This isn’t Pearl Jam. I repeat, this is not Pearl Jam. This is Seven Mary Three. I had to learn that fact the hard way.

I heard this song on 98 Rock one day in 1995 and I loved it. When I heard it, I thought to myself, “Man, Pearl Jam can crank out the hits, can’t they!” So I went to the record store to buy a copy.

Atlantic Records gets the wagging whammy bar of shame for disabling embedding on this YouTube video. Click on the screen capture pic above to jump to YouTube. Record companies will never learn…

I looked at every Pearl Jam CD that I could find, desperately searching for the title “Water’s Edge.” After several minutes of scouring the CDs and cassette tapes (yes, there were almost equal amounts of cassette tapes and CDs sold in most record stores in the early ‘9os), I finally asked an employee for help. He smirked and explained that “Water’s Edge” was performed by Seven Mary Three, not Pearl Jam. The employee then told me that “Water’s Edge” was off of Seven Mary Three’s album  Churn and that it was sold out. I walked out of the store mildly embarrassed and empty-handed.

I went home and listened to Pearl Jam again and I felt even worse. After closer scrutiny, I realized that Pearl Jam was a way better band than Seven Mary Three. How could I ever confuse the two?

So now, whenever I hear “Water’s Edge”, I think to myself, “This is not Pearl Jam.” Definitely not.

For more information about me and the guitar lessons that I give in and around Baltimore, visit www.ewguitar.com.