Dissident (song)

"Dissident"
Single by Pearl Jam
from the album Vs.
B-side	"Release" (live) / "Rearviewmirror" (live) / "Even Flow" (live) / "Dissident" (live) / "Why Go" (live) / "Deep" (live)
Released	16 May 1994
Format	CD single, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded	March–May 1993 at The Site, Nicasio, California
Genre	Grunge
Length	3:35
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder
Producer	Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam singles chronology
"Animal" (1994) "Dissident" (1994) "Spin the Black Circle" (1994) Vs. track listing "Glorified G" (Track 4) "Dissident" (Track 5) "W.M.A." (Track 6)

"Dissident" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1994 as the fourth single from the band's second studio album, Vs. (1993). The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).

Origin and recording

An early primitive jam version of "Dissident" can be found in the commercial breaks of the band's MTV Unplugged performance. After "Black", during the commercial break, the band jammed into a short progression that would become the basic "Dissident" guitar riff. This is clearly evident in bootlegs and video.

Lyrics

Vocalist Eddie Vedder about "Dissident":

In "Dissident", I'm actually talking about a woman who takes in someone who's being sought after by the authorities for political reasons. He's on the run, and she offers him a refuge. But she just can't handle the responsibility. She turns him in, then she has to live with the guilt and the realization that she's betrayed the one thing that gave her life meaning. It made her life difficult. It made her life hell. But it gave her a reason to be. But she couldn't hold on. She folded. That's the tragedy of the song.^[1]

At Pearl Jam's March 17, 1994 concert in West Lafayette, Indiana at Purdue University's Elliot Hall, Vedder said that the "holy no" in the song refers to date rape, explaining that "a woman's word is sacred and the no means no and that's what a 'holy no' is."^[2]

Release and reception

While the "Dissident" single was released commercially to international markets in 1994, the commercial single was not released in the United States until June 27, 1995 and was only available as a more expensive import version beforehand. "Dissident" peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Austria, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. "Dissident" reached the UK Top 20. "Dissident" peaked at number 97 in Germany, reached the top 30 in France, and was a top ten success in Ireland and Norway. It was a moderate top 20 success in the Netherlands. "Dissident" is one of the band's most enduring singles as it has remained a popular song on many rock stations.

Live performances

"Dissident" was first performed live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in San Francisco, California at Slim's Café.^[3] Live performances of "Dissident" can be found on the "Dissident" single, various official bootlegs, and the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000.

Track listing

All songs written by Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, except where noted:

CD (US, Austria, Germany, Japan, and South Africa)

1. "Dissident" – 3:35
2. "Release" (live) (Ament, Gossard, Dave Krusen, McCready, Vedder) – 4:54
3. "Rearviewmirror" (live) – 5:30
4. "Even Flow" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:04
5. "Dissident" (live) – 3:24
6. "Why Go" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:49
7. "Deep" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 4:44

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

CD (UK) (Part 1)

1. "Dissident" – 3:32
2. "Release" (live) (Ament, Gossard, Krusen, McCready, Vedder) – 4:54
3. "Rearviewmirror" (live) – 5:30
4. "Even Flow" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:04

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

CD (UK) (Part 2)

1. "Dissident" – 3:32
2. "Dissident" (live) – 3:24
3. "Why Go" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:49
4. "Deep" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 4:44

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

CD (Austria and The Netherlands)

1. "Dissident" – 3:35
2. "Release" (live) (Ament, Gossard, Krusen, McCready, Vedder) – 4:54
   • Recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

7" Vinyl (The Netherlands and UK) and Cassette (UK)

1. "Dissident" – 3:32
2. "Rearviewmirror" (live) – 5:08
   • Recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alternate versions

Two alternate versions of the "Dissident" single were released that do not contain the song "Dissident" at all. The track listings of the alternate versions are as follows:

"Dissident" #2 CD (Europe and Germany)

1. "Jeremy" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:00
2. "Glorified G" (live) – 3:19
3. "Daughter" (live) – 5:07
4. "Go" (live) – 2:57
5. "Animal" (live) – 2:48
6. "Garden" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 6:52
7. "State of Love and Trust" (live) (Vedder, McCready, Ament) – 3:58
8. "Black" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:45

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Dissident" #3 CD (Europe and Germany)

1. "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:08
2. "Blood" (live) – 3:39
3. "W.M.A." (live) (with Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill of King's X) – 6:24
4. "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" (live) – 3:43
5. "Rats" (live) – 4:37
6. "Once" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 3:21
7. "Porch" (live) (Vedder) – 11:01
8. "Indifference" (live) – 5:00

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Dissident"/Live in Atlanta

The "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta album packaging.

Altogether, the three "Dissident" singles compile the band's April 3, 1994 concert in Atlanta, Georgia, with the only omissions being three songs from the yet-to-be-released Vitalogy ("Whipping", "Better Man", and "Satan's Bed") and the Dead Boys cover "Sonic Reducer". All three singles were available as a box set entitled Live in Atlanta released in Europe.

CD Box Set (Europe)

Disc one

1. "Dissident" – 3:35
2. "Release" (live) (Ament, Gossard, Krusen, McCready, Vedder) – 4:54
3. "Rearviewmirror" (live) – 5:30
4. "Even Flow" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:04
5. "Dissident" (live) – 3:24
6. "Why Go" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:49
7. "Deep" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 4:44

Disc two

1. "Jeremy" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 3:00
2. "Glorified G" (live) – 3:19
3. "Daughter" (live) – 5:07
4. "Go" (live) – 2:57
5. "Animal" (live) – 2:48
6. "Garden" (live) (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 6:52
7. "State of Love and Trust" (live) (Vedder, McCready, Ament) – 3:58
8. "Black" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:45

Disc three

1. "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:08
2. "Blood" (live) – 3:39
3. "W.M.A." (live) (with Doug Pinnick and Jerry Gaskill of King's X) – 6:24
4. "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" (live) – 3:43
5. "Rats" (live) – 4:37
6. "Once" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 3:21
7. "Porch" (live) (Vedder) – 11:01
8. "Indifference" (live) – 5:00

• Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Chart positions

Chart (1994)	Position
Norwegian Singles Chart[4]	2
US Mainstream Rock Tracks[5]	3
Irish Singles Chart[6]	7
Dutch Singles Chart[7]	14
UK Singles Chart[8]	14
French Singles Chart[9]	24
German Singles Chart[10]	97

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Dissident" is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.^[11]

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
The Movement	New Zealand	"The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[12]	2004	31

References

1. ^ Jones, Allan. Pearl Jam - The Illustrated Story, A Melody Maker Book. Hal Leonard Corp, 1995. ISBN 0793540356
2. ^ "March 1994". PearlJam10YearsAgo.no.sapo.pt. April 7, 2002.
3. ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Dissident"". pearljam.com.
4. ^ "Norwegian Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&search=pearl+jam. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
5. ^ "Pearl Jam Artist Chart History". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=5392&model.vnuAlbumId=772120. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 
6. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2007-04-29. 
7. ^ "Dutch Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay". dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?cat=s&search=pearl+jam. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
8. ^ "EveryHit.com". http://www.everyhit.com/. Retrieved 2007-02-16. 
9. ^ "French Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay". lescharts.com. http://lescharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&search=pearl+jam. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
10. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Pearl Jam / Single". musicline.de. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Pearl%20Jam/?type=single. Retrieved 2007-06-11. 
11. ^ ""Dissident" accolades". Acclaimed Music. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/S3692.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06. 
12. ^ "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s". The Movement. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/movement.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06. 

External links

• Lyrics at pearljam.com