The End
Summary
The End closes Backspacer with quiet grace—an acoustic ballad featuring strings and horns that speaks from the narrator’s deathbed. After ten tracks of tight, punchy rock, the song slows everything down, giving the album emotional resolution the faster tracks couldn’t provide. Eddie Vedder is the only band member on this track—just his voice and acoustic guitar backed by orchestral arrangements.
Stone Gossard praised the song’s achievement:
“To have a song that is so simple in terms of the vocal melody and delivery… for the words to have that much impact and to flow without a complex rhyme strategy. It’s just ridiculously good. He just about breaks his voice. It’s so vulnerable.”
— Stone Gossard Billboard
Vedder drew inspiration from a specific influence:
“It became kind of emotional when we laid the strings down. I was really moved by this song when I was a kid called ‘Street in the City’ off Rough Mix by Pete Townshend. It was such a powerful juxtaposition of strings with just acoustic guitar.”
— Eddie Vedder Billboard
Key Details
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Album | Backspacer (2009) |
| Track Number | 11 |
| Release Date | September 20, 2009 |
| Duration | 4:10 |
| Writer | Eddie Vedder |
| Producer | Brendan O’Brien |
| Label | Monkeywrench/Universal |
| Solo Tour Debut | June 12, 2009, Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA |
| Live Performances | 75 (per setlist.fm, mostly Vedder solo) |
Background & Inspiration
Solo Origin
Vedder wrote “The End” and performed it live on his 2008 solo tour before recording it with Pearl Jam. The song’s intimate nature made it natural for solo performance—just voice and guitar, later enhanced with orchestration.
The Phone Message
The song’s creation has a specific, almost mystical origin story:
“I got a phone call from a friend, from Spain. I couldn’t pick up the phone because I was recording the guitar part. I had written half the song’s lyrics. When I checked his message, he had said something that enabled me to write the second verse, and in 20 minutes, it was done.”
— Eddie Vedder Songfacts
The serendipitous timing—a message arriving during recording that completed the song—suggests creative synchronicity.
Pete Townshend Influence
Vedder cited Pete Townshend’s “Street in the City” (from Rough Mix, 1977) as inspiration for the strings-with-acoustic approach. The song made a powerful impression in his youth—a model for how orchestration could enhance rather than overwhelm intimate songwriting.
Lyrics & Interpretation
Deathbed Perspective
The narrator speaks from their deathbed, reflecting on life as it ends. The perspective isn’t morbid or despairing—there’s acceptance, even peace, in the observation.
Breaking His Voice
Gossard noted that Vedder “just about breaks his voice. It’s so vulnerable.” The vocal delivery matches the content—raw, exposed, on the edge of breaking down. The restraint makes the emotion more powerful.
Connection to “Just Breathe”
Where “Just Breathe” speaks from mid-life awareness of mortality, “The End” looks back from the finish line. Together they form a meditation on death from different temporal perspectives. One acknowledges mortality is coming; the other acknowledges it’s arrived.
Alternative Reading
Some fans suggest “The End” represents not death but the end of time with family—“a tearful goodbye to his loved ones as he leaves them once more to head back out on tour” Pearl Jam Community . This reading makes the song about recurring separation rather than final ending.
Key Themes
- Mortality acceptance: Making peace with life’s end
- Reflection: Looking back on what mattered
- Vulnerability: Emotional exposure without protection
- Closure: Finding completion before ending
Composition & Arrangement
Solo Performance
Vedder is the only band member on this track. The arrangement features:
- Acoustic guitar (Vedder)
- Vocals (Vedder)
- Strings and horns (arranged by Eddie Horst)
The full band’s absence emphasizes intimacy—this is confession, not communal rock.
Musical specifications:
- Key: G major
- Tempo: Slow (~70 BPM)
- Time Signature: 4/4
- Duration: 4:10
Orchestral Enhancement
The strings and horns enter gradually, building emotional weight without overwhelming the intimate foundation. The orchestration provides gravity—suggesting classical tradition, formal endings, ceremonial weight.
Simplicity as Strength
Gossard emphasized the song’s power lies in simplicity: “so simple in terms of the vocal melody and delivery… for the words to have that much impact and to flow without a complex rhyme strategy.” Complex arrangements would have undermined the vulnerability.
Production & Recording
Henson and Southern Tracks
Studios: Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles), Southern Tracks Recording (Atlanta) Recording Period: February–April 2009 Producer: Brendan O’Brien String/Horn Arrangement: Eddie Horst
O’Brien’s production serves the song’s intimacy while the orchestral arrangement adds depth. The mix keeps Vedder’s vocal and acoustic guitar central, with strings and horns as supportive color.
Emotional Recording
Vedder noted that recording the strings was particularly emotional—the orchestration brought out the song’s full weight. The Pete Townshend influence guided the approach: strings should enhance, not compete.
Critical Reception & Legacy
Fitting Closer
“The End” received praise as a fitting closer that provided emotional counterweight to Backspacer’s energetic majority. Critics noted: “The End echoes ‘Just Breathe,’ with its bare acoustic guitar and cello” Static and Feedback .
Greatest Songs Prediction
Gossard’s comment—“I think this song is going to stand out as one of Vedder’s greatest songs ever”—placed high expectations on the track. Its continued presence in solo performances supports that assessment.
Legacy:
- Provided emotional resolution to lean rock album
- Demonstrated Vedder’s ability to address mortality directly
- Showed orchestral arrangements could work within PJ context
- Created album architecture with “Just Breathe” as complementary moment
- Gossard: “one of Vedder’s greatest songs ever”
Live Performances
Statistics
| Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| Solo Tour Debut | June 12, 2009, Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA |
| Total Performances | 75 (per setlist.fm, mostly Vedder solo) |
| Most Recent | October 23, 2023, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA |
| Typical Placement | End of set or encore |
Solo Context
The majority of performances have been Vedder solo rather than full-band Pearl Jam, fitting the song’s stripped-down, personal nature. The October 2023 Benaroya Hall performance (during the Earthling tour) shows Vedder continues to return to this song 14 years after its album release.
Natural Closer
The song’s nature as album closer made it natural for similar live placement. When Vedder performs it, it typically ends a set or serves as encore material.
Personnel & Credits
Pearl Jam
| Member | Role |
|---|---|
| Eddie Vedder | Vocals, acoustic guitar |
Additional Musicians
| Role | Personnel |
|---|---|
| String/Horn Arrangement | Eddie Horst |
| Session Musicians | Strings and horns |
Production Team
| Role | Personnel |
|---|---|
| Producer | Brendan O’Brien |
| Engineers | Nick Didia, Brendan O’Brien |
| Mastering | Bob Ludwig |
Fan Theories & Trivia
The Friend from Spain
The friend whose message completed the song remains unidentified. What he said that enabled the second verse is unknown—but the timing was perfect.
Album Title Connection
The album title “Backspacer” refers to the typewriter key that allows corrections—going back to make changes. “The End” suggests what happens when you can no longer go back, when the story is complete. The closer comments on the title.
Dramatic Ending
The song ends dramatically. As one analysis noted: “And with that jarring gasp, The End has come. I simply love the way this album closes like that. We’ve reached The End, and now what? It’s up to us to decide” More Than Ten .
Trivia
- Vedder is the only band member on the track
- Second verse inspired by phone message from friend in Spain
- Completed in 20 minutes after message arrived
- Influenced by Pete Townshend’s “Street in the City”
- Gossard: “ridiculously good… so vulnerable”
- Still performed on Vedder solo tours (2023)
Fan Discussions
Active topics on r/pearljam and Pearl Jam Community forums include:
- Whether the song is about death or about leaving family for tour
- How the strings/horns work within Pearl Jam’s sound
- The connection between “Just Breathe” and “The End”
- What the friend’s message from Spain might have said
- Gossard’s “greatest songs ever” assessment
Comparative Analysis
Within Pearl Jam’s Catalog
“The End” represents Pearl Jam’s most direct deathbed perspective song.
- “Just Breathe” (same album): Mortality awareness from different angle
- “Parting Ways” (Binaural): Previous string-featuring closer
- “Come Back” (Pearl Jam): Death and grief themes
- “Sirens” (Lightning Bolt): Future mortality meditation
- “Future Days” (Lightning Bolt): Another intimate closer
Album Architecture
Backspacer’s structure—opening with punchy energy, closing with quiet reflection—mirrors human experience: rushing through life before facing mortality. “The End” earns its weight through contrast with what preceded it.
Title Significance
Naming a song “The End” on a brief album from a band entering their third decade invites obvious symbolic readings. Whether intentional commentary on career or simply fitting album closure, the title resonates beyond immediate meaning.