Don't feel like home. He's a little out.
And all these words elope. It's nothing like your poem.
Putting in. Inputting in. Don't feel like methadone.
A scratching voice all alone it's nothing like your baritone.

It's nothing as it seems. The little that he needs. It's home.
The little that he sees. Is nothing he concedes. It's home.

One uninvited chromosome. A blanket like the ozone.

It's nothing as it seems. All that he needs. It's home.
The little that he frees is nothing he believes.

Saving up a sunny day. Something maybe two tone.
Anything of his own. A chip off the corner stone.
Who's kidding? Rainy day. A one way ticket headstone.
Occupations overthrown. A whisper through a megaphone.

It's nothing as it seems. The little that he needs. It's home.
The little that he sees is nothing he concedes. It's home.
And all that he frees. A little bittersweet. It's home.
It's nothing as it seems. The little that you see it's home.



Lyrics submitted by Trent, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 05:21


Nothing as It Seems song meanings
Add your thoughts

46 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:At first i thought this song was about Kurt Cobain. Silly, right? But i now know its about the bassit childhood. (Wikipedia).
    Flag okcancelon September 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't think Downs or Homeless. I think about Klinefelter's Syndrome *extra chromosome*. I think about a male who feels he can never achieve masculinity, no matter what. And his self-abuse *heroin/methadone* is a product of this feeling of inadequacy according to societal norms. I don't read *home* as being back at a childhood place. I read it as a safeplace where no one can pass judgement on him. I guess that is more in alignment with the Gender Identity conflict theory. This is an incredible song with perplexing, yet moving lyrics.
    Flag bobo77on May 28, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I almost forgot to comment on the song itself! This song is just friggin' amazing, the acoustic guitar is like walking through a forest, and the electric guitar is like fog... it fills your mind and interrupts your sight...
    The bridge is one of the most low-drag, emotionally supercharged parts of any song I've ever heard, and McCready's various guitar solos are just such breakaways from the song. It picks you up by the teeth and drags you into another dimension.

    Damn, Pearl Jam...
    Flag Tig45on April 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Here's what the song represents to me.
    Don't -1 me for this, I'm being totally serious.
    There's a kid in my highschool who is really slow and awkward. He goes around asking girls for hugs and he kinda... gets creepy and visibly horny when he does, and so a lot of girls ignore him. He waves at people and they don't even acknowledge him because people know he's weird, and he looks not-so-hygenic. He sits alone at lunch, walks alone in the halls, and no one wants to be on his team in phys-ed. People fuck with him for being slow and creepy and dirty. But he can't help it.
    I can't help but wonder what goes on inside his head. I think - I wonder if he asks himself why he can't fit in? Why isn't he accepted? Do his parents lie awake in bed at night wondering that themselves? Or do they not give a shit?
    He doesn't seem to care though. He waves to a girl, she walks by, he shrugs and walks away, and he'll try it again the next day. He doesn't seem as cold as he looks. He's just a freakin' person.

    The little that he needs... it's home...
    Flag Tig45on April 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:PS:
    speaking of Floyd. Listen to this song then listen to "Comfortably Numb". This song makes a great sequel to "Numb". Rockstar gets hooked on drugs. "Home" can mean the career and fans he lost.

    Just a thought.
    Flag Spotinthecloudson September 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I definitely see the homeless drug addict angle. Even if you don't speak English, the Floyd-y (word? Haha) vibe kinda tells you that. Plus you can hear his conversation with himself. He'd like to have a home, save up for a car "something maybe two-tone", regain his father's approval "chip off the cornerstone". Cornerstone is a great word here because he sees his dad (or parents) as solid, strong and stable. Everything he's Not.

    But, sadly, he realizes he's kidding himself. It's another rainy drug-addled pipe dream brought on by his "ozone" like blanket of a heroin high.

    He's sooo close to being normal. He can taste it. He's screaming on the inside. His drug addiction is a lot like "locked-in" syndrome.

    Amazing tune. Stil get the chills...
    Flag Spotinthecloudson September 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I get the feeling theres something in this song about Layne Staley:

    'Putting in. Inputting in. Don't feel like methadone.
    A scratching voice all alone it's nothing like your baritone.'

    I'm pretty sure Stayley was getting high as possible at this stage, and in 2002 he died.. Its like an ode to Staley for me, but at the same time it's just a great song..
    Flag gainon June 16, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think this is clearly about drug use. In the first verse, he's having withdrawal systems. Methadone is used to treat heroin addicts (which Eddie has used before, I believe). The chorus reaffirms this (for me) because he's talking about the little that he needs. As far as the "uninvited chromosome", I think he is referring to getting his drug addiction from his parents...same with the chip of the cornerstone line. The "blanket like the ozone" bit is about how he can't escape this addiction. He's constantly covered by it. I think "saving up a sunny day" is him waiting to use until he gets depressed again, perhaps? The "one way ticket headstone" seems to mean that he knows that this is going to kill him...but he just can't help it. I'm going through the same thing...maybe that's how I made it make sense to me. That's one of the great things about Pearl Jam though...anyone is capable of relating their lyrics to instances in our own lives. Pearl Jam is just a fantastic band. I'm glad they've stuck around for song.
    Flag dmarley1on May 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with BostonFan and others, it has uncanny resemblance to pink floyd, leave out the vocals and it would sound like a floyd track... not sure about meaning, may be has to do something with the fact that things aren't always as they appear to be... btw, i read this everytime, whenever people don't know what a song is about, its about drug addiction... why the heck every abstract song has to be sbout drug addiction.
    Flag ValRossion March 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When I first heard the song I assumed that it was not written by Eddie, but that some of the lines referenced Eddie. Now that I know a little more about the song I still think that is true. I think that, at least in the first verse, Jeff Ament is comparing himself to Eddie Vedder.

    "And all these words elope. It's nothing like your poem."

    I think he is comparing his song writing skills to Eddie's lyrics, which often start out as poems.

    "A scratching voice all alone it's nothing like your baritone"

    Again, I think he is comparing his voice to Eddie's beautiful baritone voice and feeling that he doesn't measure up. Of course, once you getting Eddie singing it, it doesn't make sense, but I still can't help but wonder if that was were the lyrics for the first part came from.
    Flag rainbowjaneon March 05, 2010   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain