History TearJerker / PearlJam

* Eddie Vedder is the Grunge frontman from the 90’s still around.

* Meta example: Eddie is ''[[TheLastOfHisKind the last living grunge vocalist of the 90s]]''. It's heartbreaking to know the people he sided with in a defined era of Grunge music, [[Music/KurtCobain one shot himself after a long downward spiral]], [[Music/AliceInChains his friend died of an overdose]], and [[Music/ChrisCornell another committed suicide after years of depression]]. Eddie is basically the last Grunge vocalist and it's scary to think what will happen to him.

* "Given To Fly", which is nothing short of exhilarating; it's supposed to evoke a fable or a picture book, but it's ''epic as hell'' nonetheless. Starts off as a TearJerker, ends up as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* And "Jeremy", about a teenager who committed suicide in the middle of his English class.

** Even more so when you learn that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson_High_School#Suicide_of_Jeremy_Delle it really happened.]]

* And "Jeremy," about a teenager who committed suicide in the middle of his English class.

** Even more so when you learn that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson_High_School#Suicide_of_Jeremy_Delle it really happened]]

* The DistaffCounterpart of "Jeremy", "Daughter", is about a young girl with dyslexia whose parents don't understand her problem, and treat her harshly thinking she's just lazy or rebellious.

** Even more so when you learn that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson_High_School#Jeremy_Delle_suicide it really happened]]

* "Black". In almost any other group's "hands" this would be a [[{{Narm}} cheesy]], {{wangst}}y song about UnrequitedLove, but Vedder and Co. make it ''work''.

** And the video having the bookends of weather reports was meant to convey that in the end, nothing changed.

I know you'll be the star in somebody else's sky\\

I know you'll be the star in somebody else's sky...\\

I know you'll be the sun of somebody else's life...\\
Why, why, why can't it be, oh, can't it be mine?

* "Black". In almost any other group's "hands" this would be just [[{{Narm}} a cheesy]] and {{wangst}}y song about UnrequitedLove, but Vedder and Co. make it ''work''.

* And "Jeremy". It's about a guy who committed suicide in the middle of his English class.

* For tears of joy, "Alive".
** Actually, "Alive" is not a happy-to-be-alive song at all- though it's often interpreted that way. [[WordOfGod Eddie Vedder]] puts it this way: "[He's] still dealing with love, [he's] still dealing with the death of [his] father. All [he] knows is 'I'm still alive'... that's totally out of burden... In the original story, a teenager is being made aware of a shocking truth that leaves him plenty confused... It was a curse—'I'm still alive.'" But, due to how many people have misinterpreted it, he adds: "They lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me." Oh, and my source is the song's wikipedia article, FYI...

** Actually, "Alive" is not a happy-to-be-alive song at all- though it's often interpreted that way. [[WordOfGod Eddie Vedder]] puts it this way: "[He's] still dealing with love, [he's] still dealing with the death of [his] father. All [he] knows is 'I'm still alive'...that's totally out of burden... In the original story, a teenager is being made aware of a shocking truth that leaves him plenty confused...It was a curse—'I'm still alive.'" But, due to how many people have misinterpreted it, he adds: "They lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me." Oh, and my source is the song's wikipedia article, FYI...

Swept out through the cracks beneath the door.."

Never woke up alone ever before..

** And the video having the bookends of weather reports was meant to convay that in the end, nothing changed despite the tragedy.
* The distaff counterpart of "Jeremy", "Daughter", is about a young girl with dyslexia whose parents don't understand her problem, and treat her harshly thinking that's she's just lazy or rebellious.

* "Yellow Ledbetter". The melody alone is pretty fucking depressing...

* "O4/20/02" was written and recorded hours after a distraught Eddie Vedder had learned that his friend Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains was found dead due to an OD from a speedball (A Heroin and Cocaine cocktail) In the song Eddie laments for the wasted talent of Layne and feels utter rage for recent musicians copying his vocal style.

* "Army Reserve", with lyrics co-written by Damien Echols (one of the accused in the controversial "West Memphis 3" case), is about a soldier's wife who tries to comfort her child, though she is nearing her DespairEventHorizon herself.

* "World Wide Suicide", a lament for a dead American soldier in the Iraq War [[WarIsHell (and on the futility of war in general)]], can count as this, though YourMileageMayVary if you're not as politically "liberal" as Vedder is.

Swept out through the cracks beneath the door..

* The sequel to "Man of the Hour", "[[GriefSong "Come Back"]]" - a young man's lament for his dead father - manages to outdo its predecessor.

* "Immortality" is a Kurt Cobain tribute that deserves a mention.

* "Given To Fly", which is nothing short of exhilarating; it's supposed to evoke a fable or a picture book, but it's ''epic as hell'' nonetheless