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  1. Tracks
  2. Pearl Jam
  3. Once

TRACK

Pearl Jam

Once

Release date: 27th August 1991

Spotify More on Pearl Jam

About This Track

Eddie Vedder wrote the lyrics and Stone Gossard composed the music for 'Once', the opening track on Pearl Jam's debut album. The song builds around a restless, intricate guitar riff that Gossard layered with detail, leaving Vedder to carve out a simple melody that could sit above the density. The result is a track that moves between control and surrender, its narrator caught between restraint and compulsion, between watching and being watched. The lyrics trace a mind in motion, restless and self-aware. Vedder's voice carries a conversational tone through the verses, then opens into the chorus's refrain about losing and regaining command of oneself. By the song's end, the emotional stakes shift; the final repetitions of 'once' move from self-control toward self-love and the possibility of loving another. It's a small arc, but one that catches the album's larger preoccupation with vulnerability and the effort it takes to stay upright.

"Once" is a track by Pearl Jam, released 27th August 1991. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Pearl Jam.

About the Artist

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam

Lyrics

Once

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]

I admit it, what's to say? (Yeah)

I'll relive it, without pain

[Pre-Chorus 1]

Hm, backstreet lover on the side of the road

I got a bomb in my temple that is gonna explode

I got a sixteen gauge buried under my clothes, I pray

[Chorus]

Once upon a time I could control myself

Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah

[Verse 2]

Oh, try and mimic, what's insane

I am in it, where do I stand?

[Pre-Chorus 2]

Hm, Indian summer and I hate the heat

I got a backstreet lover on the passenger seat

I got my hand in my pocket, so determined, discreet, I pray

[Chorus]

Once upon a time I could control myself

Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah, oh!

[Guitar Solo]

[Interlude]

Rah!

You think I got my eyes closed

But I've been lookin' at you the whole fuckin' time

[Chorus]

Ooh, once upon a time I could control myself, yeah

Once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah

[Outro]

Once upon a time I could love myself, yeah

Once upon a time I could love you, yeah, yeah

Once! Once! Once! Once! Yeah

Once! Once! Yeah, yeah!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh once!

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

Once

1991
Listen
Release year
1991

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    Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard
    Producer
    Pearl Jam, Rick Parashar
    Bass
    Jeff Ament
    Drums
    Dave Krusen
    Guitar
    Mike McCready, Stone Gossard
    Vocals
    Eddie Vedder
    Mastering Engineer
    Bob Ludwig
    Mixing Engineer
    Tim Palmer
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