Eddie Vedder in 2010 (Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images)

“Better Man” was recorded in 1994 as part of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Pearl Jam[/lastfm]‘s third studio album, Vitalogy, but the song itself had been floating around in frontman Eddie Vedder’s head for a while before that. Vedder composed it originally while he was in high school on an old four-track machine. He has said of the song: “Sometimes I think of how far I’ve come from the teenager sitting on the bed in San Diego writing ‘Better Man’ and wondering if anyone would ever even hear it.”

Pearl Jam originally didn’t want to record Vedder’s song, feeling that it might not be very accessible to their audience. In fact, the song never even received release as a single (not uncommon for Pearl Jam, who tries to encourage fans to purchase albums). Recording it turned out to be a good idea for the band, however. It spent eight weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock charts.

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