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Question about "Not for You"

badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
edited September 2013 in A Moving Train
Here's the lyrics to the song:

Restless soul, enjoy your youth
Like muhammad hits the truth
Can't escape from the common rule
If you hate something, don't you do it too...too...
Small my table, a sits just two
Got so crowded, i can't make room
Oh, where did they come from? stormed my room!
And you dare say it belongs to you...to you...
This is not for you
This is not for you
This is not for you
Oh, not for you...ah, you...
...scream...my friends...don't call me...
...friends, no they don't scream...
...my friends don't call...my friends don't...
All that's sacred comes from youth
Dedication, naive and true
With no power, nothing to do
I still remember, why don't you...don't you...
This is not for you
This is not for you
This is not for you
Oh, never was for you...fuck you...
This is not for you...
Oh, this is not for you...yeah, you...
This is not for you...
Oh, not for you...
Oh, you...

Anyone know what Vedder means in the 2nd line? Just curious......
"Like Muhammad hits the truth....."
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    badbrains wrote:
    Here's the lyrics to the song:

    Restless soul, enjoy your youth
    Like muhammad hits the truth
    Can't escape from the common rule
    If you hate something, don't you do it too...too...
    Small my table, a sits just two
    Got so crowded, i can't make room
    Oh, where did they come from? stormed my room!
    And you dare say it belongs to you...to you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, not for you...ah, you...
    ...scream...my friends...don't call me...
    ...friends, no they don't scream...
    ...my friends don't call...my friends don't...
    All that's sacred comes from youth
    Dedication, naive and true
    With no power, nothing to do
    I still remember, why don't you...don't you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, never was for you...fuck you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, this is not for you...yeah, you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, not for you...
    Oh, you...

    Anyone know what Vedder means in the 2nd line? Just curious......
    "Like Muhammad hits the truth....."

    Maybe Ed could get on here and explain what he meant? FearforFreedom should pm him- they have a relationship from what I have been led to believe.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    Thirty Bills Unpaid wrote:
    badbrains wrote:
    Here's the lyrics to the song:

    Restless soul, enjoy your youth
    Like muhammad hits the truth
    Can't escape from the common rule
    If you hate something, don't you do it too...too...
    Small my table, a sits just two
    Got so crowded, i can't make room
    Oh, where did they come from? stormed my room!
    And you dare say it belongs to you...to you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, not for you...ah, you...
    ...scream...my friends...don't call me...
    ...friends, no they don't scream...
    ...my friends don't call...my friends don't...
    All that's sacred comes from youth
    Dedication, naive and true
    With no power, nothing to do
    I still remember, why don't you...don't you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, never was for you...fuck you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, this is not for you...yeah, you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, not for you...
    Oh, you...

    Anyone know what Vedder means in the 2nd line? Just curious......
    "Like Muhammad hits the truth....."

    Maybe Ed could get on here and explain what he meant? FearforFreedom should pm him- they have a relationship from what I have been led to believe.

    Thirty Bills, you just made me cough up all my morning "bake" :lol:
  • Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    badbrains wrote:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid wrote:
    badbrains wrote:
    Here's the lyrics to the song:

    Restless soul, enjoy your youth
    Like muhammad hits the truth
    Can't escape from the common rule
    If you hate something, don't you do it too...too...
    Small my table, a sits just two
    Got so crowded, i can't make room
    Oh, where did they come from? stormed my room!
    And you dare say it belongs to you...to you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, not for you...ah, you...
    ...scream...my friends...don't call me...
    ...friends, no they don't scream...
    ...my friends don't call...my friends don't...
    All that's sacred comes from youth
    Dedication, naive and true
    With no power, nothing to do
    I still remember, why don't you...don't you...
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    This is not for you
    Oh, never was for you...fuck you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, this is not for you...yeah, you...
    This is not for you...
    Oh, not for you...
    Oh, you...

    Anyone know what Vedder means in the 2nd line? Just curious......
    "Like Muhammad hits the truth....."

    Maybe Ed could get on here and explain what he meant? FearforFreedom should pm him- they have a relationship from what I have been led to believe.

    Thirty Bills, you just made me cough up all my morning "bake" :lol:

    Cheers! :D
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • PingfahPingfah Posts: 350
    I assume it is a reference to Muhammad Ali. I have no idea exactly what he means by it though.
  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    Pingfah wrote:
    I assume it is a reference to Muhammad Ali. I have no idea exactly what he means by it though.

    Ya I think I read that years ago as like when Ali would go on a rampage of words, hitting the truth with what he's saying, maybe about being the greatest??? As a Muslim, I just say he's talking about my religion...... 8-):lol:
  • PingfahPingfah Posts: 350
    Well he is in a round about way. The guy wouldn't even have been called Muhammad if he hadn't become a Muslim. The lyric might have been "like Cassius hits the truth".
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,903
    It's not a stand alone lyric.

    "Like Muhammad hits the truth; you cannot escape from the common the common rule, if you hate something don't you do it too"

    Muhammad repeatedly brought up the golden rule in his teachings.
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • MotoDCMotoDC Posts: 947
    mookeywrench wrote:
    It's not a stand alone lyric.

    "Like Muhammad hits the truth; you cannot escape from the common the common rule, if you hate something don't you do it too"

    Muhammad repeatedly brought up the golden rule in his teachings.
    So you think he's referring to the Prophet of Islam when he says Muhammad there? I'm much more inclined to think he's talking about the boxer, since the verb in that line is "hits". I can see how the "common rule" bit would fit in with the Prophet bit, but what does hating something and doing it too have to do with Islamic teachings?
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,903
    MotoDC wrote:
    mookeywrench wrote:
    It's not a stand alone lyric.

    "Like Muhammad hits the truth; you cannot escape from the common the common rule, if you hate something don't you do it too"

    Muhammad repeatedly brought up the golden rule in his teachings.
    So you think he's referring to the Prophet of Islam when he says Muhammad there? I'm much more inclined to think he's talking about the boxer, since the verb in that line is "hits". I can see how the "common rule" bit would fit in with the Prophet bit, but what does hating something and doing it too have to do with Islamic teachings?

    A Bedouin came to the prophet[Muhammad], grabbed the stirrup of his camel and said: O the messenger of God! Teach me something to go to heaven with it. Prophet said: “As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them. Now let the stirrup go!
    —Kitab al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 146
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,903
    MotoDC wrote:
    mookeywrench wrote:
    It's not a stand alone lyric.

    "Like Muhammad hits the truth; you cannot escape from the common the common rule, if you hate something don't you do it too"

    Muhammad repeatedly brought up the golden rule in his teachings.
    .... but what does hating something and doing it too have to do with Islamic teachings?

    You're interpreting this as a rhetoric question:
    If you hate something, don't you do it too?

    I interpret it as a command:
    If you hate something then you too shouldn't do it.
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    MotoDC wrote:
    I can see how the "common rule" bit would fit in with the Prophet bit, but what does hating something and doing it too have to do with Islamic teachings?

    Maybe a reference to Ali's refusal to go to 'Nam.
  • MotoDCMotoDC Posts: 947
    mookeywrench wrote:
    MotoDC wrote:
    mookeywrench wrote:
    It's not a stand alone lyric.

    "Like Muhammad hits the truth; you cannot escape from the common the common rule, if you hate something don't you do it too"

    Muhammad repeatedly brought up the golden rule in his teachings.
    So you think he's referring to the Prophet of Islam when he says Muhammad there? I'm much more inclined to think he's talking about the boxer, since the verb in that line is "hits". I can see how the "common rule" bit would fit in with the Prophet bit, but what does hating something and doing it too have to do with Islamic teachings?

    A Bedouin came to the prophet[Muhammad], grabbed the stirrup of his camel and said: O the messenger of God! Teach me something to go to heaven with it. Prophet said: “As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them. Now let the stirrup go!
    —Kitab al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 146
    Yup, agree that's the common ("golden") rule parallel but not the same as hating something that you do too. I see the connection, but don't agree they're synonymous.

    edit: ahh, just noticed your follow up post -- I see what you're getting at there. Never occurred to me to read that as an imperative instead of an interrogative.

    edit2: this is why I love Pearl Jam so fucking much. Who writes songs like this anymore?
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,052
    Maybe it's all about alliteration. In the context of the lyrics, "Muhammad" alliterates better than "Habakkuk".
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • backseatLover12backseatLover12 Posts: 2,312
    It's not referring to Muhammad Ali, it's referring to Muhammad the prophet.
  • jethrojam420jethrojam420 Posts: 1,075
    backseatLover12 wrote:
    It's not referring to Muhammad Ali, it's referring to Muhammad the prophet.
    care to explain?
    8/29/00*5/2/03*7/2/03*7/3/03*7/11/03*9/28/04*5/24/06*6/28/08*5/15/10*5/17/10* 10/16/13*10/25/13* 4/28/16*4/28/16*8/5/16*8/7/16 EV 6/15/11 Brad 10/27/02
  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    OP has inadvertently reignited the Obama birther movement. You know he's like Muhammad, it's the truth.
  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    unsung wrote:
    OP has inadvertently reignited the Obama birther movement. You know he's like Muhammad, it's the truth.

    Nah, if he WAS a Muslim he WOULDNT be using those drones to kill fellow Muslims. Or drop bombs on Iraq or threaten syria with bombs. He should concentrate his anger on the Saudi leaders. Now those are so-called "Muslims" we could do WITHOUT. :lol:
  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    Yeah, no doubt.

    Nobel Peace Prize, it's a paperweight.

    On topic, or maybe still off, why is our government claiming that the GOP is against women's right the same time they support these extremists that rape and murder women at will? Maybe that should be another topic, admittedly I sometimes get carried away.
  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    unsung wrote:
    Yeah, no doubt.

    Nobel Peace Prize, it's a paperweight.

    On topic, or maybe still off, why is our government claiming that the GOP is against women's right the same time they support these extremists that rape and murder women at will? Maybe that should be another topic, admittedly I sometimes get carried away.

    Maybe that says a lot about our own government. 8-) but I know you're well aware of the shit they do in our name. :evil:
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    I always thought it was "Like Muhammed, IT's the truth"
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • backseatLover12backseatLover12 Posts: 2,312
    jethrojam420 wrote:
    backseatLover12 wrote:
    It's not referring to Muhammad Ali, it's referring to Muhammad the prophet.
    care to explain?

    It's really a no brainer. They are not referring to Cassious Clay.

    Put aside the fear of Muslims in the world today, and in yesteryear, referring to the prophet Muhammed was all about wisdom and truth. That's what the song refers to, not the boxer.
  • PingfahPingfah Posts: 350
    unsung wrote:
    Yeah, no doubt.

    Nobel Peace Prize, it's a paperweight.

    On topic, or maybe still off, why is our government claiming that the GOP is against women's right the same time they support these extremists that rape and murder women at will?

    Becaue the GOP is against women's rights. The GOP is against the rights of anybody who isn't a rich, white, heterosexual, male Christian. And because most politicians are hypocrites.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    :lol:

    Listened to that song thousands of times and never been aware that was the lyric. Now that I know what the lyric is, I can't quite remember what I thought it used to be. :think: might my father, it can't be true ... yeah, that's it :mrgreen:

    I'm sure about 40% of all Pearl Jam lyrics in my mind differ from what the guys actually wrote and say. That's the beauty of music and how personal it can be. :)
  • hedonisthedonist Posts: 24,524
    Jason P wrote:
    That's the beauty of music and how personal it can be. :)
    Amen.
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