Given to Fly

One of Pearl Jam's most popular songs of the late '90s, "Given To Fly" was written by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and lead singer Eddie Vedder. In Pearl Jam's compendium Twenty, McCready explained: "'Given To Fly' came out of a period of time when I was finally getting my life together after going through some dark stuff prior to that. Musically, it represents kind of an awakening for me, and it represents a period of renewal, a period of just kind of learning how to relive my life. I was more clear headed, and I was coming up with these ideas that were kind of celebratory. 'Given to Fly' musically was kind of that statement. That's why there's all the peaks and valleys in it. It starts off slow and then kind of builds." McCready battled alcoholism for much of his life, which was exasperated by Pearl Jam's success. He went through rehab in 1994 with full support from his bandmates.

The song seems to have some religious imagery, with lines like "The love he receives is the love that is saved." But Eddie Vedder says it has nothing to do with Jesus. When he wrote the lyric, Vedder imagined a children's book, with each line of the song on a separate page. "It's a fable, that's all," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1998. "The music almost gives you this feeling of flight, and I really love singing the part at the end, which is all about rising above anybody's comments about what you do and still giving your love away. You know? Not becoming bitter and reclusive, not condemning the whole world because of the actions of a few."

"Given To Fly" borrows its structure from Led Zeppelin's "Going To California." During a Hurricane Katrina Benefit concert, Pearl Jam played some songs together with Robert Plant, and while playing this one they segued over to "Going to California," acknowledging the homage.