Pearl Jam - Glorified G - Lyrics Meaning

This song is the fourth track on Pearl Jam's second album, Vs, which was released in 1993. It is an anti-gun song that sarcastically makes light of Americans that are gun-crazed and obsessed. This is a very general public opinion, but widespread nonetheless. The song was written by the lead singer, Eddie Vedder while he was listening to a conversation between the band members during which the drummer stated that he had not bought one, but in fact two guns. The acts of shooting, killing and arming oneself are facetiously written off as acceptable actions because, "...I love god". The line, "Glorified version of a pellet gun" means that people have a tendency to downplay the dangerousness of firearms and this line is part of the argument that a gun is just a bigger version of a relatively harmless weapon, such as a pellet gun.

Vedder says it feels "manly" to hold a gun and that you should "always keep it loaded", presumably to protect yourself from unforeseen threats. This is a reference to the United States' perceived foreign policy and presence on the world stage as a global watchdog of sorts. The last lines of the song reference the "heart" and "neck" as they are considered to be "critical" parts of the body where an injury would have a greater chance of being fatal, in this case a gunshot wound.