Don't even think about reachin' me, I won't be home
Don't even think about stoppin' by, don't think of me at all
I did, what I had to do, if there was a reason, it was you...

Aah...don't even think about gettin' inside
Voices in me head...ooh, voices
I got scratches, all over my arms
One for each day, since I fell apart
I did...oh, what I had to do, if there was a reason, it was you

Footsteps in the hall, it was you, you...oh...
Pictures on my chest, it was you, it was you...

Hey...I did, what I had to do...oh, and if there was a reason
Oh, there wasn't no reason, no
And if, there's something you'd like to do
Just let me continue, to blame you

Footsteps in the hall, it was you, you...oh...
Pictures on my chest, it was you, you...oh...



Lyrics submitted by flinkaflenkaflrsk

Track duration: 03:53

"Footsteps" as written by Stone C. Gossard, Eddie Jerome Vedder

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Footsteps song meanings
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46 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:The song seems to be about guilt or remorse. I think this song should be used in the closing moments of the Dexter's final episode! It could be about Dexter thinking about Harry.
    Flag TheBigMattowskion January 21, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is actually a singular entity and it's about a guy who commits suicide after his girlfriend breaks up with him.

    Don't even think about reachin' me, I won't be home (because he's dead)
    Don't even think about stoppin' by, don't think of me at all
    I did, what I had to do, if there was a reason, it was you... (He killed himself because of her - in his mind)

    Aah...don't even think about gettin' inside
    Voices in me head...ooh, voices
    I got scratches, all over my arms (Slit wrists, and/or track marks from drugs)
    One for each day, since I fell apart (Cutting himself)
    I did...oh, what I had to do, if there was a reason, it was you (see above)

    Footsteps in the hall, it was you, you...oh... (Metaphor for remembering her visits to him in the past)
    Pictures on my chest, it was you, it was you... (He was looking at pics of her as he lay dying)

    Hey...I did, what I had to do...oh, and if there was a reason
    Oh, there wasn't no reason, no (Acknowledgement that he is using her as an "excuse" for his deep rooted depression, and that this was inevitable)
    And if, there's something you'd like to do
    Just let me continue, to blame you (Again, acknowledging that he is "blaming" her for his sad state of mind)

    Footsteps in the hall, it was you, you...oh...
    Pictures on my chest, it was you, you...oh...
    Flag esmjlm080507on November 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I am adopted and when I met my birth father he said this song always reminded him of me. How much pain he had to go through with losing me. I think of how much someone has to go through when listening to this song and how much pain it causes people to give away a baby.
    Flag daughter94on October 14, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think Once and Footsteps are both sang by the protagonist gone insane to his mother. I also interpret the lyrics of Once to mean that he killed his mother as well. "Backstreet lover on the back of the seat" or something along those lines, that he killed his mother before going on the killing streak and took her with him.

    This song is so great. So is the Temple of the Dog song, but since I listened to Footsteps for so long before discovering Temple of the Dog, whenever the Temple song is on, I always start singing along "Don't even think about reachi... shit."
    Flag Tig45on December 23, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:At first thought suicide definately comes to mind as the meaning behind the song. Although, I noticed that no one here wants to even try to interpret what "footsteps in the hall" means. Everything else fits well within suicide but that one just doesn't seem to fit.

    Once I started thinking about it, I changed my mind about suicide. She cheated on him, and the pain fueled his existing addiction and he allowed it to spin out of control, all the time blaming her for it. Addiction is a funny thing, because you can be fully aware that what you are doing is wrong, but you tell reason to shut up and take a hike.
    Flag Tagarton November 20, 2010   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:PEOPLE.....I want to know the idiot who originally came up with this 'Mamasan Trilogy' theory.....what are u even saying......Vedder thinks it is hillarious and quoted "I guess uuuhhhh.... PJ fans are really ummmmm imaginative....whoopie!!"....Taken right from his mouth @ Camden Center Two Legs tour '99....I was there I know....they played Alive & Once and people started chanting "finish the trilogy"..........some people have WAY too much time on their hands.....oh yeah Dungeans and Dragons is calling...gotta go......LOSERS!!..........bY THE WAY....very raw, emotional song...but prefer Times of Trouble.
    Flag imisslayneon August 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Footsteps" is apart of the, "Mamasan Trilogy", along with, "Alive", and "Once". "Alive" being where he discovers his step dad is not really his real dad, but his real father died. "Once" following that where the same man became a serial killer. Then "footsteps" where he is in prison and is executed. I of course dont think the songs means that. I have my own interpretation. Sometimes when I listen to this song, I think of my dad. I dont remember him. He left my mom when I was 5. He was a horrible man who did horrible things to my family. This song is saying everything I want to say to him. "I've got scratches all over my arms, one for each day since I fell apart". Depression hits you bad when you grow up without parents. I feel like the footsteps are him leaving my family. "Just let me continue to blame you", I blame him for alot of things. Bottom line is. Pearl Jam has been my favorite band since 1993 and I havent stopped loving them since. Their music is power and everyone has their own way of interpretating the songs. "Footsteps" is my favortie Pearl Jam song. As long as people are listening and loving it, thats all that matters.
    Flag dirtyfrank81on January 28, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think the fact that the song is part of the Mamasan Trilogy and is about the killer waiting on death row has been pretty well covered. I don't buy the idea that it's also about some other girl, but I did want to add a little twist on the "footsteps in the hall" lyrics. I've always taken "footsteps in the hall" to refer to two different things, specifically two different sets of footsteps in two different halls.

    First, you have the immediate footsteps, that of the jailers coming to take the man to his death.

    But you also have him referring to the memory of his mother's footsteps in the hall, walking towards his room, long ago. Sometimes, if something bad happens, you don't just remember that experience; you remember the sequence of events that lead up to it, with the enormous ramifications each of those little events can end up having. And I think the sound of those footsteps might be the kind of thing, the kind of little meaningless detail, that for whatever weird reason someone in that position might remember. In fact, those footsteps, just before the terrible thing happened (in Alive), are really the last memory the guy might have of his mother, unsullied, as she was when he was young, compared to the perversion that was about to happen. Right before she entered his room was the last time things were as they should be.

    So in a way, there's a commonality there, between these two sets of footsteps. Both of them are a harbinger. The jailer's footsteps, in the present, are bringing physical death. But his mother's footsteps, from the past, brought a different kind of death - a kind of mental or emotional death.
    Flag FatherCallahanon March 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:footsteps leaves me in tears always..
    to me.. it is just what one of my best mates was thinking before he killed himself after months of fighting with his girlfriend..
    love you mate
    Flag huggnzon February 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:that one guys dumb. eddie vedder just made the lyrics. wasnt even in the band when he made it. got a hold of a demo and sent his vocals to the band.
    Flag chinchin69on October 15, 2008   Link

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