"Hard Sun" is a 1989 song written and performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Peterson, known as Indio. It was the first single released off the artist's sole album Big Harvest, and reached No. 10 in Canada. The song was covered by Eddie Vedder, whose rendition was included on the Into the Wild soundtrack. Indio filed a lawsuit against Vedder and Universal Music for altering the song's lyrics and including the song on the soundtrack without his approval, although both lawsuits were later dropped.
In 1990, "Hard Sun" was honored by SOCAN as one of the ten most popular Canadian songs of the previous year, alongside songs by Ian Thomas, Alannah Myles, One to One, Frozen Ghost, Blue Rodeo, Bruce Cockburn, Candi, Glass Tiger and Sheriff.
Eddie Vedder cover
"Hard Sun" gained further attention when Eddie Vedder, the frontman of American rock band Pearl Jam, covered the song for the Into the Wild Soundtrack. Corin Tucker provided backing vocals.
In 2007, Sean Penn approached Eddie Vedder about creating a soundtrack for his upcoming film Into the Wild. According to Vedder, Penn showed Vedder an earlier draft of the film that included Indio's recording of "Hard Sun". Vedder was unfamiliar with the song, later telling Metro "it was the first time I'd ever heard it. But it felt like I had heard it. I couldn't tell if it was from the late '60s or mid-’70s. It had this kind of timeless thing about it."
After Vedder submitted some demos for inclusion on Into the Wild, Penn told him that he wanted Vedder's cover of "Hard to Sun" to appear on the soundtrack. Vedder mentioned that he had neither met nor consulted with Indio about the cover, but nonetheless expressed hope that Indio would appreciate Vedder's rendition.
"Hard Sun" became the soundtrack's first single, ultimately reaching No. 13 on the Modern Rock charts and No. 23 in Canada. Vedder's version of "Hard Sun" was released as a CD single with the radio edit of the song as the first track, and the full album version as the second track.
Lawsuit Eddie Vedder was sued by Indio for "eroding" the integrity of the composition by altering some of the song's original lyrics. Also the Universal Music company was sued, because it released "Hard Sun" on the soundtrack album without Indio's approval.
The suit against Vedder was dismissed,Paul Elliott, "15 Years Ago, Eddie Vedder Was Sued Over Changing The Lyrics In A Song". Screen Rant, April 23, 2025. while a simultaneous suit against Universal was dropped after Universal and Peterson reached an undisclosed settlement.
Charts +Chart performance for "Hard Sun" (Indio) Chart (1989) PeakpositionUS Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)34US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)10
+Chart performance for "Hard Sun" (Eddie Vedder) Chart (2007) Peakposition
Certifications Eddie Vedder version
References