Pearl Jam had a quick ascent to fame. The grunge group’s success levels exceeded their most optimistic projections, and they never anticipated to be in the spotlight. Eddie Vedder took some time to come to terms with the abrupt shift from playing half-empty clubs to sold-out arenas in a short period of time.
Even after releasing their breakthrough album Ten, Pearl Jam continued to largely stay out of the public eye. But because Nirvana’s Nevermind was so successful, grunge unintentionally became popular, which allowed bands like Pearl Jam to experience similar success. Ten became a best-selling record by the end of 1992, more than a year after it became available. After that their career was never the same.
While many musicians want to become well-known faces in the industry, Vedder was always entirely engaged in his craft. After their success, the frontman rose to fame as a beloved hero. He put him in a position of authority that unnerved him and fueling hopes for his return to normalcy.
Their second album, Vs, sold nearly a million copies in its first week alone and topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks in a row. It further solidified their superstar status. Vedder’s notoriety worsened his suffering, as he described in “Corduroy” on Vitalogy in 1994.
The title of the song alludes to a used corduroy jacket that Vedder had bought for a few bucks, had it remade, and sold for $650, which he saw as symbolic. The “ultimate” instance of him being appropriated, as he later told the AV Club, was when they created a new character for a soap opera and a guy who was more attractive than he was paraded around General Hospital. What’s funny is that Ricky Martin was that guy.
Although many might have interpreted this as a compliment, Eddie Vedder was deeply uncomfortable, which is why he reacted on “Corduroy”. He angrily sings, “I would rather starve than eat your breast. All the things that others want for me, I don’t want to take what you can give,” on the song.
But after “Corduroy” came out, Vedder apologised for the song’s lyrics, implying that they were too direct. “It is about a relationship, but not between two people”. The singer stated in a 1994 interview with the Los Angeles Times. It’s more about a single person’s interactions with millions of people. That song is actually a tad too obvious in my opinion.
He continued, “That’s why we included an X-ray of my teeth from last January instead of a lyric sheet. And they are all in very bad shape, which was analogous to my head at the time.”
Although there isn’t much room for interpretation in the lyrics of “Corduroy,” the song offers a fascinating glimpse into Vedder’s mind during a trying period when he felt as though he had lost his identity. He could have kept the message hidden, but maybe the song would have had less of an effect.
