Go (song)
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| “Go” | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Pearl Jam from the album Vs. |
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| B-side | "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" (acoustic) / "Alone" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette, Vinyl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | March 1993 at The Site, Nicasio, California | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Grunge | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:12 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Epic | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pearl Jam singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||
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"Go" is the first single from Pearl Jam's second studio album, Vs. (1993). It was released as a single in 1993. "Go" peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was also included on the band's greatest hits album, rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003.
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[edit] Origin and recording
"Go" was one of the songs the band produced during the first week of recording for Vs.[1] The main guitar riff for "Go" was written by drummer Dave Abbruzzese.[2] He initially wrote the song using an acoustic guitar. Abbruzzese said, "With "Go", I just happened to pick up the guitar at the right moment. Stone asked what I was playing and started playing it, then Jeff started playing it, and Eddie started singing with it, and it turned into a song."[3] Guitarist Stone Gossard added the siren-like guitar part.[2] Guitarist Mike McCready played a yellow Telecaster on the song. McCready threw the guitar on the ground at the end of the take, which can be heard on the recorded version.[4] Mike McCready on the song:
That solo on "Go" was probably the second of three or four takes. And I do have a problem recreating it live, because I wasn't thinking about it at all when we did it in the studio. So on stage, I get into this mode where I'll start to think while I'm playing, "Okay, this sounds like the album, and I want to emulate that." But to really capture that feel of being in the moment, I have to be in contact with the emotion that's running through me RIGHT NOW.[2]
[edit] Release and reception
It was released as a single with a B-side titled "Alone", which can also be found on Lost Dogs. The UK release of this single featured a free cassette with the Vs. track "Animal" being played live, which was distributed free with all the vinyl "Go" singles. This made the song ineligible for the UK top 40 chart. It is unknown how many sales the single generated, but as this was the case Pearl Jam essentially missed out on breaking into the UK's top ten single sales with this release ("Spin the Black Circle" eventually reached number 10 in November 1994, the band's only UK top 10 single). The song was nominated for the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995.[5]
The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number eight on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Chris True of Allmusic said that "Go" "can at times feel like a jam, but a jam that has stripped all the useless meanderings and solos in favor of sheer pace." He added, "For them to open up their second album, Vs. with this rather aggressive song...was an obvious statement by Pearl Jam that they were no longer the band of 'Jeremy' fame. This was a band intent on writing its own rule book, taking over their way."[6]
A montage of Shawn Kemp highlights set to "Go" can be found on the NBA Superstars 3 home video release. The song also appears on the Riding Giants: Soundtrack album.
[edit] Lyrical meaning
In Kim Neely's book Five Against One: The Pearl Jam Story, Dave Abbruzzese quips that Eddie Vedder told him he wrote the song about his pickup truck.[7] This may be a clever joke on the chorus of the song "Please don't go on me", but the full lyrics of the song suggest it is of a much more serious nature.
[edit] Live performances
The song was premiered live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in San Francisco, California.[8] On April 3, 1994, Vedder dedicated a live version of the song to Kurt Cobain shortly after the former Nirvana frontman had nearly died as a result of overdosing on alcohol and Rohypnol while on tour in Rome in March 1994. (Cobain's body was not found following his successful suicide attempt until 5 days later, on April 8. Cobain is believed to have died on April 5).
Live performances of "Go" can be found on the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set and on the live albums Live on Two Legs and Live at the Gorge 05/06. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000.
[edit] Formats and track listing
Information taken from various sources.[9][10][11][12]
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[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from various sources.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 3 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 5 | |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 8 | |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 21 | |
| Australian Singles Chart | 22 | |
| German Singles Chart | 96 | |
| 1994 | New Zealand Singles Chart | 19 |
| UK Singles Chart | 190 |
[edit] References
- ^ Crowe, Cameron. "Five Against the World". Rolling Stone. October 28, 1993.
- ^ a b c Garbarini, Vic. "Spit Fire". Guitar World. February 1995.
- ^ Peiken, Matt. "Dave Abbruzzese of Pearl Jam". Modern Drummer. December 1993.
- ^ Aledort, Andy. "Aural Exam". Guitar World. July 2000.
- ^ 37th Grammy Awards. Rockonthenet. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ True, Chris. "Go > Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2008.
- ^ Neely, Kim. Five Against One. Diane Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0-7567-7409-8
- ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Go"". pearljam.com.
- ^ Go [UK]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Torreano, Bradley. Go [US]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Go Single. Lukin.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ pjcollectors.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ PEARL JAM - GO (SINGLE) (12659). Australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
- ^ Chartverfolgung / Pearl Jam / Single. musicline.de. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ PEARL JAM - GO (SONG). New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ Norwegian Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
- ^ Dutch Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
- ^ Chart Log: 1994-2006. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
[edit] External links
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