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"Hard to Imagine" is a song by Pearl Jam. It was first well-known among fans as a hard-to-find song, available only on rare and expensive bootleg CDs. The song's first release to the mainstream was on the Chicago Cab soundtrack. Later, it was featured on the Lost Dogs compilation album, a collection of similarly rare Pearl Jam songs.
[edit] Origin and recording
The song features lyrics written by frontman Eddie Vedder and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard. The version featured on the Chicago Cab soundtrack was a Vitalogy outtake, while the one found on Lost Dogs was a Vs. outtake.[1] The different versions of "Hard to Imagine" all featured different lyrics. For example, one version had the lyrics "Paint a picture, forty shades of grey," while another version had the lyrics "Paint a picture, using only grey." According to Gossard, "Hard to Imagine" was cut from Vs. because the band already had enough mellow songs for the album.[2] Gossard also said that the song was cut from Vitalogy because it didn't fit with the other songs the band was writing at the time.[2]
[edit] Live performances
The song was premiered live at the band's August 7, 1992 concert in Mansfield, Massachusetts.[3] The song was played live from its debut in 1992 up until 1994 when it was dropped. The song made a return appearance on the band's 1998 tour before being dropped again. Following the release of Lost Dogs the song was regularly performed as part of the band's concert repertoire.[3] A live performance of "Hard to Imagine" can be found on the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set.
[edit] References
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