Lyrics for Off He Goes as interpreted by Lucky1869_420

Off He Goes Lyrics
Know a man
His face seemed pulled and tense
Like he's ridin' on a motorbike
In the strongest winds
So I approach with tact
Suggest that he should relax
But he's movin' much too fast

Said he'll see me on the flip side
On this trip he's taken for a ride
He's been takin' too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
There he goes

He's yet to come back
But I seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder 'bout his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size

He's been taken...where, I don't know
Off he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
There he goes

And now I rub my eyes, for he has returned
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned
For he still smiles... And he's still strong
Nothing changed but the surroundin' bullshit
That has grown

And now he's home and we're laughin'
Like we did, my same old, same old friend
Until a quarter to ten
I saw the strain creep in
He seems distracted and I know just what is going to happen next

Before his first step, he's off again

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Lucky1869_420
12-07-2001

Rated +1 
"The song "Off He Goes" is really about me being a shit friend. I'll show up and everything's great and then all of the sudden I'm outta there ...", Eddie Vedder.


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Silent Blindside
01-09-2002

Rated +1 
I've read an article in Rolling Stone where Eddie said "Off He Goes" is about a friend of his leaving town, and they grew apart. His friend came back, and because of their "growing apart," they just couldn't converse like old times. They just couldn't hit it off like best friends can. Anyway, he leaves town again, possibly redoing the process.


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Silent Blindside
01-09-2002

Rated 0 
Sorry about adding another set of lyrics to this song. I didn't see that there was more than one page of Pearl Jam songs, and I thought "Off He Goes" should've been on there. Yeah, I'm smart.

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pearlpumpkins3382
01-24-2002

Rated 0 
edd said live on stage that this song is about an asshole maybee about someone whom you care about and they just use you when they want to have somewhere to go but never realy care about youre feelings

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wb2006mu
01-25-2002

Rated 0 
well.....when i saw pj in concert in Columbus (which, by the way was awesome) Eddy said this song is about his friend...his really good friend that was always there but then he just fell in with a different crowd and they kinda parted ways in high school, but they still talked every once i a while until his friend messed up w/ some drug dealer and was killed...wheather or not that is a true story...i don't know. But that's what eddy said at our concert.

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PJ10
04-13-2002

Rated 0 
I can't believe how many people miss that this song is obviously about Eddie himself. "It's like his thoughts are too big for his size "--Ed's a little guy with some big opinions and ideas. Basically, he writing about himself from the perspective of an old friend who has seen him get famous and struggle with who he is.

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Andybee
04-25-2002

Rated 0 
This song always makes me think about Cobain.
I think that I saw Ed wearing a t-shirt tribute to Kurt on a TV show, could have been Letterman or something and Im pretty sure he sang this song.
Anyway it could also be that my memory is playing tricks again!! But still reminds me of Kurt.
PLEASE A NEW ALBUM SOON!! AND COME BACK TO OZ SOON TOO!!!!

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kaatrien
06-13-2002

Rated 0 
i always thought this song was a self reflection too like
he doesnt know himself anymore,wether he intentionally wrote it about himself is anyones guess.especially the lines 'Ive seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack',which is obviously about fame.as if their are two of him the famous version and the actual person. as if the famous version of himself bares no relation to who he is.

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thenarrator
09-11-2002

Rated 0 
Says to me that this song is about someone working in a
high-powered stressful job, who has lost the able to do the simple things like converse with friends and chill out. The kinda guy who is always on his mobile phone. He listens to the warning to slow done but can't help himself.

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EddieVedder
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
To me, it means "the loss" of my best friend. He didn't die, but moved away, and we've gradually lost touch. As far as Eddie goes, the real Eddie, he is talking about himself. I saw a consert once where he said: "This next song is about having an asshole for a friend", and then pointed at himself.

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divineblindclown
04-15-2004

Rated 0 
I'd say this song is deffinitly about Layne Staley of alice in chains and how due to his addiction to drugs he seemed to come and go from the music scene quite frequently.

the lyrics all fit perfectly to him too:

Know a man
His face seemed pulled and tense
Like he's ridin' on a motorbike
In the strongest winds
So I approach with tact
Suggest that he should relax
But he's movin' much too fast

- Layne had grown skinny and tense looking after years of drug abuse, and Eddie and others would try and get him clean and to "relax" but he was into the drugs way to deep to be saved

Said he'll see me on the flip side
On this trip he's taken for a ride
He's been takin' too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkept clothes
There he goes

- He's been taking on too much of the heroin and forced alice to stop touring while he dissapeared for a little while... plus the unkept clothes and flip side remark (traditional grunge wear and slang)

He's yet to come back
But I seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder 'bout his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size

- He is saying that its been a while since he's seen and heard from Layne but it hits him harder than it does fans of his because he sees Layne as a friend unlike the fans who just see him on a cd rack and don't really know how bad its gotten... but him and Eddie go way back (to the days of mookie baylock opening for alice)

And now I rub my eyes, for he has returned
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned
For he still smiles... And he's still strong
Nothing changed but the surroundin' bullshit
That has grown

- Everyone thought Layne was pretty much finished but he seemed to return a few times, for the Alice unplugged show and for Mad Season with Mike from PJ... the "bullshit that has grown" is the media constantly referring to layne as a hopeless junkie

And now he's home and we're laughin'
Like we did, my same old, same old friend
Until a quarter to ten
I saw the strain creep in
He seems distracted and I know just what is going to happen next

Before his first step, he's off again

- even though Layne is back for now they know that it wont be too long before he's off again

this theory kind of makes sence because the song came out around '97 i think and the last time most people saw Layne was in '96 after the unplugged.

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MtterOFctItsAllDrk
10-10-2004

Rated 0 
It's about Eddie, when he's leaving for tours.

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Culture_of_Fear
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
This is one of thoughs songs that can be about anything, our own interpretations are just as good as anyone else. i have no idea what this song means. but its really sad, but really awesome...a chill song.

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Bellyfull of Swans
01-07-2005

Rated 0 
It is about a friendship that has been strained over addiction. The addiction could be drugs, or something like touring as posted earlier. The friend always looks distracted and then has to go. The non afflicted friend sees the weakness that the other friend has to the substance/thing. He sees that the friendship becomes less important to the fiend friend than the thing that he is addicted to....and then the friend leaves..predictably...again... presumeably to go back to the thing that has been distracting and calling to him.

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angeeee
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of a friend who battles with meth addiction. When he's strung out, he literally moves and talks much too fast. He falls into serious psychosis...he has hallucinations/delusions, severe paranoia complete with huge conspiracy theories (his thoughts are too big for his size)...it's like he's not there at all...he's gone and some insane person has taken his place....and then after weeks or months...he'll clean up for awhile and return to near normal...(my same old friend). But over the years, the psychosis has carved a niche in his brain (so his doctor says) and now even when he isn't using, he still goes in and out of psychosis... he can drift in and out of reality several times in one day (before his first step he's off again). Even the flipside is less and less of my friend and more and more of the schizophrenic-like addict. As of now, he is in a mental ward.

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Truthusedtohurt
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
Awe...The beautiful South!! dead loved ones.

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Jag3892
03-02-2005

Rated 0 
It's about Eddie himself I'm fairly sure. It was mentioned in either of the books "None To Fragile" or "Five Against One" The song seems to be an introspective view of himself. As if he were meeting himself. The "shit-friend" idea mentioned before is what it sounds like to me. He's changed so much over the years, though he's still the same old Eddie when he can finally relax. He's got all this stuff going on inside of him tearing him apart, and he's sort of imagining what his old friends must think of him now. Now that they know all about him, and he's a huge star.

When he returns home people get to know him again, and they realize he's the same old Eddie. The guy from the Drama club who always did something crazy. But things slowly come back and he has to take off again. He has to be big star again Eddie again.

Just my thoughts, and it really is a powerful song when thought of like that for me, so that's all that really counts I guess.

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albowlleysinheaven
04-12-2005

Rated 0 
ITS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES WITH NEIL YOUNG GOD DAMN!!

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N0 C0DE 79
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
I honestly think that this song is about Eddie himself....This is a wonderful song with a countryish beat... just one of the many gems found on No Code...

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N0 C0DE 79
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
I honestly think that this song is about Eddie himself....This is a wonderful song with a countryish beat... just one of the many gems found on No Code...

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andyg
05-29-2005

Rated 0 
albowlleysinheaven
please elaborate on you're neil young comment...what do you mean "ITS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES WITH NEIL YOUNG GOD DAMN!!"...

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gopakrz
07-01-2005

Rated 0 
If you go near the bottom of this page... http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/pj.htm It makes reference to the song being about Neil Young. It seems pretty clear to me. Neil is constantly changing direction and going off on his own way at a moments notice. If you read "Shakey" an unauthorized biography of Neil Young you would get to know that this song fits him to a tee.

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Philadelphia Eagles
07-09-2005

Rated 0 
This is really a fucking brilliant song! I can relate so much to the meaning as quoted at the top of the page.

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Philadelphia Eagles
07-12-2005

Rated 0 
I guess this song could validly either be in reference to the self or in reference to an outside entity. The latter being what I ment in my last post. I was falling asleep and wasn't paying proper attention while reading the Eddie Vedder quote.

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AdamDuritzFanatic
09-07-2005

Rated 0 
This song is about me an my brother.
I am a high strung guy...going from city to city over the past 10 years...changing jobs frequently...living by the seat of my pants.
My brother is the opposite...same job since college...he'll live in the same house for the rest of his life...very cool, calm and laid back.
I imagine my brother wrote this song for me...possibly to try to coax me into slowing down, settling down, and coming down to Earth.

And at the end of the song, just when he thinks that I have slowed down..."He's off again."

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