Alive (Pearl Jam song)

"Alive"
Single by Pearl Jam
from the album Ten
B-side	"Once" "Wash"
Released	July 7, 1991 (1991-07-07)
Recorded	January 29, 1991 (1991-01-29) June 1991 (1991-06)
Studio	London Bridge (Seattle, Washington) Ridge Farm (Dorking, England)
Genre	Grunge[1]
Length	5:41
Label	Epic
Composer(s)	Stone Gossard
Lyricist(s)	Eddie Vedder
Producer(s)	Rick Parashar Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam singles chronology
"Alive" (1991) "Even Flow" (1992)
Music video
"Alive" on YouTube

"Alive" is the debut single by American rock band Pearl Jam. It was released on July 7, 1991, 51 days before the release of the band's debut album, Ten, on which "Alive" appears. Written by guitarist Stone Gossard, the song originated as an instrumental titled "Dollar Short" and was included on a demo tape circulated in hopes of finding a singer for the group.^[2] Vocalist Eddie Vedder obtained a copy of the tape and wrote lyrics that describe a somewhat fictionalized account of the time when he was told that the man he thought was his father was not actually his biological parent.^[3]

"Alive" charted at number 16 in the United Kingdom and number nine in Australia. In August 2018, it became the first Pearl Jam song to receive a certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), eventually receiving a gold certification in July 2022 for sales and streams of over 400,000. It also reached the top 20 in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The single was available only through import in the United States, so it was not able to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the song did peak at number 16 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Remixed versions of the song were included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003), and the 2009 Ten reissue.