"Once" is a song by the American rock band

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

. Featuring lyrics written by vocalist

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard, "Once" is the first track on the band's debut album, '' Ten'' (1991). On ''Ten'', it is preceded by a brief interlude of the album's closing hidden track, "Master/Slave". Besides ''Ten'', the song was also featured as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

on the single for " Alive". Remixed versions of the song were included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, '' Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003)'', and the 2009 ''Ten'' reissue. The song is one of the band's heaviest compositions to date.

Origin and recording

"Once" features lyrics written by vocalist

and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard. The song originated as an instrumental demo titled "Agyptian Crave" that was written by Gossard in 1990. The instrumental was one of five songs compiled onto a tape called ''Stone Gossard Demos '91'' that was circulated in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer for the group.Pearlman, Nina. "Black Days". ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

''. December 2002. The tape made its way into the hands of Vedder, who was working as a gas station attendant in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

at the time. He listened to the tape shortly before going surfing, where lyrics came to him. Vedder recorded vocals for three of the songs on the demo tape, one of which was "Once", and mailed the tape back to Seattle. Upon hearing the tape, the band invited Vedder to come to Seattle and he was asked to join the band.

Lyrics

"Once" is the middle chapter of a trilogy of songs in what Vedder later described as a "mini-opera" entitled ''Mamasan'', with it being preceded by " Alive" and followed by "Footsteps". "Once" tells the tale of a man's descent into madness which leads him into becoming a serial killer. During the bridge of the song, Vedder can be heard muttering. He is actually saying "You think I got my eyes closed/But I'm lookin' at you the whole fuckin' time..."

Reception

Stephen M. Deusner of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

said, "On songs like 'Once', with its insistent breakdowns...there's a hardscrabble dynamic that the band would be unable to capture on subsequent releases." "Once" has received considerable radio airplay as Pearl Jam's popularity has endured. In March 2009, "Once" was made available as downloadable content for the ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'' series as a master track as part of the album ''Ten''. The song was featured in the ''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

'' episode "Into the Blue" in 2009.

Live performances

"Once" was first performed live at the band's October 22, 1990 concert in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington at the Off Ramp Café."Pearl Jam Songs: "Once""
. pearljam.com. Live performances of "Once" can be found on the "

Dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

"/''Live in Atlanta'' box set, various official bootlegs, the '' Live at the Gorge 05/06'' box set, and the ''Drop in the Park'' LP included in the Super Deluxe edition of the ''Ten'' reissue.

References

External links

*
Lyrics at pearljam.com
{{Authority control 1991 songs Pearl Jam songs Songs written by Eddie Vedder Songs written by Stone Gossard Song recordings produced by Eddie Vedder Song recordings produced by Stone Gossard Song recordings produced by Jeff Ament Song recordings produced by Mike McCready Song recordings produced by Dave Krusen Song recordings produced by Rick Parashar Works about serial killers