Description

Pearl Jam   Go
Epic   659795 2
Format: CD, Maxi-Single
Country: uk
Released: 1993
Genre: Rock, Alternative Rock, Hard Rock, Grunge
Tracklist
1 Go 3:13
2 Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town (Acoustic Version) 3:18
3 Alone 3:35

Phonographic Copyright (p) Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Copyright (c) Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Published By Innocent Bystander
Published By PolyGram International Publishing, Inc.
Published By Write Treatage Music
Published By Scribing C-Ment Songs
Published By Jumpin’ Cat Music

Composed By D. Abbruzzese*, E. Vedder*, J. Ament*, M. McCready*, S. Gossard*
Producer Brendan O’Brien, Pearl Jam
Technician [Assistant] Adam Kasper, Kevin Scott, Nick Didia

Published by Innocent Bystander / Polygram Int’l Publ. Inc. / Write Treatage Music / Scribing C-Ment Songs / Jumpin’ Cat Music
UK CD single in slimline case, shrink-wrapped sealed without a free Animal (Live) Cassette.
Black sticker affixed to the shrink wrapping reads: “Includes free cassette Animal (Live) 659795 2”.
Orange sticker affixed to the shrink wrapping reads: “This single is ineligible for ‘the only chart that counts’ 659795 2

“Go” is a song by American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1993 as the first single from the band’s second studio album, Vs. (1993). Although credited to all members of Pearl Jam, it features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music primarily written by drummer Dave Abbruzzese. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number two in New Zealand (their highest-charting song there alongside “Spin the Black Circle“), and it received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1995 Grammy Awards.

“Go” was one of the songs the band produced during the first week of recording for Vs. The main guitar riff for “Go” was written by drummer Dave Abbruzzese. He initially wrote the music for the song using an acoustic guitar. Abbruzzese said, “With “Go”, I just happened to pick up the guitar at the right moment. Stone asked what I was playing and started playing it, then Jeff started playing it, and Eddie started singing with it, and it turned into a song.” 

Guitarist Stone Gossard added the siren-like guitar part.  Gossard on the song:

That song went through a cool evolution that goes back to what we’ve been saying about creative input. Dave played us the two main parts, that BAM-BAM-BAM groovy chordal riff bit and then the main ascending riff in more of an acoustic vein. Then, when he got behind the drums, everyone turned up real loud and it evolved into something else, a little more hard core. 

Guitarist Mike McCready played a yellow Telecaster on the song. McCready threw the guitar on the ground at the end of the take, which can be heard on the recorded version. McCready on the song:

That solo on “Go” was probably the second of three or four takes. And I do have a problem recreating it live, because I wasn’t thinking about it at all when we did it in the studio. So on stage, I get into this mode where I’ll start to think while I’m playing, “Okay, this sounds like the album, and I want to emulate that.” But to really capture that feel of being in the moment, I have to be in contact with the emotion that’s running through me RIGHT NOW.

In Kim Neely’s book Five Against One: The Pearl Jam Story, Abbruzzese quips that vocalist Eddie Vedder told him he wrote the lyrics for “Go” about his pickup truck.  This may be a clever joke on the chorus of the song “Please don’t go on me,” but the full lyrics of the song suggest it is of a much more serious nature.

IF YOU WANT THE TAPE, REQUEST IT.

PEARL JAM: Animal (live) tape cassette. Free with the Go CD single UK. Check video

IF YOU WANT THE TAPE, REQUEST IT.