Jeremy

This song is about a boy who kills himself at school to get revenge on the students who tormented him. It is based on the true story of Jeremy Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore who killed himself in front of his English class at Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas, on January 8, 1991. Eddie Vedder found out about Jeremy when he read an article about the incident in the Dallas Morning News, which read: "Because he had missed class, the teacher in his second-period English class told Jeremy to get an admittance slip from the school office. Instead, he returned with the gun, police said. He walked directly to the front of the classroom. 'Miss, I got what I really went for,' he said, then placed the barrel in his mouth and fired." The article, which incorrectly states Jeremy's age as 16, adds that three Richardson students committed suicide in 1988.

Vedder could relate to the Jeremy Delle story because there was kid in his seventh grade class with similar leanings. Speaking with Karen Bliss in 1991, he explained that this kid "kind of freaked out and brought a gun into class one day" and shot a fish tank at the school. A year earlier Vedder had gotten in a fight with this kid.

The line in the chorus is "Jeremy spoke in class today." It is hard to understand if you don't speak Vedder.