On the edge windowsill
Ponders his maker, ponders his will
To the street below, he just ain't nothin'
But he's got a great view
And he sinks a needle deep

Can't touch the bottom
In too deep
Can't touch the bottom

On the edge of a know-nothing town
Feeling quite superior, the aged come
To the sky above, he just ain't nothin'
But he's got a great view
And he sinks a burning knife deep

Can't touch the bottom
In too deep
Can't touch the bottom
In too deep

On the edge of a Christmas clean love
Young virgin from heaven visiting
To the man above her
She just ain't nothing

And she doesn't like the view
She doesn't like the view
She doesn't like the view
But he sinks himself deep

Can't touch the bottom
In too deep
Can't touch the bottom
Can't touch the bottom, deep



Lyrics submitted by mike

Track duration: 04:18

"Deep" as written by Stone C. Gossard, Jeffrey Allen Ament, Eddie Jerome Vedder

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Deep song meanings
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31 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with Tig45 - when he said on 11/26/10 "First verse - Heroin (?) addict shooting up

    Second verse - Self-mutilation

    Third verse - Rape of a young woman

    I replied to someones old post about the the rape portion with the following:

    I think the portion about the "Christmas clean love' is actually the rapist thinking - he is LEERING at her.. thinking these thoughts - he thinks that she is "a virgin down from heaven" and then the rest of the verse is about her -

    To the man above her
    She just ain't nothing

    And she doesn't like the view
    She doesn't like the view
    She doesn't like the view
    But he sinks himself deep

    I was intrigued by the thoughts that this was about a single crazed out homosexual... I pondered it a lot but could not wrap myself around why he would rape a young girl. Seems out of character for how Eddie writes - seems like he would not paint a minority in such a dark light...

    I definitely think this is about 3 different scenarios and people... Eddie likes to do things in 3 - ergo the Mamasan trilogy.

    This is an awesome song however you interpret the lyrics!!! Love this band forever!
    Flag gigilizon June 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:
    I believe the song is about a man just trying to hit bottom because he's nobody. In the first verse he's getting high thinking about his god and his purpose in life while he looks in his window all the persons who don't care about him. The second verse is about this man abandoned by his god (To the sky above he just ain't nothin') killng someone because he feels superior and thinks is time (aged come) for this person to die. The third verse is about this man raping a girl on the Christmas night. She's a virgin (clean love) and for him (the man above her) she represents nothing.

    Great song, amazing guitars and vocals. Definitely my favourite song of the Ten album.
    Flag ktulu852on August 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:First verse, is a suicidal guy standing on his window sill contemplating his jump "On the edge of a windowsillPonders his maker, ponders his will" pondering his maker God, pondering his will as in will he jump? The people gathered around him don't know or care for him he's a nobody two bit junky "To the street below, he just ain't nothin'" he's got a great view because he's high up. He shoots up before he jumps as it will stop him from chickening out "and he sinks the needle deep, yeah..." Whoa, can't touch the bottom taking the heroin makes him feel that he won't hit the bottom he'll just continue falling, he won't feel the grounds impact. " 2nd verse, changes his mind about jumping, goes for the knife. Feeling superior as he's above everyone and can't be seen, 3rd verse As he's on the roof, knowing he's gonna kill himself thinks I'll have a last bit of carnage, seeks out the heavenly virgin and rapes her

    Flag StoneGosson July 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the comment about a man struggling to deal with his own homosexuality makes sense.
    First verse is the man thinking about god and why he gave him these unwanted feelings, perhaps considering suicide by throwing himself from the building. He doesnt kill himself but turns to drugs to avoid dealing with his feelings. He is in deep (trouble) and has lost control (cant touch the bottom).
    Second verse perhaps relates to the ignorance of the people around him who dont accept homosexuals. The reference to the aged could be the older generation who think its an illness/mental problem. He is then either killing someone who is criticising him or is self-harming to punish himself for his attraction to men (i beleive its the latter). Both verses show his feeling of low self-worth with the "he aint nothing" lines.
    Third verse is about a virgin/young girl being raped, presumably by the gay man in an attempt to prove to himself that he is not gay.
    The reason the man is upset, turns to drugs and loses control doesnt have to be his sexuality but it fits. If it is about a gay man fighting his feelings then the line "cant touch the bottom" has a bit of an unfortunate double meaning!
    Flag sinisterbaboonon May 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I disagree with the above. I don't think they are all the same person. And I don't think the person begins using drugs because of his sexuality.
    "Ponders his maker, ponders his will"
    Think how many drug users say that, in the early stages of their addiction, before it starts sucking, and killing them, say that it opens up doors and shows them a new perspective on life (which is slowly takes away).
    The 2nd verse is explicitly about self-harm (IMO) and the 3rd about rape. It's just a dark song in general. O

    Vedder uses a lot of water/ocean references in his songs (see Oceans, Wash, Tremor Christ) and I think "Can't touch the bottom" is a reference to metaphorically drowning.
    By the way if you like this song, listen to the live version from the "Drop in the Park EP". It should be on Youtube.
    Flag Tig45on February 25, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:I like what TremorGabe is saying.(Essay Time:D)
    I think it's about a guy who doesn't wanna be homosexual, he just is. He asks himself why this would happen to him while shooting up needle-drugs(there's more than one you know!), he then envies others for their heterosexuality to the point of killing them. The man then goes into denial, saying "I'm still straight!" and attempts to prove it to himself by raping a woman, his mental pain from not being heterosexual has "SENT HIM OFF THE DEEP END"
    The second verse is just about his envy, and thinking the people deserve to die(not literally narcissism, he just thinks the people have zero worth)and taking the job into his own hands.
    The third verse is a virgin hooker, she get's her services bought by the homosexual man. The man doesn't truely believe she means anything, he just want's to prove himself that he's straight. The woman "doesn't like the view" because SHE'S A HOOKER, it's her job, nothing more, nothing less.
    There is no fourth verse.
    The "they just ain't nothin'" part is Vedder saying the people around them couldn't care less about them.
    "But he's got a great view" Implies that this person likes what they are seeing/are enjoying themselves.
    Vedder says "can't touch the bottom" because there's no possible way to hit the bottom, emotionally, physically or mentally because there's only going deeper.

    I think I summed everything up.
    hope I didn't put you to sleep.
    Flag halflife213on February 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:First verse - Heroin (?) addict shooting up

    Second verse - Self-mutilation

    Third verse - Rape of a young woman

    I love this song, it's so dark and... well... deep. And I think Deep is the perfect title. Know that feeling you get when you know you're in deep shit and you feel swallowed up? It's like you feel as if you are drowning. This song is so good and so dramatic.
    Flag Tig45on November 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I remember reading a rock magazine after Ten came out, and there was an article in it about pearl jam's tour in Europe and how it was going. When they were in Germany, Eddie mention before they played Deep that the song was about how a person was dealing with homosexuality. The article said the crowd got upset and started booing. So think of that when trying to figure out for yourself what the lyrics for Deep mean.
    Flag TremorGabeon November 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about a guy who is suicidal starts to take addictive drugs(heroin probably) and steers away from that path. But even though he's not going to kill himself, his life is still fucked up and he starts getting into worse and worse and stuff such as murder(which he has no problem justifying at this point, claiming his superiority over his victims, and eventually rape.

    The third verse is great work by the band because it puts you in the perspective of one of his victims. It makes you realize the true cycle of tragedy being portrayed throughout the song.
    Flag hero764on July 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:when he sings "sinks himself deep" its amazing.
    Flag mezpezon April 10, 2010   Link

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