Your Song Changed My Life: St. Vincent On 'Jeremy,' By Pearl Jam

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIGITAL WITNESS")

ST. VINCENT: (Singing) Get back to your seat. Get back, gnashing teeth.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The song is "Digital Witness" by St. Vincent. She's known for innovative dynamic guitar playing and for her richly produced songs. But the song that inspired St. Vincent to become a musician might surprise you. It's a grunge song from 1991. She told NPR Music's Bob Boilen about it for his book "Your Song Changed My Life."

ST. VINCENT: When I was 10, Pearl Jam "Ten" came out. The first time I heard it, I remember being at my friend's house, and MTV was on. I saw the video of Jeremy, you know, heard the song for the first time. That would've been fourth grade. And then it was like OK, I know what I want to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JEREMY")

PEARL JAM: (Singing) At home drawing pictures of mountain tops with him on top.

ST. VINCENT: I was just completely obsessed with Pearl Jam. When I was first playing guitar when I was 12 and writing my own songs, I was doing an Eddie Vedder impression. Like, that's how I was learning to sing.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JEREMY")

PEARL JAM: (Singing) Daddy didn't give attention to the fact that mommy didn't care.

ST. VINCENT: I mean, everybody liked Pearl Jam at that time. Everybody liked Nirvana. Everybody even liked, you know, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it was just like that was the wave, you know? I always felt like, oh, you like Pearl Jam? Oh, well, do you know this B-side? Do you know this rarity? Because I have all those tapes. You know, it's like you're a kid, and you finally have something that expresses that which you don't know how to express. And you have this way to construct your identity.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JEREMY")

PEARL JAM: Jeremy spoke in...

SIEGEL: This is "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam, the song that changed the life of musician St. Vincent. She spoke with NPR's Bob Boilen.

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: We say that "Jeremy" was the song that inspired St. Vincent to become a musician. It was one of the songs that did so.]

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