Better Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Pearl Jam song; for the Robbie Williams song of the same name see Better Man (Robbie Williams song); for the Oasis song, see the album Heathen Chemistry
| “Better Man” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Pearl Jam | |||||
| Album | Vitalogy | ||||
| Released | November 22, 1994 (Vinyl) December 6, 1994 (CD and Cassette) |
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| Recorded | November 1993–May 1994 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 4:28 | ||||
| Label | Epic | ||||
| Writer | Eddie Vedder | ||||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam | ||||
| Vitalogy track listing | |||||
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"Better Man" (sometimes written as "Betterman") is a song by Pearl Jam from the 1994 album Vitalogy. It is the eleventh track on the album. The song was also included on Pearl Jam's greatest hits album, rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003.
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[edit] Origin and recording
"Better Man" was written by Eddie Vedder when he was in high school. He first performed it with a San Diego based group called Bad Radio. Vedder later recorded it with Pearl Jam, although Pearl Jam was initially reluctant to record it and had initially rejected it from Vs. due to its accessibility.
Producer Brendan O'Brien on the song:
There's a great song we recorded for Vs., "Better Man", which ended up on Vitalogy. One of the first rehearsals we did they played it and I said "man, that song's a hit." Eddie just went "uhhh." I immediately knew I'd just the said the wrong thing. We cut it once for Vs., he wanted to give it away to this Greenpeace benefit record, the idea was that the band was going to play and some other singer was going to sing it. I remember saying to the engineer, Nick [DiDia], "this is one of their best songs and they're going to give it away! Can't happen!" And we went to record it and I'm not going to say we didn't try very hard, but it didn't end up sounding very good. I may have even sabotaged that version but I won't admit to that. It took us to the next record, recording it two more times, before he became comfortable with it because it was such a blatantly great pop song.[1]
[edit] Reception
Never released as a single (a band practice which encouraged fans to buy albums instead), it nonetheless became one of Pearl Jam's most-played songs on the radio in the U.S. The song reached the top of Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the second spot on their Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number 13 on their Top 40 Mainstream chart in 1995. The song spent a total of eight weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. At the 13th annual Pop Music Awards of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, "Better Man" was cited as one of the most-performed ASCAP songs of 1995.[2]
Al Weisel of Rolling Stone called the song a "haunting ballad about a woman trapped in a bad relationship."[3] Chris True of Allmusic proclaimed it as "arguably the stand out track on 1994’s Vitalogy — and equally arguably — [one of] the bands’ better songs in the whole of their career." He added, "Vitalogy was, admittedly, the end of Pearl Jam’s reign as top rock act and it’s because of songs like "Better Man" that they were able to stay there without succumbing to all the traps of stardom and shameless marketing."[4]
[edit] Lyrical meaning
When the song was performed on VH1 Storytellers Eddie Vedder introduced it as a song about "abusive relationships."[5] It is often thought that Vedder had written it from a woman's perspective about an abusive relationship. Before a performance of the song at Pearl Jam's show in Atlanta, Georgia on April 3, 1994, Vedder clearly said "it's dedicated to the bastard that married my Momma."
[edit] Live performances
The song was premiered live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in San Francisco, California.[6] In Pearl Jam concerts, the slow opening verses and choruses of "Better Man" are frequently sung as much by the audience as by Vedder. The song is often performed live as a medley with The English Beat's "Save It For Later". At the last Vote for Change concert in 2004, Vedder made a guest appearance with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and sang "Better Man" upon Springsteen's request; sizeable numbers of the audience sang along with it. At Pearl Jam's 2006 concert in Arnhem, Netherlands, Vedder tagged Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" at the end of "Better Man".[7]
The song is also a part of the so-called "Man" trio ("Better Man", "Nothingman", "Leatherman") played occasionally at concerts. There is no connection between the three songs beyond the word "man" being in each of their titles.
Live performances of "Better Man" can be found on the live album Live on Two Legs, international versions of the "Nothing As It Seems" single, and on the live album Live at the Gorge 05/06. Performances of the song are also included on the DVDs Touring Band 2000, Live at the Showbox, Live at the Garden, and Immagine In Cornice.
[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from various sources.[8][9][10]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 13 |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 | |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 2 | |
| US Top 40 Mainstream | 13 |
[edit] References
- ^ Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten". Spin Online. August 2001.
- ^ Pearl Jam: Timeline. Pearljam.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ^ Weisel, Al. Vitalogy review. Rolling Stone. December 15, 1994. Retrieved on March 1, 2008.
- ^ True, Chris. "Better Man > Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Pearl Jam Tells Its 'Story' At VH1 Taping". Billboard.com. June 2, 2006.
- ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Better Man"". pearljam.com.
- ^ "Pearl Jam Concert Chronology: 2006". TwoFeetThick.com.
- ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ Billboard.com / Pearl Jam / Longplay. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "You Don't Know How It Feels" by Tom Petty |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single (first run) January 7, 1995 - January 20, 1995 |
Succeeded by "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" by Van Halen |
| Preceded by "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" by Van Halen |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single (second run) February 11, 1995 - March 24, 1995 |
Succeeded by "Lightning Crashes" by Live |
