Songfacts®:

• In Pearl Jam's 2011 book that accompanies their documentary Twenty, "Habit" is described as "a wake-up call to a drug-addled friend set to furious, detuned rock." Eddie Vedder wrote the music and lyrics.
• The band played "Habit" a handful of times in the summer of 1995, a year before it appeared on their fourth album, No Code. Especially in the pre-internet age, Pearl Jam liked to start playing their songs as soon as they were written, which let them test them on an audience before they recorded them. The band ended up off the road from the end of 1995 until September 1996, when they toured for the album. A lot of this had to do with their battle with Ticketmaster - they refused to play venues where they had to use that service, which was quite challenging. Also, the band members were taking some time away from each other; guitarist Mike McCready was in a band called Mad Season with Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, and bass player Jeff Ament had a band called Three Fish.