Black, with working title E Ballad, was one of the original songs recorded as a demo to find a singer and a drummer for Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder wrote the lyrics and renamed the song Black as he travelled from San Diego to Seattle to first meet the band after having sent them his vocal recording of a few other tracks from the same demo.
The lyrics is about a man talking to himself about his lost lover. The band claimed the song was too personal to be released as a single, much to the frustration of their record label.
This version is from the version of Ten that Brendan O’Brien remixed to better emphasize some of the vocals and instruments.
Melodology 