some point after the first pressings another picture was used in place of the original. Allegedly, the original woman never gave permission for her picture to be used, so Pearl Jam changed the picture to another woman. The difference is easy to spot, as "the new and improved woman behind the counter" is printed below the picture.

[edit] Lyrical meaning

Eddie Vedder about "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town":

It's kind of about a lady, and she's getting on in years, and she's stuck in this small town. Small towns fascinate me: You either struggle like hell to get out, to some people want to stay 'cause then they're the big fish in the small pond, and then others just kind of get stuck there. So here she is working in this little place, and then an old flame comes in, and he's probably driving a nice car and looking kind of sharp - not a fancy car, but he's moved on. And then she sees him, and at first she doesn't even remember who he is, and then she realizes who it is. She's just too embarrassed to say 'hello'.[2]

[edit] External links

Pearl Jam
Jeff Ament | Stone Gossard | Mike McCready | Eddie Vedder | Matt Cameron
Boom Gaspar | Dave Krusen | Matt Chamberlain | Dave Abbruzzese | Jack Irons
Discography
Albums: Ten | Vs. | Vitalogy | No Code | Yield | Binaural | Riot Act | Pearl Jam
Live Albums and Compilations: Live on Two Legs | Official Bootlegs | Lost Dogs | Live at Benaroya Hall
Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003 | Live in NYC 12/31/92 | Live at Easy Street
Videos: Single Video Theory | Touring Band 2000 | Live at the Showbox | Live at the Garden
Singles: "Alive" | "Even Flow" | "Jeremy" | "Oceans" | "Go" | "Animal" | "Daughter" | "Dissident"
"Spin the Black Circle" | "Immortality" | "Not For You" | Merkin Ball | "Who You Are" | "Off He Goes"
"Hail, Hail" | "Given to Fly" | "Wishlist" | "Last Kiss" | "Nothing As It Seems" | "Light Years" | "I Am Mine"
"Save You" | "Love Boat Captain" | "Man of the Hour" | "World Wide Suicide" | "Life Wasted" | " Gone"
Related content
Articles: Green River | Mother Love Bone | Bad Radio | Temple of the Dog | Soundgarden | Singles
Grunge music | Neil Young | Brad | Mad Season | Three Fish | Wellwater Conspiracy
Categories: Grunge musicians | Pearl Jam | Pearl Jam Albums | Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs | Pearl Jam Songs
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