Redo Pop Song 172 of 500 'Even Flow' Pearl Jam 1992

Redo Pop Song 172 of 500 'Even Flow' Pearl Jam 1992

My first version on Yamaha Digital Upright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQFMUTV2DBo&t=0s

The stark lyrics by Vedder for "Even Flow" describe the experience of being a homeless man. The subject sleeps "on a pillow made of concrete" and panhandles passersby for spare change. In addition to being illiterate, he may also be mentally ill, as he "looks insane" when he smiles and struggles to keep coherent thoughts ("Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies/Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away").

At Pearl Jam's March 28, 1994, concert at the Bayfront Amphitheater in Miami, Vedder introduced the song by saying, "I thought I'd throw in a bit of street education while you still have an open mind....Right across the street there's a little homeless community that lives under the bridge. You should just know that those people ain't all crazy and sometimes it's not their fault. This song is called 'Even Flow'."

At the May 12, 2008, show in Toronto, Vedder stated that the song was written under the Space Needle in Seattle. At a subsequent show in Seattle on August 8, 2018, Vedder revealed that the song was inspired by a homeless Vietnam War veteran (also named Eddie) whom he befriended while working on the band's first album. Vedder wrote the song after learning that the man had died while the band was touring

Freezin' rests his head on a pillow made of concrete again ooh yeah
Oh feelin' maybe he'll see a little betters any days ooh yeah
Oh hand out faces that he sees come again ain't that familiar
Oh dark grin he can't help when he's happy he looks insane

Even flow
Thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh he don't know, so he chases them away
Someday yet he'll begin his life again
Life again, life again

Kneelin' looking through the paper though he doesn't know to read, ooh yeah
Oh, prayin', now to something that has never showed him anything
Oh, feelin', understands the weather or that winters on its way
Oh, ceilings, few and far between all the legal halls of shame, yeah

Even flow
Thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away

Someday yet he'll begin his life again
Oh whispering hands, gently lead him away
Him away, him away
Yeah
Woo
Oh yeah yeah f*ck it up

Even flow
Thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away

Someday yet he'll begin his life again
Oh whispering hands, gently lead him away
Him away, him away
Yeah!
Woo
Uh huh yeah
Yeah yeah mommy, mommy