Nothing As It Seems
Encyclopedia
"Nothing as It Seems" is a song by the American rock
band Pearl Jam
. Written by bassist Jeff Ament
, "Nothing as It Seems" was released on April 25, 2000 as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Binaural
(2000). The song peaked at number three on the Billboard
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song also appears on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).
. Ament plays upright bass
on the song giving it a very atmospheric feel. Guitarist Mike McCready
used a Fender Pedal for the song which provided the song with its distorted sounds, which McCready described as sounding "like a plane going down." The song was recorded using binaural recording
techniques, and was produced by Tchad Blake
. Ament on the song:
Jeff Ament's original demo of "Nothing as It Seems" is a track on disc 2 of Pearl Jam's soundtrack to their forthcoming documentary "Pearl Jam Twenty
" directed by Cameron Crowe
.
. In one interview, he called it "a dark, heavy tale" and stated, "For me, it's a song about judgment and not always understanding what is going on with another person." In another interview, he elaborated further:
explained, "With that one we felt like we...weren't trying to fool people. It actually felt like we were offering them something fairly challenging. We obviously respect the audience." "Nothing as It Seems" was the most successful song from Binaural on the American rock charts. The song peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100
, number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number ten on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Australia
, Austria
, Germany
, Japan
, and the United Kingdom
. In Canada
, "Nothing as It Seems" charted on the Rock Top 30 chart where it peaked at number two and stayed there for three weeks. "Nothing as It Seems" reached the top 30 in the UK and peaked at number seven on the Australian Singles Chart. "Nothing as It Seems" reached number 98 in Germany, number 83 in Switzerland
, the top 50 in New Zealand
, the top 40 in the Netherlands
and Sweden
, the top 30 in Ireland
, and was a top ten success in Italy
and Norway
.
In its review of the song, Billboard
said, "Pearl Jam has once again thrown radio a curve with 'Nothing As It Seems'." In addition, it was stated, "This slowly unfolding track is moody and dark, marked by guitars that kick off the cut with acoustic strumming, then eventually explode into white-hot squalls. Along the way, there's a host of strange effects at play, from Eddie Vedder's echo-drenched vocals to Matt Cameron's hollowed tom shots." In his review of the song, David Stubbs
of NME
said, "Listening again to his gravelly, broodily opaque vocals here, it's hard to remember why anyone ever gave Eddie Vedder house room. This is the sort of 'grunge
' sound that tractors get stuck in after three days of rain. "Nothing As It Seems" is, however, thoroughly redeemed by a good old-fashioned, studio-treated, Hendrix
-style guitar solo, visceral and distressed, high and mighty." In its review of Binaural, The Guardian
called the song "brooding and mysterious" and one of the album's "best moments." The song has been compared to the style of Pink Floyd
. Although the song was not a major commercial success, it has been cited as a Pearl Jam fan favorite.
's 1999 Bridge School Benefit
. Live performances of "Nothing As It Seems" can be found on various official bootlegs
, the live album Live at Benaroya Hall
, and the iTunes exclusive release The Bridge School Collection, Vol. 1. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000
. The version of the song on The Bridge School Collection, Vol. 1 is an acoustic
performance recorded live at the Bridge School Benefit.
CD (Austria and Germany)
CD (Australia) and 12" Vinyl (Europe)
CD (UK)
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
. Written by bassist Jeff Ament
Jeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, "Nothing as It Seems" was released on April 25, 2000 as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Binaural
Binaural (album)
Binaural is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on May 16, 2000 through Epic Records. Following a full-scale tour in support of its previous album, Yield , Pearl Jam took a short break before reconvening toward the end of 1999 to commence work on a new...
(2000). The song peaked at number three on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song also appears on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).
Origin and recording
"Nothing as It Seems" was written by bassist Jeff AmentJeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
. Ament plays upright bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on the song giving it a very atmospheric feel. Guitarist Mike McCready
Mike McCready
Michael David McCready is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Dave Krusen, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
used a Fender Pedal for the song which provided the song with its distorted sounds, which McCready described as sounding "like a plane going down." The song was recorded using binaural recording
Binaural recording
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as "Dummy head...
techniques, and was produced by Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...
. Ament on the song:
It was just a little ditty on a demo that I kind of played some hand drums on, and had this little song. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time with the lyrics, and I think Stone initially said, 'Let's try that one.' There were little sections of the song [where] I definitely heard Mike doing his thing, so I kinda said, 'Hey, man, you need to write a theme for these little sections.' It's pretty cool to see a little song that I wrote being played by everyone. I mean, I can almost kind of stand back and just watch this great band play a song...and take it to a completely different level. Mike and Ed [Vedder], they have that ability where they can really raise the level of anything that they play.
Jeff Ament's original demo of "Nothing as It Seems" is a track on disc 2 of Pearl Jam's soundtrack to their forthcoming documentary "Pearl Jam Twenty
Pearl Jam Twenty
Pearl Jam Twenty is 2011 American rockumentary directed by Cameron Crowe about the band Pearl Jam. Preliminary footage was being shot as of June 2010. Crowe completed filming in April 2011, after using 12,000 hours of footage of the band for the documentary...
" directed by Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
.
Lyrics
Ament revealed that he wrote "Nothing as It Seems" about his childhood growing up in a rural area of Northern MontanaMontana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. In one interview, he called it "a dark, heavy tale" and stated, "For me, it's a song about judgment and not always understanding what is going on with another person." In another interview, he elaborated further:
It's a little bit reflecting on where I came from...I grew up in really rural area in Northern Montana, and ["Nothing As It Seems" is] looking back at [that]. I think until two or three years ago, I looked back at my childhood as being a fairly utopian situation where I had the freedom to ride my bike around town when I was five years old, and my parents didn't have to worry about anybody taking me and killing me or whatever. In the last couple of years...there have been some things that have kind of allowed some darker things to come to the surface of my childhood, seeing things that I had kind of selectively forgotten for my own mental health or whatever. I had just seen AfflictionAffliction (film)Affliction is an US-American drama film produced in 1997, written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn and Willem Dafoe....
and I had just read Nine Below Zero by this guy, Kevin CantyKevin CantyKevin Canty is an American author of novels and short stories. He is a faculty member in the English department at the University of Montana at Missoula, where he currently resides. Canty received his Masters degree in English from the University of Florida in 1990. He received his M.F.A. in...
, all very kind of rural things that unearthed a lot of stuff. ["Nothing As It Seems"] is just kind of what came out. I'm just now starting to actually really analyze what I was talking about...because I still don't really have a grip on that.
Release and reception
Regarding the choice of "Nothing as It Seems" as the band's first single from Binaural, vocalist Eddie VedderEddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
explained, "With that one we felt like we...weren't trying to fool people. It actually felt like we were offering them something fairly challenging. We obviously respect the audience." "Nothing as It Seems" was the most successful song from Binaural on the American rock charts. The song peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number ten on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, "Nothing as It Seems" charted on the Rock Top 30 chart where it peaked at number two and stayed there for three weeks. "Nothing as It Seems" reached the top 30 in the UK and peaked at number seven on the Australian Singles Chart. "Nothing as It Seems" reached number 98 in Germany, number 83 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the top 50 in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the top 40 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the top 30 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and was a top ten success in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
In its review of the song, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
said, "Pearl Jam has once again thrown radio a curve with 'Nothing As It Seems'." In addition, it was stated, "This slowly unfolding track is moody and dark, marked by guitars that kick off the cut with acoustic strumming, then eventually explode into white-hot squalls. Along the way, there's a host of strange effects at play, from Eddie Vedder's echo-drenched vocals to Matt Cameron's hollowed tom shots." In his review of the song, David Stubbs
David Stubbs
David Stubbs is a British journalist. He was born on 13 September 1962 in London, but grew up in Leeds. As a student at Oxford University he was a close friend of Simon Reynolds; together they worked on an influential fanzine called Monitor before joining Melody Maker in 1986...
of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
said, "Listening again to his gravelly, broodily opaque vocals here, it's hard to remember why anyone ever gave Eddie Vedder house room. This is the sort of 'grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
' sound that tractors get stuck in after three days of rain. "Nothing As It Seems" is, however, thoroughly redeemed by a good old-fashioned, studio-treated, Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
-style guitar solo, visceral and distressed, high and mighty." In its review of Binaural, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called the song "brooding and mysterious" and one of the album's "best moments." The song has been compared to the style of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Although the song was not a major commercial success, it has been cited as a Pearl Jam fan favorite.
Live performances
"Nothing as It Seems" was first performed live at Neil YoungNeil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's 1999 Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
. Live performances of "Nothing As It Seems" can be found on various official bootlegs
Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs
The Pearl Jam "Official" Bootlegs are a large, continually growing series of live albums by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam noted the desire of fans to own a copy of the shows they attended and the popularity of bootleg recordings...
, the live album Live at Benaroya Hall
Live at Benaroya Hall
Live at Benaroya Hall is a two-disc live album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, recorded on October 22, 2003 at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington and released on July 27, 2004 through BMG.-Overview:...
, and the iTunes exclusive release The Bridge School Collection, Vol. 1. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000
Touring Band 2000
Touring Band 2000 is the second DVD release by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, culled from performances from the North American legs of the band's 2000 Binaural Tour...
. The version of the song on The Bridge School Collection, Vol. 1 is an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
performance recorded live at the Bridge School Benefit.
Track listing
CD (US, Austria, and Japan) and 7" Vinyl (UK)- "Nothing as It Seems" (single version) (Jeff AmentJeff AmentJeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
) – 5:23 - "Insignificance" (alternate mix) (Eddie VedderEddie VedderEddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
) – 4:30
CD (Austria and Germany)
- "Nothing as It Seems" (single version) (Ament) – 5:23
- "Insignificance" (alternate mix) (Vedder) – 4:30
- "Better ManBetter Man"Better Man" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam. Written by vocalist Eddie Vedder, "Better Man" is the eleventh track on the band's third studio album, Vitalogy...
" (live) (Vedder) – 4:37 - "Footsteps" (live) (Stone GossardStone GossardStone Carpenter Gossard is an American musician who serves as the rhythm and lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, Vedder) – 5:23- Live tracks recorded at the 1999 Bridge School BenefitBridge School BenefitThe Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
.
- Live tracks recorded at the 1999 Bridge School Benefit
CD (Australia) and 12" Vinyl (Europe)
- "Nothing as It Seems" (single version) (Ament) – 5:23
- "Insignificance" (alternate mix) (Vedder) – 4:30
- "Footsteps" (live) (Gossard, Vedder) – 5:23
- "Better Man" (live) (Vedder) – 4:37
- Live tracks recorded at the 1999 Bridge School Benefit.
CD (UK)
- "Nothing as It Seems" (single version) (Ament) – 5:23
- "Better Man" (live) (Vedder) – 4:37
- "Footsteps" (live) (Gossard, Vedder) – 5:23
- Live tracks recorded at the 1999 Bridge School Benefit.
Chart positions
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
5 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
6 |
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
7 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
22 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
27 |
| Dutch Singles Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
33 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
40 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
42 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
49 |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 3 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 10 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
83 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
98 |