"The lyrics for "Red Mosquito" were inspired by the events surrounding Pearl Jam's June 24, 1995 concert in San Francisco at Golden Gate Park.When introducing the song at Pearl Jam's July 18, 2006 concert in San Francisco, California at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Vedder stated, "This next song is a connection to San Francisco ‘cause it was written in a hotel room here, in the midst of having a really, really bad day."