Daughter (song)

"Daughter" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1993 as the second single from the band's second studio album, Vs. (1993). "Daughter" topped both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Billboard charts. The song spent a total of eight weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. "Daughter" eventually peaked at number 28 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, becoming the band's first Top 40 single. "Daughter" is also on the compilation album rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003.

Origin and recording

Guitarist Stone Gossard used a Guild wide-body acoustic guitar to write the music for the song. Bassist Jeff Ament plays upright bass on the song. Guitarist Mike McCready said, "That's one of the few solos I really had to sit down and work out." Drummer Dave Abbruzzese on his drumming on "Daughter":

When we were originally working on "Daughter", I did a lot more stuff on the toms. But when we went in to record it, Brendan [O'Brien] suggested trying something different, to just use the kick and snare. That was a trip, because we'd already been playing that song for half a year, and I was kind of used to what I was doing. At first I was like, "Well...okay..." so I set up a 26" kick, a snare, and an 18" floor tom, and we just used the room mic's and went for it. It actually brought out a whole new dimension of the song for me, and it felt really fresh to me to play it like that. Live, I kind of mix the two approaches together.

Lyrics

Frontman Eddie Vedder about "Daughter":

The child in that song obviously has a learning difficulty. And it's only in the last few years that they've actually been able to diagnose these learning disabilities that before were looked at as misbehaviour, as just outright fucking rebelliousness. But no one knew what it was. And these kids, because they seemed unable or reluctant to learn, they'd end up getting the shit beaten outta them. The song ends, you know, with this idea of the shades going down--so that the neighbours can't see what happens next. What hurts about shit like that is that it ends up defining peoples' lives. They have to live with that abuse for the rest of their lives. Good, creative people are just fucking destroyed.

Release and reception

"Daughter" became the most successful song from Vs. on the American rock charts. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts. The acoustic guitar-driven song remains one of Pearl Jam's preeminent songs, and helped solidify the group's success following the monumental Ten. It has remained an alternative rock radio staple. In 1995, the song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Outside of the United States, the single was released in Australia, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. In Canada, the song reached the top 20 on the Canadian Singles Chart. "Daughter" reached the UK Top 20 and peaked at number 18 on the Australian Singles Chart. "Daughter" reached the top 50 in the Netherlands and was a top ten success in Ireland. It was a moderate top 20 success in New Zealand.

"Daughter" was described as a song "of a kind of ritual passion, tapping into something truly wild" in Rolling Stone magazine's review of Vs. Chris True of Allmusic described the song as "sort-of classic Pearl Jam." He added, "It's earnest, it's got tension, and that nod to classic rock. It's Pearl Jam.

Live performances

The song's live debut took place at Neil Young's 1992 Bridge School Benefit. It was also played at the band's December 31, 1992 concert at The Academy in New York City, where Vedder introduced the song as "Brother". Both of these performances of the song featured different lyrics than the version that would ultimately wind up on Vs.

"Daughter" is played at nearly every Pearl Jam show, almost always with an extension of the ending that could be an improvisation or a segment of another song. This extension is called a "Daughter tag". A different form of extension to the song was first introduced in the band's performance on Saturday Night Live in April 1994, just 8 days after the death of Nirvana frontman and grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain. A tribute to Cobain, it is called "Daughter/Hey Hey, My My" by fans, since the extension is from the Neil Young song "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", which Cobain's suicide note had quoted.

Live performances of "Daughter" can be found on the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set and the live albums Live on Two Legs, Live at Benaroya Hall, and Live at the Gorge 05/06. Performances of the song are also included on the DVDs Touring Band 2000, Live at the Showbox, and Live at the Garden.

Track listing

Compact Disc Single (US, Europe, Australia, Austria, and UK), 3" Compact Disc Single (Japan), 12" Vinyl Single (UK and The Netherlands), and Cassette Single (Australia)

1. "Daughter" (Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder) – 3:54
2. "Blood" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 3:34
• Recorded live in Indio, California on November 5, 1993.
3. "Yellow Ledbetter" (live) (Ament, McCready, Vedder) – 5:16
• Recorded live in Mesa, Arizona on November 6, 1993.

Compact Disc Single (The Netherlands and Austria), 7" Vinyl Single (UK and The Netherlands), and Cassette Single (UK)

1. "Daughter" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 3:54
2. "Blood" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 3:34
• Recorded live in Indio, California on November 5, 1993.7" Vinyl Single (Philippines)
3. "Daughter" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 3:53
4. "Animal" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 2:46

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1993	US Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
1994	US Modern Rock Tracks	1
	Irish Singles Chart	4
	New Zealand Singles Chart	11
	Canadian Singles Chart	16
	Australian Singles Chart	18
	UK Singles Chart	18
	US Top 40 Mainstream	28
	Dutch Singles Chart	46
1996	US Billboard Hot 100	97

References

External links

• Lyrics
• Allmusic review of "Daughter"