Pearl Jam and what they mean to me

Pearl Jam. Whenever people ask who my favorite band is, that's who comes to mind. I know it's not necessarily what people expect to hear or the answer that they are looking for. I think they want to hear what I listen to "now" to get a sense of "the kind of music I listen to".

So here's the thing: I like a lot of different types of music. I have yet to find any genre in which I can say in all certainty that I dislike all of. I think music kinda winds in and out of itself, overlaps here and there, echoes across time, and can work it's way into our souls in different and meaningful ways.

Why do I like Pearl Jam? It stems back to young Meredith, who used to hear her brother playing their albums and thinking that that must be the cool thing to listen to (somehow I didn't connect with Rush as well). It stems back to my dance teacher allowing us to explore movement to some Pearl Jam songs. It involves me buying my first full Pearl Jam album for myself at the music store and listening to it alone in my room. Songs that resonated with me and questions about life. Learning guitar riffs so that I could play certain songs on my first guitar in high school. Singing along to "Elderly Woman" at the top of my lungs at a summer camp and knowing I would remember that moment for the rest of my life. It involves memories and dreams, experimental ideas and comfort.

I still feel something every time I listen to them. A lot of somethings, more like. And I still listen to them a few times a year. Mostly when I feel a little lost. I think somehow they always kinda bring me back to who I am.

This album changed my life. When I saw Pearl Jam for the first time live, I cried.