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The meaning of Last Exit

FeiracoFeiraco Amsterdam Posts: 255
edited April 2012 in The Porch
I started to play Last Exit (the opener on Vitalogy) on a regular basis just last year, and I think it's an amazing song.

As in many songs of the band, water is a metaphor. In Last Exit it's “Let the ocean swell, dissolve 'way my past”.

There's some discussion on the internet on the meaning of the song. It seems obvious it's about death and suicide. The line "Three days, and maybe longer. Won't ever find me here" seems a reference to Kurt Cobain who was found three days after his death in his small garden house. Because he was diagnosed with a drugs overdose, the working of drugs might be the "let the ocean swell".

What I think is very intriguing is the reference to Charon from Greek mythology. The line “Under your tongue, I'm like a tab, I will give you what you're not suposed to have” could indicate that people normally condemn suicde, but the singer (Vedder) won't (and gives the coin required to enter afterlife).

I'm curious what others think of the song's meaning.
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  • GTFLYGIRLGTFLYGIRL NewYork Posts: 760
    edited April 2010
    deleted.... ;)
    Post edited by GTFLYGIRL on
  • BrainofBGABrainofBGA Australia Posts: 4,446
    I see it as a song about a cleansing of the spirit and soul. "let the ocean swell dissolve away my past..." a rebirth of life. So quite possibly it could be seen as something quite the opposite. Only my interpretation.
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  • EddieLedBetterEddieLedBetter Posts: 360
    Why do people attach so many feelings and song meanings to Kurt Kobain. The guy was weak in all aspects of life. The beauty in songs is we translate them to our own meanings. I wouldn’t waste any feeling for a song on a guy who snuffed out his own life, even if Ed did write the song about that.

    I interoperate it as life looked at as compared to the vast amount of time that existed before life. How life can be calm or turbulent like the ocean. Producing high waves with white wash that takes on new forms or can be completely calm and boring on the surface with the power underneath. You can write your name in the sand and the ocean wipes it away in the blink of an eye. This is a song about that wiping of of life. The sun climbs and burns (evaporates) the surface of the ocean away (mask), new lives form old lives die. Three days is usually the amount of time between someone dying and being buried... maybe longer. Shed my worldly flesh... but the spirit lives on. Its a last exit.
  • CantKeepMeHereCantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
    Kickin down the door and getting the fuck out of there... that's what the song means to me
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  • CJMST3KCJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    Here's the lyrics from PJ's website.

    Lives opened and trashed...'look ma, watch me crash'...
    No time to question...why'd nothing last...
    Grasp and hold on...we're dyin' fast...
    Soon be over...and I will relent...
    Let the ocean swell, dissolve 'way my past
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Won't even know I've left

    Under your tongue...I'm like a tab...
    I will give you what...you're not sposed to have...
    Under my breath...I swear by sin...
    For better or for worse...a best we began...
    Let the sun climb, oh, burn 'way my mask
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Shed my skin at last...shed...shed...

    Let the sun shine, burn 'way my mask
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Won't ever find me here
    Let the ocean dissolve 'way my past
    Four days, and not much longer...

    Let my spirit pass...

    This is, this is...
    This is, this is...
    This is, this is...
    My...last exit
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  • CantKeepMeHereCantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
    CJMST3K wrote:
    Here's the lyrics from PJ's website.

    Let the ocean swell, dissolve 'way my past
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Won't even know I've left

    Let the sun climb, oh, burn 'way my mask
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Shed my skin at last...shed...shed...

    Let the sun shine, burn 'way my mask
    Three days, and maybe longer
    Won't ever find me here
    Let the ocean dissolve 'way my past
    Four days, and not much longer...

    Let my spirit pass...

    This is, this is...
    This is, this is...
    This is, this is...
    My...last exit


    Just like IN HIDING - 3 days!!
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  • Grandmas JamGrandmas Jam Posts: 1,860
    CantKeepMeHere wrote:
    Kickin down the door and getting the fuck out of there... that's what the song means to me
    couldnt have been put better
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  • CJMST3KCJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    It's not about suicide. I know this much. :D
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  • LizardLizard So Cal Posts: 12,091
    EddieLedBetter wrote:

    I interoperate it as
    huh :?:



    and it's not about god either in case anyone was wondering. ;)
    So I'll just lie down and wait for the dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
  • GmoneyGmoney Posts: 1,618
    Hasn't Eddie stated before that this song was written about Kurt's death? Im 99% sure he said this one and at least Immortality were inspired by Kurt's death
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  • CJMST3KCJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    Gmoney wrote:
    Hasn't Eddie stated before that this song was written about Kurt's death? Im 99% sure he said this one and at least Immortality were inspired by Kurt's death


    Immortality I believe is about Kurt, or maybe just the early version from Boston '94 is...

    Last Exit isn't about suicide though.
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  • FeiracoFeiraco Amsterdam Posts: 255
    It's no wonder that songlines or maybe even songs on Vitalogy are about Kurt Cobain. Eddie thought that he and Cobain were on 'parellel trains', and then Cobain quits this world when the boys were putting Vitalogy together... Remember that all lyrics on this album are of Eddie. Now it was him against the media, music industry, pushing fans….
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  • megatronmegatron Posts: 3,420
    Grandmas Jam wrote:
    CantKeepMeHere wrote:
    Kickin down the door and getting the fuck out of there... that's what the song means to me
    couldnt have been put better
    yes!
    i like running to this song. gets me moving
  • Snoopy Died For Our SinsSnoopy Died For Our Sins Posts: 2,608
    "under your tongue, I'm like a tab" is an acid reference, not an afterlife reference
    "No way to save someone who won't take the rope,and just lets go..."
  • No WayNo Way Posts: 39
    Gmoney wrote:
    Hasn't Eddie stated before that this song was written about Kurt's death? Im 99% sure he said this one and at least Immortality were inspired by Kurt's death

    But I heard somewhere that the songs were actually written before Kurdt died . . . that doesn't make sense though, since some of the lyrics seem to so closely refer to the circumstances of his death - didn't they find his body 3 days after he died?
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  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,965
    could just be about doing drugs and surfing as escapism from the media pressures.
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • bigbiggzybigbiggzy Posts: 773
    I CaN't really tell you what its about but i always thought there was an acid reference in there as well
  • FastrichieFastrichie Sandy Hook, CT Posts: 917
    Yea I saw them play Last Exit before they knew of Kurt's death (4/6/94). And I'm sure that wasn't the first time they played it.
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  • GS163319GS163319 Posts: 132
    While it could be an acid reference, it does say "like a tab."

    This song, like most on Vitalogy, can be looked at in a few ways. Ed's pretty good with metaphor and double entendre...
  • Hugh Freaking DillonHugh Freaking Dillon Posts: 14,010
    EddieLedBetter wrote:
    Why do people attach so many feelings and song meanings to Kurt Kobain. The guy was weak in all aspects of life. The beauty in songs is we translate them to our own meanings. I wouldn’t waste any feeling for a song on a guy who snuffed out his own life, even if Ed did write the song about that.

    I interoperate it as life looked at as compared to the vast amount of time that existed before life. How life can be calm or turbulent like the ocean. Producing high waves with white wash that takes on new forms or can be completely calm and boring on the surface with the power underneath. You can write your name in the sand and the ocean wipes it away in the blink of an eye. This is a song about that wiping of of life. The sun climbs and burns (evaporates) the surface of the ocean away (mask), new lives form old lives die. Three days is usually the amount of time between someone dying and being buried... maybe longer. Shed my worldly flesh... but the spirit lives on. Its a last exit.

    gee, how Christian of you. :roll: and please enlighten us all as to what the hell "interoperate" means. :lol:
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  • blondieblue227blondieblue227 Va, USA Posts: 4,509
    song kicks ass is all i know.

    my 2 cents: it wasn't about kurt.
    and i always thought Immortally was about Native Americans.
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  • normnorm Posts: 31,146
    Johnny Sitar wrote:
    EddieLedBetter wrote:
    Why do people attach so many feelings and song meanings to Kurt Kobain. The guy was weak in all aspects of life. The beauty in songs is we translate them to our own meanings. I wouldn’t waste any feeling for a song on a guy who snuffed out his own life, even if Ed did write the song about that.

    I interoperate it as life looked at as compared to the vast amount of time that existed before life. How life can be calm or turbulent like the ocean. Producing high waves with white wash that takes on new forms or can be completely calm and boring on the surface with the power underneath. You can write your name in the sand and the ocean wipes it away in the blink of an eye. This is a song about that wiping of of life. The sun climbs and burns (evaporates) the surface of the ocean away (mask), new lives form old lives die. Three days is usually the amount of time between someone dying and being buried... maybe longer. Shed my worldly flesh... but the spirit lives on. Its a last exit.

    gee, how Christian of you. :roll: and please enlighten us all as to what the hell "interoperate" means. :lol:

    :lol::lol: nice!



    it's about surfing while tripping...and it was a kickass opener last year in san diego! :mrgreen:
  • GmoneyGmoney Posts: 1,618
    Fastrichie wrote:
    Yea I saw them play Last Exit before they knew of Kurt's death (4/6/94). And I'm sure that wasn't the first time they played it.
    this thread has blown my mind. all these yeas i never even thought twice that they weren't about kurt... This song just became very creepy to me...
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  • FrankY59FrankY59 Posts: 1,049
    blondieblue227 wrote:
    song kicks ass is all i know.

    my 2 cents: it wasn't about kurt.
    and i always thought Immortally was about Native Americans.

    Actually, I think Last Exit is about Native Americans. I vaguely remember reading something when this song came about about how Native Americans when they get old they are sent off to somewhere, "like over the hills" to die off...never really confirmed this with an analysis of the lyrics or if this is actually true in some Native American populations.
  • rival_AK71rival_AK71 Posts: 33
    They debuted the song in 1993. Kurt died in 1994.

    Surfing on acid makes me laugh the most, so I'll go with that until the next few times I hear it :mrgreen:
  • LeatherMosquitoManLeatherMosquitoMan Posts: 4,034
    havelock_chi wrote:
    They debuted the song in 1993. Kurt died in 1994.

    Surfing on acid makes me laugh the most, so I'll go with that until the next few times I hear it :mrgreen:

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  • Lost In OhioLost In Ohio Posts: 7,079
    CJMST3K wrote:
    Gmoney wrote:
    Hasn't Eddie stated before that this song was written about Kurt's death? Im 99% sure he said this one and at least Immortality were inspired by Kurt's death


    Immortality I believe is about Kurt, or maybe just the early version from Boston '94 is...

    Last Exit isn't about suicide though.


    Question 2.21 from the various FAQ's:
    http://www.lukin.com/Information/faq_new.html

    In an interview with the LA times in Nov. 1994, Eddie has said that "Immortality" was not about Kurt Cobain. The song did have different lyrics when Pearl Jam started playing it during the spring '94 tour than the final version on Vitalogy. And yes during the Atlanta April 03, 1994 show Eddie did mention that he hoped Kurt was ok. Eddie also dedicated "Go" to Kurt (this was the period after Kurt Cobain's overdose in Rome when he was missing). Sadly enough, Kurt Cobain died a few days after this broadcast.
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  • SpencerSpencer Posts: 867
    LeatherMosquitoMan wrote:
    havelock_chi wrote:
    They debuted the song in 1993. Kurt died in 1994.

    Surfing on acid makes me laugh the most, so I'll go with that until the next few times I hear it :mrgreen:

    New Orleans in November if my memory serves me correct? 16th?
    Yes.

    The Last Exit lyrics have nothing to do with Kurt - they were performing it (with the "three days" reference) almost six months before he died.
  • phungiphungi Posts: 641
    For those interested in a very compelling interpretation, check out Dr. Stip's Guided Tour of Vitalogy from the Red Mosquito forum
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  • erocshiftyerocshifty Posts: 1,170
    Snoopy Died For Our Sins wrote:
    "under your tongue, I'm like a tab" is an acid reference, not an afterlife reference[/quote

    didn't this song debut in 1993? maybe not the same lyrics, but pretty sure it was 93 or early 94. ed has already said in NUMEROUS interviews that none of the songs on VITALOGY are about kurt. IMMORTALITY has some lines that make me question this, specifically the line "scrawl dissolved, cigar box on the floor". and as someone else posted, the orpheum version. i definitely get the acid reference, cause you put it under your tongue & it's illegal-"you're not supposed to have".
    regardless, my favorite record ever....
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