This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I read about a man to whom I may be related
Leatherman
Died a long time ago, in the 1880s
Leatherman, Leatherman
Covered with leather but it wasn't tight
Underneath the moon in the woods at night
Making the rounds, ten miles a day
Once a month they spot him
Here's what they say:
"Here he comes, he's a man of the land
He's Leatherman
Smile on his face
Axe in his pack
He's Leatherman, Leatherman, Leatherman."
Comes out of the caves once a day to be fed
He wasn't known to say much
But, "Thanks for the bread."
So modern day I walk my way, my jacket faded
Just like a man of leather to whom I may be related
Rolled a cigarette for which he asked for a light
Appeared to be an animal, yet so polite
Making the rounds, ten miles a day
Once a month they spot him
Here's what they say:
"Here he comes, he's a man of the land
He's Leatherman
Smile on his face
Axe in his pack
He's Leatherman, Leatherman, Leatherman
He's Leatherman, Leatherman."
Shakes his head, he's Leatherman
Bake some bread, he's Leatherman
Shame he's dead
I saw his bed
It's all that's left of Leatherman
Leatherman
Give me some skin, Leatherman.
Leatherman
Died a long time ago, in the 1880s
Leatherman, Leatherman
Covered with leather but it wasn't tight
Underneath the moon in the woods at night
Making the rounds, ten miles a day
Once a month they spot him
Here's what they say:
"Here he comes, he's a man of the land
He's Leatherman
Smile on his face
Axe in his pack
He's Leatherman, Leatherman, Leatherman."
Comes out of the caves once a day to be fed
He wasn't known to say much
But, "Thanks for the bread."
So modern day I walk my way, my jacket faded
Just like a man of leather to whom I may be related
Rolled a cigarette for which he asked for a light
Appeared to be an animal, yet so polite
Making the rounds, ten miles a day
Once a month they spot him
Here's what they say:
"Here he comes, he's a man of the land
He's Leatherman
Smile on his face
Axe in his pack
He's Leatherman, Leatherman, Leatherman
He's Leatherman, Leatherman."
Shakes his head, he's Leatherman
Bake some bread, he's Leatherman
Shame he's dead
I saw his bed
It's all that's left of Leatherman
Leatherman
Give me some skin, Leatherman.
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i don't think it is part of the trilogy, that's alive, once and footsteps, isn't it?
Yes, this song is not a part of the Mamasan Trilogy.
Mamasan Trilogy:
Alive, boy looks like his biological father and his mother molests him.
Once, after being molested, it screws the boy up and he grows up and turns into a serial killer.
Footsteps, man is on death row.
I have heard someone mention the "Man Trilogy" (Betterman, leatherman, nothingman) although I don't think there is any sort of connection. Possibly. But I know that betterman was written about his stepfather and mother.
This song is a true story...have you heard the story of the Leatherman? If not...go here...hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/briarcliff/leather.html
A clickable link to the Leatherman Story hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/briarcliff/leather.html
i think it's about Vedder's Indian relatives, because he has indian blood in him...
as mentioned, this isnt part of the mamason trilogy at all. that is alive, once, and footsteps. nor does it have anything to do with vedder's indian relatives - the link posted by 'Stephen Flow' explains to story pretty well
as for the man trilogy, it would be pretty abstract for leatherman to have any link to the other two. perhaps nothingman is the sequel to betterman - the aftermath? betterman isnt just about vedder's mother and stepfather, although that may have been a personal inspiration for writing it. in a more general sense, it was about abusive relationships, and how it can be harder to end them than people think.
so if betterman is about a woman trying to break free of an abusive relationship, nothingman could be the males perspective of the aftermath.
She loved him, yeah... She don't want to leave this way She needs him, yeah That's why she'll be back again
--> about a woman summoning the courage to ditch an abusive boyfriend/husband
and then, the whole theme of nothingman is one of loss, lamenting how he 'caught a bolt of lightning, cursed the day he let it go'. she is the bolt of lightning, someone so wonderful he couldnt believe it, and he screwed it up.
later on in nothingman: 'one just escapes, one's left inside the well' - the well is their relationship, she has escaped from it in a literal sense but he is stuck in the past. he knows he doesnt deserve another chance and that he screwed up, but loves her.
and at the end: 'could've been something; nothingman' - he has lost all he loved
so yes, i think nothingman is a sequel, of sorts, to betterman. leatherman is unrelated
its what stephen flow said its about i know for a fact
this is part of the mamasan trilogy
isn't part of the trilogy. why did pj make a yeild b side. its probs the best song from th yeild era in my opinion, but thats my opinion
This is one of about 6 good Pearl Jam songs.