Not for You

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“Not for You”
“Not for You” cover
Single by Pearl Jam
from the album Vitalogy
B-side "Out of My Mind" (live)
Released March 21, 1995
Format CD single, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded January 1994–February 1994 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge
Length 5:52
Label Epic
Writer(s) Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder
Producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam singles chronology
"Spin the Black Circle"
(1994)
"Not for You"
(1995)
"Immortality"
(1995)
Vitalogy track listing
"Spin the Black Circle"
(Track 2)
"Not for You"
(Track 3)
"Tremor Christ"
(Track 4)

"Not for You" is the second single from Pearl Jam's third studio album, Vitalogy (1994). It was released as a single on March 21, 1995. "Not for You" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was included on Pearl Jam's greatest hits album, rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003.

Contents

[edit] Origin and recording

Guitarist Mike McCready on the song:

Tom Petty sent me this amazing 12-string Rickenbacker, and "Not for You" was the first time I used it. It was like a Christmas present. One day it just showed up at my door. I called him up and thanked him. But it's a cool song - an Eddie song.[1]

[edit] Release and reception

It was released as a single with a B-side titled "Out of My Mind".

The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 38 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

[edit] Lyrical meaning

Eddie Vedder about "Not for You":

I believe...that there is something sacred about youth, and the song is about how youth is being sold and exploited. I think I felt like I had become part of that too. Maybe that's why sometimes I have a hard time with the TV end of music and much of the media and the magazines. When I pick up a magazine, I just count how many pages of ads before the first article starts. You go one, two...up to fifteen to twenty or more. And then in the back you have phone sex ads. So I've pretty much had it. I don't want to be the traveling medicine show where we go out and do the song and dance and someone else drops the back of the wagon and starts selling crap. I don't want our music to sell anything--or anyone else use it. There are a lot of middlemen, somewhere between the band and the audience. I know you need some people to help facilitate things for the live show, and I'm not saying that I don't appreciate these people but...In the last ten or fifteen years, there have been a lot of changes in music, and somehow the percentages being charged [by the concert industry] got out of hand. We also don't want to be part of all the marketing tools or whatever, but believe me, we have been. [That happened] on the first album and that's probably why we are where we are now, but it was hell and I feel awful about it and I'm not going to do it anymore.[2]

In another interview, Vedder stated:

These attitudes out there...that it's the industry's music... And it's not. It's mine. And it's yours. Whoever's listening to it. It's mine and it's yours. And everybody in between, they're the distributors. I think that something like a music channel can be very powerful. Sometimes they think they're the ones who decide what's heard. I think that's a dangerous situation. And, I think, what's more dangerous is that they think it belongs to them. That's probably what "Not for You" is about.[3]

[edit] Live performances

The song was premiered live at the band's March 7, 1994 concert in Denver, Colorado.[4] The song was performed on Saturday Night Live in April 1994, almost eight months before the release of Vitalogy. A live performance of "Not for You" can be found on the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000.

[edit] Formats and track listing

Information taken from various sources.[5][6][7]

Compact Disc Single (US, Australia, The Netherlands, Europe, Austria, Canada, South Africa, and UK)
  1. "Not for You" (Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder) – 5:51
  2. "Out of My Mind" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 4:41
3" Compact Disc Single (Japan)
  1. "Not for You" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:51
  2. "Out of My Mind" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 4:38
7" Vinyl Single (UK, US, and The Netherlands)
  1. "Not for You" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:51
  2. "Out of My Mind" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 4:41
Cassette Single (UK, Australia, and US)
  1. "Not for You" (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:51
  2. "Out of My Mind" (live) (Abbruzzese, Ament, Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 4:41

[edit] Chart positions

Information taken from various sources.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

Year Chart Position
1995 New Zealand Singles Chart 10
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 12
Irish Singles Chart 26
Australian Singles Chart 29
UK Singles Chart 34
US Modern Rock Tracks 38

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!". Guitar School. May 1995.
  2. ^ Hilburn, Robert. "All Revved Up (As Usual)". Los Angeles Times. November 20, 1994.
  3. ^ Chiam, Lynn. "Pearl Jam Interview". Singapore's BIGO (Before I Get Old). April 1995.
  4. ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Not for You"". pearljam.com.
  5. ^ Not for You. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  6. ^ Not For You Single. Lukin.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  7. ^ pjcollectors.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  8. ^ EveryHit.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
  9. ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  10. ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
  11. ^ PEARL JAM - NOT FOR YOU (SINGLE) (74329). Australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
  12. ^ The Irish Charts - All there is to know. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
  13. ^ PEARL JAM - NOT FOR YOU (SONG). New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.

[edit] External links

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