The Fixer (song)

The Fixer is a song by American rock band Pearl Jam. The text was written by vocalist Eddie Vedder, the music was co-written by drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, The Fixer was the first single from the ninth studio album by the band, Backspacer (2009) published on 24 August 2009. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard rock song charts and reached number three on the Billboard Alternative Song charts. The Fixer was published with the Supersonic B-side.

Composition and recording

Eddie Vedder wrote the words to The Fixer, while the music was mostly written by Matt Cameron, Mike McCready and Stone with support Gossard. Cameron wrote most of the music in 2008, Gossard and McCready presented the song with the bridge completed. The demo version Cameron found on the 2011 released album " PJ 20" under the name of "Need to Know". Producer O'Brien supported the band active in the arrangement of the song. In an interview with Rolling Stone in February 2009 Vedder discussed what might fit for a song to describe The Fixer:

"That could have been a seven- minute, weird, sideways kind of artsy song with a cool groove ... I tinkered with it after everyone left and we shrunk it down and turned it into something else .... I'm thinking about set lists: Will this be a song we'll play every night "?

Stone Gossard said about the song:

" With that song, Matt came in with a riff and we worked out a few different arrangements. Then Ed Took it and re -arranged it with Pro Tools, to get the parts he needed in the right place. You do not want to get a final arrangement for a song before he's had a chance to screw around with it, Because once he gets it, it can all change. What you thought was a chorus can end up being a verse. There was a real collaborative effort on the whole album. Ed, in Particular, worked with everyone on their songs. "

Music Video

Cameron Crowe has directed the video for the song. The video was filmed at The Showbox in Seattle, Washington, in May 2009. In the video you can see a filmed live performance of the band rather than a narrative videos. It was released in August 2009.