'Alive' is in the key of A major and features an extended guitar solo after its third chorus (3:38). There was no piecing together to do it was one take.' Composition 'He had another go at it', Palmer recalled, 'and got it right away. The guitarist was unsatisfied with the result, so he made another attempt at the solo. McCready recorded a number of attempts at the solo, and Palmer edited them into a composite version.

During album mixing sessions in England in June 1991, mixer Tim Palmer had McCready add to the song's outro solo. The version recorded during this session would later appear on the group's debut album, Ten, and on the promotional 'Alive' EP. The band, then called Mookie Blaylock, recorded 'Alive' during a demo session at London Bridge studio in January 1991. Upon hearing the tape, the band invited Vedder to come to Seattle and he was asked to join the band. 'Alive' was the first song for which Vedder recorded vocals. He listened to the tape shortly before going surfing, where lyrics came to him. The tape made its way into the hands of vocalist Eddie Vedder, who was working as a security guard for a petroleum company in San Diego, California, at the time. 'Dollar Short' was one of five tracks compiled onto a tape called Stone Gossard Demos '91 that Gossard, Ament, and McCready circulated in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer for the group. After Wood died of a heroin overdose, Gossard and his bandmate Jeff Ament started playing with guitarist Mike McCready with the hope of starting a new band. According to Gossard in an interview for Pearl Jam's VH1 Storytellers special, Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood had even sung on it. Guitarist Stone Gossard wrote the music for the song, which he titled 'Dollar Short', in 1990 when he was still a member of Mother Love Bone.

Remixed versions of the song were included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991вЂ“2003), and the 2009 Ten reissue. However, the song did peak at number 16 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single was available only through import in the United States, so it was not able to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top 20 in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. It was the first Pearl Jam song to receive a certification from the British Phonographic Industry, going Silver in August 2018 for sales and streams of over 200,000. 'Alive' charted at number 16 in the United Kingdom and number nine in Australia. Vocalist Eddie Vedder obtained a copy of the tape and wrote lyrics that describe a somewhat fictionalized account of the time when he was told that the man he thought was his father was not actually his biological parent. Written by guitarist Stone Gossard, the song originated as an instrumental titled 'Dollar Short' and was included on a demo tape circulated in hopes of finding a singer for the group.

It was released on July 7, 1991, 51 days before the release of the band's debut album, Ten, on which 'Alive' appears. ' Alive' is the debut single by American rock band Pearl Jam.

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