"Thumbing My Way" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam. Written by vocalist Eddie Vedder, "Thumbing My Way" is the seventh track on the band's seventh studio album, Riot Act (2002).

"Thumbing My Way" was written by vocalist Eddie Vedder. Drummer Matt Cameron revealed to Vedder that he considers it the nicest chord progression Vedder has come up with. Vedder on the song:

"Thumbing My Way" was written real quick. There's something about writing real quickly that keeps the music in a nice pure state. You don't think of it as homework. You think, "Wow, that was a good half hour spent." There is a tangible joy about creating something that wasn't there before.

Bassist Jeff Ament on the song:

We were out in the room playing the song and learning it. In the process, [producer Adam Kasper] went and re-miked everything very covertly. So all of the sudden when we were ready to play it, it was up and he captured it. Nailed it. That to me was really critical and kind of how the record sounds. A lot of times, there's that cool thing when you don't quite know the song and everybody is really concentrating. It lasts for four or five takes and then it's gone. After that, it's all cerebral.

Guitarist Stone Gossard about the song:

That's a real live performance with lots of room ambience. It's us trying to keep up with the chord changes! There are some nice drums and bass. The sentiment of the song is amazing.

The lyrics for "Thumbing My Way" are about a person in turmoil. In an interview, Vedder stated that the song is not about himself. He elaborated by saying, "I'm pretty good at removing myself from most of the songs. One thing about writing songs is, they don't always have to be about you. When they are always about someone, I lose interest after a while." The song includes several references to hitchhiking. At the band's February 14, 2003 concert in Sydney, Australia at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Vedder said, "This song's about hitchhiking your way through a broken heart."

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