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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Barry Burton
09-19-2005

 Rated  0 
Hey, well...firstly i prefer the version off "live on two legs" by a good way, the emotion is pouring off him, i really aint that fond of the album version. I use it about a friend of mine who has been really ill for months and im the only guy left for him. he's my best friend and i use this as looking at him slipping in and out of depression, coming and going from the old him to the new him. damnit eddie vedder is fantastic.

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werumm
02-12-2006

 Rated  0 
It's a cool song. Reminds me of me in some ways. And probably every other guy out there that can't seem to focus on day to day shit.

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Edward_Seversen III
02-17-2006

 Rated  0 
I think many of Eddie's song are about himself but written as it to appear is someone else...In this case is about his life, not being to be always there for friends or family and seeming far and different in the public life....but when he comes back he is the same Eddie as he has always been...until he is off again!

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werumm
02-26-2006

 Rated  0 
I also like the line "nothing's changed, but the surrounding bullshit that has grown". I think Eddie is trying to say the surrounding bullshit is all the fuss made about him by the media etc. but it comes off sounding like it's his own ego that is bullshit. Pretty apropiate really. Eddie Vedder is a great singer and lyricist but he does have a bit of a Jesus complex.

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GoatboyX2
03-15-2006

 Rated  0 
I think the general concensus is it's about himself, but I like the Layne theory. It's quite dualistic, which is something we don't see so often anymore. Comforting.

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richie8092
03-28-2006

 Rated  0 
this song gets no credit, i fucking love this song and it puts me in a good mood whenever(which is hard to do)i dont think the lyrics are meant to be happy at all but it just makes me feel good.idk?

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aaronjs
04-23-2006

 Rated  0 
What do you guys think about this song maybe being written from the female perspective about a love who left and has returned?

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richie8092
04-26-2006

 Rated  0 
i think it is ed writing about himself, it came after vitalogy when ed always looked pissed off "Know a man, His face seemed pulled and tense"

the rest of the lines all fit that theory too

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tud
11-28-2006

 Rated  0 
this song reminds me of my brother.

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Floyd The Barber
01-26-2007

 Rated  0 
this song reminds me of my parents breaking up when I was 5 years old

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Ross_21
02-07-2007

 Rated  0 
This is a great chill out song...when it's on, i never want it to end!

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Luigi76
03-07-2007

 Rated  0 
Eddie might have meant this song about himself, but when I hear it, I think of two old friends who see each other for the first time since they were young, and yet they're still as much friends as ever. It makes me think of some of my friends, who've moved off to different colleges, whom I may not see again for a long time.

But no matter what the song is about--it's still Goddamn beautiful.

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SnarfyCat
03-15-2007

 Rated  0 
Look y'all, you gotta speak the language -- really, there is no other way to describe the meaning of this poem than to quote a line from Marshall Mathers' (eminem) song '8 Mile':

"You gotta live it to feel it, you didn't you wouldn't get it "

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1 Reply  · 
Chaen
03-26-2007

 Rated  +1 
I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan and whenever this song comes up in discousion I have heard over and over again that the song is about Uncle Neil...Neil Young.

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CCDevlin
05-12-2007

 Rated  0 
If it is officially said that its about Eds intro perspective on himself then thats that. But i have to say it also sounds alot like someone having a friendship with a cocain addict or something.

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TenVsVitalogy
06-26-2007

 Rated  0 
Actually seems surprising to me that I'm the only one that thought this was about a friend in the service, going to war.
"His face seemed pulled and tense."-reference to the physic of soldiers.
"It doesn't look the same up on the rack."-looking possibly at an Army portrait, completely different than the man they're used to seeing.
"Nothing's changed, but the surrounding bullshit, that has grown." Possibly an on going war, but the man is still the same.
"Before his first step, he's off again."-obviously, talking about his friend going to war.
The greatest thing about PJ lyrics are the way they can always be open for interpretation..

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Topchris
08-28-2007

 Rated  0 
The first poster hit the nail on the head. Incase anyone doesn't agree, read the following:

"It's also notable to point out that in a Pearl Jam performance in Katowice, Poland on June 16, 2000, Eddie Vedder says before starting the song "this is about being friends with an asshole", and right after he makes the statement he points at himself."

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rahula
10-05-2007

 Rated  0 
it's about layney really... in magazines you can see it

http://goodnonsense.blogspot.com/2006/06/influence-of-alice-in-chains.html

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jessicajerrid
11-26-2007

 Rated  0 
I think Eddie wrote this song about Cobain.....but it always makes me think about my Daddy....

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Big_Fuzzy
02-17-2008

 Rated  0 
This song was played at my twin brothers funeral when I was 6 years old, my siblings were all Pearl Jam fans and this son makes me cold to the bone every time I hear it. I know thats not what the intetion was but thats what it means to me, Off he goes and nw he is laughing.

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GrungeRock1991
07-18-2008

 Rated  0 
This song just imposes the thought in me of an old, dear friend who you need in your darkest time of life, and he/she just isn't there for you, for whatever reason, or a long, sad goodbye to a loved one who you know you may never meet again. It's a beautiful song.

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thisisunusual
09-01-2008

 Rated  0 
I know that Eddie said this song is about him and I get that. But, to me, this song is my anthem. It is completely about me. I've never felt this way about a song before.

It's about the perception that my friends and family have about me. My life is completely consumed by my beautiful wife, my 5 wonderful kids, and my job where I make a lot of money but I work extremely hard and travel a lot. I will go months without talking to friends or my sister or my parents. They think that life has overtaken me because I am so consumed, but when they see me (which is rare) they see that I still smile and that I'm still strong. What they really see is that I love my life even though their preconception is that I am too overwhelmed.

I will sit with them for a couple of hours and everything is "normal", but then my "real life" snatches me up and Off I Go to live the completely consumed life that I love.

I listen to this song in the middle of the night when I'm at my laptop working, it's extremely motivating because I take great pride in what I've accomplished through being consumed by my life...

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pijuyo
09-12-2008

 Rated  0 
What's all this fuzz about. the first comment says it all, and you can look it up in Wikipedia.

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stoverny
08-09-2009

 Rated  0 
This song is about an old friend who is too restless to stand still. He can't just be happy living the same regular life most people live. He thinks his happiness must be "out there" somewhere. So he's always traveling, always searching, unable to put down any roots.

The last verse explains it. His friend comes home, and for a while things seem ok... but then he sees that same restless look creep into his friend's face. Immediately he knows that his friend has already decided to leave again. Even though his friend is still sitting there in body, in spirit he is already gone. ("Before his first step, he if off again.")

I've known people like this, who just can't make themselves fit into regular life, and so spend their live searching.

It reminds me of the main character from Into the Wild.

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General Comment
asbestosinhaler
12-30-2009

 Rated  0 
Eddie Vedder, and Pearl Jam aside, the thought of this being an introspective look at one's self seems so very conceded. I've always looked at it being a ballad. I'd hate to say it's about, or for anyone in general, but it almost seems like it's about something bigger. Almost like it doesn't have a meaning (which it obviously does). I think Eddie felt the say way when he wrote it. I think it was just a good song without lyrics, and he came along and wrote them accordingly. I don't believe it was a diliberate attempt to write it about anyone in general. Personally, that's what makes this song so powerful to me. It's just so...GENERAL...You can substitute different meanings until you're blue in the face, but none of them will work. By the time you've boiled it down and said "ok, this is it" more questions arise. It's almost like "he's" off again. I can't summarize this song in words, but I think the song summarizes itself. I absolutely love this song. I'm not a Pearl Jam fan, but I'll listen to them if I have to. When I have to, I ask about this song. Allow me to be dark for a second. I used to have a list in my wallet of songs I wanted played at my funeral. It was next to my license so they'd find it when they were checking to see if I was an organ donor (lol). It was a long list of This Monkey's Gone to Heaven, Heaven, and some others that I forgot. Anyways...this song was on it.

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