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What were all those dreams we shared
Those many years ago?
What were all those plans we made now
Left beside the road?
Behind us in the road
More than friends, I always pledged
Cause friends they come and go
People change, as does everything
I wanted to grow old
I just want to grow old
Slide up next to me
I'm just a human being
I will take the blame
But just the same
This is not me
You see?
Believe
I'm better than this
Don't leave me so cold
I'm buried beneath the stones
I just want to hold on
I know I'm worth your love
Enough
I don't think
There's such a thing
It's my fault now
Having caught a sickness in my bones
How it pains to leave you here
With the kids on your own
Just don't let me go
Help me see myself
Cause I can no longer tell
Looking out from the inside
Of the bottom of a well
It's hell
I yell
But no one hears before I disappear
Whisper in my ear
Give me something to echo
In my unknown future's ear
My dear
The end
Comes near
I'm here
But not much longer.
Those many years ago?
What were all those plans we made now
Left beside the road?
Behind us in the road
More than friends, I always pledged
Cause friends they come and go
People change, as does everything
I wanted to grow old
I just want to grow old
Slide up next to me
I'm just a human being
I will take the blame
But just the same
This is not me
You see?
Believe
I'm better than this
Don't leave me so cold
I'm buried beneath the stones
I just want to hold on
I know I'm worth your love
Enough
I don't think
There's such a thing
It's my fault now
Having caught a sickness in my bones
How it pains to leave you here
With the kids on your own
Just don't let me go
Help me see myself
Cause I can no longer tell
Looking out from the inside
Of the bottom of a well
It's hell
I yell
But no one hears before I disappear
Whisper in my ear
Give me something to echo
In my unknown future's ear
My dear
The end
Comes near
I'm here
But not much longer.
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What were all those dreams we shared
Those many years ago?
What were all those plans we made
Now left beside the road?
Behind us in the road
-- This is a couple that has been together for awhile. He is looking back on their early years and reminiscent of all the dreams and plans they had for the future. He wants to know what happened to all the dreams that they had and believed in as a couple. He is thinking about all the plans that somehow got left behind as they "traveled" through life together.
More than friends I always pledged
Cause friends they come and go
-- He thinks as his wife and his relationship and more than friendship. He knows most friendships are fleeting, and recognizes that he has more than that with his wife.
People change as does everything
I wanted to grow old
Just want to grow old
-- Another reference to the fact that this is a mature couple. He is different than the man he was when they first married. He wants to grow old with his wife and seems desperate, pleading to do so, the first indications that this man is ill.
Slide on next to me
I’m just a human being
I will take the blame
But just the same
This is not me
You see
Believe
I’m better than this
-- He is asking his wife to be with him. He is reminding her that he is human and susceptible to the faults of humanity. I personally think this may be an indication that the illness is changing who he is. Perhaps he is not handling it the way he or his wife think he should be. Maybe he is angrier or loses his temper and argues b/c of the stress, etc. He is saying that its not him, wants her to see that. He is better than what the illness has made him.
Don’t leave me so cold
Or buried beneath the stones
I just want to hold on
And know I’m worth your love
Enough
I don’t think
There’s such a thing
-- He is asking her not to distance herself from him(another reason I think what I wrote above). He wants her love and to be worthy of it. However, he doubts that anyone is worthy of such love(since she is such an amazing woman).
It’s my fault, Now I been caught
A sickness in my bones
How it pains to leave you here
With the kids on your own
Just don’t let me go
-- It never says what illness he may have, but perhaps he blames himself for it. I don't think that it was self inflicted. I think the blame is simply his thinking that someone has to be blamed(ie- I should have been stronger, etc). He knows that he is going to die, and the it hurts him to know that his wife with be left alone to raise their children. He pleads for her not to let him go.
Help me see myself
Cause I can no longer tell
Looking out from the inside of
The bottom of a well
It’s hell
I yell
But no one hears
-- He is so lost in the illness, and it has changed him. He wants his wife to help him remember who he was before, he cannot even recognize himself anymore. He sees this illness differently from everyone else looking at him. He is trapped in a hell that no one can understand. He is screaming on the inside, but no hears him.
Before I disappear
Whisper in my ear
Give me something to echo
In my unknown futures ear
-- He wants his wife to say something comforting to him before he dies.
My dear
The End
Comes near
I’m here
But not much longer
-- He is talking to his wife, telling her that death is coming. He is with her, but it will not be for much longer.
On the other hand, I find this song pretty uplifting, especially the part "More than friends I always pledge, because friends they come and go, people change as does everything I wanted to grow old, I just want to grow old"
^Which also might be about the bandmates themselves. Touring for 20 years with eachother, you grow pretty close to people. What we need is for Eddie to tell us what the song is about, but of course he never does, so we'll probably never know. Great song, long live Eddie Vedder!
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!!!
I think this song is, in fact, an ending. Eddie and his bandmates have all said they don't wanna be away from their families anymore, and Ed announced that they will no longer go on tours longer than a few weeks. I think The End is an apology to the fans in other countries that won't ever get to hear Pearl Jam live, and partially Eddie singing to his wife and his kid.
"More than friends I always pledge, 'cause friends they come and go"
Eddie is famous for being dedicated to his fans, wether he's stopping a song to stop some fan from being escorted out of the show, or tossing a harmonica or something out into the crowd as a souvenier for a lucky fan, and he has to say goodbye to them for a noble cause, his family, and I'm sure it pains him. Not to mention he's in his mid 40's, and he is a man that made good use of himself, so I'd imagine he'd be more comfortable staying close to home.
Just my interpretation.
Not "How do you think it is to leave you here..."
Either way, brilliant song
Also, "Give me something to echo in my unknown future" could be seen as the person hoping that one last whisper will stay in their memory when everything else is forgotten.
That's how I see this song, it's an amazing song from an amazing band =)
its about someone whos dying and how they are saying goodbye.
i cant explain it but this song is amazing, and definately one of the best on the album.
woah, that seems to make the most sense, very cool