Jeremy (song) - Origin and Recording

Origin and Recording

"Jeremy" features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by bassist Jeff Ament. The song's music was written before the band went out on tour in support of Alice in Chains in February 1991.

Ament on the song:

I already had two pieces of music that I wrote on acoustic guitar...with the idea that I would play them on a Hamer 12-string bass I had just ordered. When the bass arrived, one of became "Jeremy"....I had an idea for the outro when we were recording it the second time...I overdubbed a 12-string bass, and we added a cello. That was big-time production, for us....Rick ’s a supertalented engineer-musician...Stone was sick one day, and Ed, Rick and I conjured up the art piece that opens and closes the song. That was so fun—I wanted to make a whole record like that.

In another interview, Ament stated:

We knew it was a good song, but it was tough getting it to feel right—for the chorus to sit back and the outro to push over the top. The tune went from practically not making it on the record to being one of the best takes. I'm not sure if it's the best song on the album but I think it's the best take. On "Jeremy" I always heard this other melody in the choruses and the end, and it never sounded good on guitar or bass. So we brought in a cello player which inspired a background vocal, and those things made the song really happen. Most of the time if something doesn't work right away, I just say fuck it—but this was an instance when perseverance paid off.