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What does I Got Shit mean?

over bendsover bends Posts: 1,568
edited November 2007 in The Porch
Who is the person he keeps talking about? Who is the "you?" as this person sounds if he is complete isolation for a rather long period of time. (empty cup drifting in the middle of the sea) Is he reverting back to a time so far gone by? "I've got memories I've Got Shit." Who helped this guy walk the line when they held him in that night? And what's up with the "I've never held you in real life" line? "I'm not ugly and you're looking at me." That line makes no sense to me in context. The song is so eerie and odd.

The verses clearly makes sense to me, but the chorus seems defiant of that, thus making me question the entire song. Is the chorus a memory?
Yield!

3 Decibels Doubles the Volume

2006
Post edited by Unknown User on
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    deadnotedeadnote Posts: 1,678
    great mini album by the pearl jammers

    they need to release a couple ep's dont they
    set your laughter free

    dreamer in my dream

    we got the guns

    i love you,but im..............callin out.........callin out
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    Elaine: It means whatever the hell you want it to mean.

    Frank: Are you saying you want a piece of me?

    Elaine: I'll drop you like a sack of potatoes.

    Frank: You want a piece of me? YOU GOT IT!
    Mansfield II: # 23, since '03

    routine was the theme..

    there aint gonna be any middle any more
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    I think it makes perfect sense through out. There's isolation,loneliness, sorrow, regret, wistfulness. It's from a consistent point from someone who feels he has missed out and is in a bad way.

    Memories are all he has. He has nothing tangible. Nothing but his loneliness and the past.
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    NewJPageNewJPage Posts: 3,300

    Elaine: I'll drop you like a sack of potatoes.

    i believe the line was, "i could drop you like a bag of dirt." but good reference!
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    KDH12KDH12 Posts: 2,091
    I got shit

    what else needs to be said
    **CUBS GO ALL THE WAY IN......never **
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    chinobaezachinobaeza Santiago Posts: 2,489
    "Use Pampers"
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    before - Where Im not ugly and youre lookin at me
    he states - So Ill just lie down and wait for the dream

    Meaning he is dreaming about this person not thinking of him as ugly, I don't think he means the literal team ugly as in beauty/apperance but instead an ugly personality.

    before - I paid the price. Never held you in real life.
    He states - Oh, I walked the line when you held me close that night.

    Meaning he never got the chance to be with this person again.
    EV Bridgeschool - October 24, 2004
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    over bendsover bends Posts: 1,568
    before - I paid the price. Never held you in real life.
    He states - Oh, I walked the line when you held me close that night.

    Meaning he never got the chance to be with this person again.

    Is it possible that he's referring to a dream here too? That his dreams are the only thing to hold him together at night, yet he is unable to hold and manifest his dreams in real life?
    Yield!

    3 Decibels Doubles the Volume

    2006
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    over_bends wrote:
    Is it possible that he's referring to a dream here too? That his dreams are the only thing to hold him together at night, yet he is unable to hold and manifest his dreams in real life?

    Yeah I kinda went back/fourth before writing. I think its more of a memory then a dream, which I mean can overlap but remembering when they were together and hoping it would happen again, but he fucked up and it wont.
    EV Bridgeschool - October 24, 2004
    San Francisco - July 15/16/18, 2006 Bridgeschool - October 21/22, 2006
    Lollapalooza - August 5,2007
    EV Berkley - April 7/8, 2008 The Who Rock Honors - July 12, 2008
    Outside Lands - August 28, 2009 Seattle - September 21/22, 2009 San Diego - October 9, 2009
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    Elaine: It means whatever the hell you want it to mean.

    Frank: Are you saying you want a piece of me?

    Elaine: I'll drop you like a sack of potatoes.

    Frank: You want a piece of me? YOU GOT IT!

    "What kind of person walks in and steals somebody else's TV Guide???"
    "WE'RE UH, WE'RE GONNA DO THIS ONE WHICH IS UH, CERTAINLY NOT A USUAL ONE, AND THEN UH, JUST TAKE A FEW MORE MINUTES, THEN UH, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA DO OUR BEST TO KEEP TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS AWAKE FR..." (cheering at intro)...

    --->H2I

    (special moment)
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    I always compared this song to "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner. In that book the one character is retarded. His point of view in the book talks about his existence within a totally screwed up family. He has fully functioning thoughts but can't share any of them. The Sound is the constant arguing, abuse, and cover up happening around him and the Fury is that he can't even yell out let alone get out. I equate this to I Got Shit because I think the person in the song is dealing with something similar whether it's a physical or mental I don't know but he can't express deep feelings for someone, most likely a woman he loves from a far. So he's saying I Got Memories I Got Shit because memories aren't enough for him he wants to express himself...

    For the longest time I was wrong about a lyric and I was really bummed because I thought it was one of Eddie's best ever. When he says "If just once I could feel loved..." I thought he said "I'd say it like I mean it!!!" but he actually says "oh stare back at me yeah..." I like my misheard one better, so much that it used to give me chills to think about it. Oh well the beauty of PJ is that I can still feel that lyric if I want to.
    the sun has set, the sun will rise another day....
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    PEPPER wrote:
    I always thought the song was about some person who was to timid to approach a girl because of his lowself esteem. He really likes this girl so he imagined himself with her so "never got to hold you in real life" because he thought himself out of her league "I'm not ugly and you're looking at me" so he never approached her, only imagined being with her...I think a lot of us have been there b4

    So basically you have your memories but those are shit compared to the real thing

    and by the way...this song is the shit

    This is how I always interpreted it
    "If my thoughts, dreams, could be seen, they'd probably put my head, in a guillotine, but it's alright ma, it's life and life only."
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    red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    PEPPER wrote:
    I always thought the song was about some person who was to timid to approach a girl because of his lowself esteem. He really likes this girl so he imagined himself with her so "never got to hold you in real life" because he thought himself out of her league "I'm not ugly and you're looking at me" so he never approached her, only imagined being with her...I think a lot of us have been there b4

    So basically you have your memories but those are shit compared to the real thing

    and by the way...this song is the shit

    +1 :D Yeah we have all been there. I love this song because of how real it is. I've basically lived that paragraph you just typed. It's like my head was in the clouds in high school or something. Now that I am out of high school I look back and think why was I so infatuated with her. I just realized that in jr high and in high school (the song came out during those years for me) that I was living in like this enclosed bubble. I was with the majority of the same students for 7 years and then in college we all branch off and life had such a much more deeper and meaningful purpose for me on the whole. Weird thing is: this girl actually looked me up on facebook, and sent me a friend request. That was just realy suprising and yet weird at the same time.
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    My lips are shaking, my nails are bit off
    Been a month and a day since I heard myself talk
    Only advantage this life's got on me
    Picture an empty cup in the middle of the sea

    And I fight back in my mind
    Never lets me be right
    I've got memories, I've got shit
    So much it don't show

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night

    An empty shell seems so easy to crack
    I Got questions, don't know who the fuck I'm ever gonna ask
    So I'll just lie alone and wait for a dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're looking at me

    And I'll stay in bed
    All blue, I've seen hell
    If just once I could feel love
    Oh, stare back at me

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me close that night
    Oh, I paid the price, never held you in real life
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~PJ~~~~~~~~~~~~
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    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    1/14/95, Charlotte 2000, 2003:4/15, 4/16, 7/1, 7/5, 7/6, 7/8, 7/9, 2006: 5/27, 5/28, 5/30;6/17/08, 6/28/08
    *** www.myspace.com/pirljamgirl***
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    is it "I Got ID" or "I Got Id"......makes more sense to me if its "I Got Id" because id is the unconscious part of each of us....the part that has the most basic needs in our existence.

    .....then again, maybe i'm thinking about it too hard :rolleyes:
    If I had known then...what I know now...

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    over bendsover bends Posts: 1,568
    It's Id, as in id, ego, super ego.
    Yield!

    3 Decibels Doubles the Volume

    2006
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    kj1nyrkj1nyr Posts: 837
    My lips are shaking, my nails are bit off
    Been a month and a day since I heard myself talk
    Only advantage this life's got on me
    Picture an empty cup in the middle of the sea

    And I fight back in my mind
    Never lets me be right
    I've got memories, I've got shit
    So much it don't show

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night

    An empty shell seems so easy to crack
    I Got questions, don't know who the fuck I'm ever gonna ask
    So I'll just lie alone and wait for a dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're looking at me

    And I'll stay in bed
    All blue, I've seen hell
    If just once I could feel love
    Oh, stare back at me

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me close that night
    Oh, I paid the price, never held you in real life

    We all know how Ed likes to change lyrics around. I don't remember which show (been to about 35 of 'em) but I was in the front row just a hair to Ed's left and I'm pretty sure he sang something like:

    And I'll stare you back
    Oh blue eyed sea, yeah
    If just once I could feel love
    Oh, stare back at me

    I've always liked that and sang it that way ever since.
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    Ok I will play

    id from wickipedia

    Id

    The term id (inner desire) is a Latinised derivation from Groddeck's das Es.[2] It stands in direct opposition to the super-ego. It is dominated by the pleasure principle.
    The id is the unconscious part of the brain that is the center of controlling all unknown pleasures or desires. These desires one may or may not be aware of, however, according to Freud, one will never be capable of understanding all desires. The sexual desire, firstly, may be prevalent in one's mind, although, if one were focused on understanding all of the sexual desires, one would be very disturbed to discover what actual sexual desires one may harbor in one's subconscious. Secondly, the id is the part of the mind that controls all religious and spiritual beliefs.
    The mind of a newborn child is regarded as being completely "id-ridden", in the sense that it is a mass of instinctive drives and impulses, and demands immediate satisfaction. This view equates a newborn child with an id-ridden individual - often humorously - with this analogy: an alimentary tract with no sense of responsibility at either end.
    The id is responsible for our basic drives such as food, sex, and aggressive impulses. It is amoral and egocentric, ruled by the pleasure–pain principle; it is without a sense of time, completely illogical, primarily sexual, infantile in its emotional development, and will not take "no" for an answer. It is regarded as the reservoir of the libido or "love energy".
    A popular interpretation of the id is not that it "convinces" the mind to ignore social norms, but rather in itself just does not take social norms into account. The id is the primal, or beast-like, part of the brain, determined to pursue actions that are pleasurable, such as eating and copulation. The prime motivation of the id is self-survival, pursuing whatever is necessary to accomplish that goal.


    My lips are shaking, my nails are bit off
    Been a month and a day since I heard myself talk
    Only advantage this life's got on me
    Picture an empty cup in the middle of the sea

    He is enclosed, in his own world. The visual of the empty cup is one of nearly being swallowed up , but he is afloat yet his cup is empty while in a sea of water noting abundance surrounds him but he does not have.

    And I fight back in my mind
    Never lets me be right
    I've got memories, I've got shit
    So much it don't show

    The id does not show, but it is there and he is fighting it, struggling against it.

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night

    Walked the line, is this a reference to Johny Cash 'Walk the line'? That song is about being right and doing right to keep the relationship you are committed to. So maybe he did walk the line when had was close to the person of his infatuation.

    An empty shell seems so easy to crack
    I Got questions, don't know who the fuck I'm ever gonna ask
    So I'll just lie alone and wait for a dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're looking at me

    Another reference to the loneliness of being enclosed and seperated from others. Then finally knowing he may not be the attractive one he dreams of her wanting him.

    And I'll stay in bed
    All blue, I've seen hell
    If just once I could feel love
    Oh, stare back at me

    Great reference to the feel of love being returned to him but it wasn't hasn't - didn't stare back at him so it was only a wish or hope.

    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me in that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held my hand that night
    Oh, I walked the line, when you held me close that night
    Oh, I paid the price, never held you in real life

    His short time with her was not real enough to last. Maybe it was just a dream. He paid the price, walked the line but never held in real life.

    The id experience is not the real experience.

    Hell I don't know but I gave it a shot. :)
    HOB 10.05.2005, E Rutherford 06.03.2006, The Gorge 07.22.2006, Lolla 08.05.2007, West Palm 06.11.2008, Tampa 06.12.2008, Columbia 06.16.2008, EV Memphis 06.20.2009, New Orleans 05.01.2010, Kansas City 05.03.2010
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    Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    Its an awesome song.
    I guess Ive always listened and interpreted it together with Long Road.
    They were released on the same single and Ive always assumed they were linked, as if from the same persons perspective. They were tied in with the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack and I guess Ive always considered Long Road to be about the death row inmate contemplating their own fate beyond the execution and I Got Shit to be them considering their life, memories and all they've left behind.
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
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    igotid88igotid88 Posts: 27,297
    bump
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    igotid88igotid88 Posts: 27,297
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    RhinoJamRhinoJam Raleighwood Posts: 592
    Freaking love this song and Merkinball... I wish they would do some more collaborative work with Uncle Neil... a whole album with Pearl Jam would be sick!
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    2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,141
    Play on I Got Id - see S. Freud for details on Id, Ego and Superego
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    ceskaceska New York Posts: 1,076
    Merkinball was released in December 1995, my first year in college. Perfect soundtrack for bleak upstate NY winters. That's what it means to me.

    I like the live versions with the "only got to hold you in my mind" line, sounds a bit better.
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    100 Pacer100 Pacer Toronto, ON Posts: 8,504
    It's for all the hookers on crack.
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    buck502000buck502000 Birthplace of GIBSON guitar Posts: 8,951
    Everything and nothing at the same time.......
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    igotid88igotid88 Posts: 27,297
    RhinoJam said:

    Freaking love this song and Merkinball... I wish they would do some more collaborative work with Uncle Neil... a whole album with Pearl Jam would be sick!

    Mirror ball
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    VitalogensiaVitalogensia Posts: 1,923
    I just remembered I need to buy a merkin one of these days.
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    PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,515
    edited July 2015

    pepper wrote:

    I always thought the song was about some person who was to timid to approach a girl because of his lowself esteem. He really likes this girl so he imagined himself with her so "never got to hold you in real life" because he thought himself out of her league "I'm not ugly and you're looking at me" so he never approached her, only imagined being with her...I think a lot of us have been there b4



    So basically you have your memories but those are shit compared to the real thing



    and by the way...this song is the shit

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (fucking 2007 posts won't quote properly)

    For the most part, I agree with this interpretation, except I think that the "shit" is a double entendre. Yes, it means that the memories and dreams are shit compared to the real thing, but It's also about carrying a lot of baggage or psychological weight that runs deep (as the alternate title also suggests).
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
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    igotid88igotid88 Posts: 27,297
    So the line is not "And I'll stay in bed" but "And I'll stare you back"
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