Oceans (Pearl Jam song)
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“Oceans”
Single by Pearl Jam from the album Ten
B-side	"Why Go" (live) / "Deep" (live) / "Alive" (live)
Released	1992
Format	CD single, Cassette
Recorded	March 27, 1991 – April 26, 1991 at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington and June 1991 at Ridge Farm Studios, Dorking, England (overdubs)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	2:41
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament
Producer	Pearl Jam, Rick Parashar
Pearl Jam singles chronology
"Jeremy" (1992) "Oceans" (1992) "Go" (1993) Ten track listing "Jeremy" (Track 6) "Oceans" (Track 7) "Porch" (Track 8)

"Oceans" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1992 as the fourth single from the band's debut album, Ten (1991). A remixed version of the song can be found on the "Even Flow" single.

Origin and recording

The song features lyrics written by frontman Eddie Vedder and music co-written by Vedder, guitarist Stone Gossard, and bassist Jeff Ament. When the band joined the album's mixer, Tim Palmer, in June 1991 in Dorking, England for mixing, Palmer overdubbed a pepper shaker and a fire extinguisher as percussion on the track.¹ Palmer said, "The reason I used those items was purely because we were so far from a music rental shop and necessity became the mother of invention."¹

Composition

The song was performed in open D tuning.² The song is musically and texturally different from the rest of the album. Ament said, "When we were picking songs for Ten we thought it was important to pick the weirder moments, like "Oceans", because we wanted to be able to explore those areas down the line."³

Lyrics

The song was inspired by Vedder's affinity for surfing. Following Pearl Jam's performance of the song at the band's 1992 MTV Unplugged performance, Vedder stated, "[that was] a little love song I wrote about my surfboard...no actually it's to somebody named Beth who hopefully I'll see tomorrow."⁴

Release and reception

Outside of the United States, the single was released in Australia, Austria, and the United Kingdom. "Oceans" reached the top 30 in the Netherlands.

Music video

The closing shot of the music video.

The music video for "Oceans" was directed by Josh Taft, who had previously directed the "Alive" and "Even Flow" music videos for the band. The video was filmed in Hawaii in September 1992.⁵ The black-and-white video features scenes of the band members and other people in Hawaii, including Vedder surfing, Gossard driving, people swimming and running, and small planes flying. It also features performance footage of the band filmed in Maui, Hawaii at War Memorial Gymnasium. The video was only released to areas outside of the United States in late 1992. The video was not released in the United States as the band felt Ten was already too big.⁶ The video clip for "Oceans" can be found on the Touring Band 2000 DVD as one of the Special Features.

Live performances

The song was premiered live at the band's May 17, 1991 concert in Seattle, Washington at The Off Ramp.⁷ Pearl Jam performed the song for its appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1992, however this performance of the song was not aired when the show was broadcast on MTV.

Track listing

Compact Disc Single (US, Europe, Australia, UK, and Austria) and Cassette Single (Australia)

1. "Oceans" (Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament) – 2:44
2. "Why Go" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:30
3. "Deep" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 4:24
4. "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:46

• Live tracks recorded by VARA Radio on June 8, 1992 at Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands.

Chart positions

References

External links

• Music video for "Oceans" at YouTube
• Lyrics

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