Released: August 27, 1996
Songwriter: Eddie Vedder
Producer: Pearl Jam Brendan O’Brien
[Intro]
1, 2, 1, 2
[Verse 1]
Know a man, his face seemed pulled and tense
Like he's riding on a motorbike in the strongest winds
So I approach with tact, suggest that he should relax
But he's always moving much too fast
Said he'll see me on the flip side of this trip he's taking for a ride
[Chorus]
He's been taking too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkempt clothes
There he goes
[Verse 2]
He's yet to come back but I've seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder about his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size
[Chorus]
He's been taken, where? I don't know
Off he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
There he goes
[Verse 3]
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's changed but the surrounding bullshit; That has grown
And now he's home and we're laughing like we always 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 gonna happen next
Before his first step, he is off again
1, 2, 1, 2
[Verse 1]
Know a man, his face seemed pulled and tense
Like he's riding on a motorbike in the strongest winds
So I approach with tact, suggest that he should relax
But he's always moving much too fast
Said he'll see me on the flip side of this trip he's taking for a ride
[Chorus]
He's been taking too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkempt clothes
There he goes
[Verse 2]
He's yet to come back but I've seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder about his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size
[Chorus]
He's been taken, where? I don't know
Off he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
There he goes
[Verse 3]
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's changed but the surrounding bullshit; That has grown
And now he's home and we're laughing like we always 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 gonna happen next
Before his first step, he is off again