Song of the day(Why Go)

JDE-PJ · August 2003

Well I see Kaddikat just posted this one last night, so hope some of you will join in on this 4 year old post, and give your thoughts and interps for this born again live tune.

The 4th song off of Ten, it surely was a blast seeing it played again this tour.

Why Go

RrVwMirror
1/12/01 7:48 PM
SOTD: ...WHY GO

El Conquistador
8/6/99 10:19 AM
WHY GO

Another day another song.....

WHY GO

She scratches a letter into a wall made of stone
Maybe someday another child won't feel as alone as she does
It's been two years, and counting, since they put her in this place
She's been diagnosed by some stupid fuck, and mommy agrees, yeah...
Whoa...yeah...hey yeah yeah...
Why go home... (3x)

She seems to be stronger, but what they want her to be is weak
She could play pretend, she could join the game, boy
She could be another clone...ooh...whoa...ah yeah...

Ooh...
Why go home? (4x)
What you taught me...put me here...don't come visit...mother...
Sting me...

Whoa...ooh...
Why go home? (4x)
What you taught me...put me here...don't come visit...mother, mother, yeah...
Why go home? (7x)
Whoa...

El Conquistador
8/6/99 10:36 AM
Re: WHY GO

I look forward to seeing what you guys think about this song...I feel that it is one of the more powerful and energized songs on ten

Elegant-Waste
8/6/99 10:42 AM
Re: WHY GO

Hmm, this is song is about a girl that was put into a mental hospital, even though there was nothing wrong with her. "She's been diagnosed by some stupid fuck, and mommy argees..." the mother wanted her daughter to be put into this place no matter what. And her time in the hospital makes her into something the mother thought she was from the start. However, the "why go home?" I really don't know and will leave for the more intelligent people to figure out.

-My My Hey Hey Pearl Jam Is Here-

jcborges
8/6/99 11:09 AM
Re: WHY GO

OK, this obviously takes place in a mental institution. A girl was committed to that institution, though she wasn't really mentally ill, maybe just rebellious aganist her mother or plain different from the standards of normality. She's been there, isolated, for two years, so she writes her testimony on the wall for the next intern, so the next one can take confort in the words of someone who went through the same, even if only in written form, so that "maybe someday another child won't be as alone as she does".

Whatever was this girl's problem, her mother refused to deal with it and took the easy way out, dumping her in a system which is no better prepared to deal with her specifics, and treats everyone with the same dose of Prozac and bullshit psychoanalysis. And she refuses to play along, to act the part, to fake some sort of healing that she had never any use for, so she won't be released from it. "She seems to be stronger", which for them is a sign of denial, a sign that she hasn't accepted her disease so that she could be cured, which to them would mean adopting the same meek and mild attitude of all their brainwashed patients...

So she just stays and waits, and in the end feels that she doesn't want to get out, at least not to go back home ("Why go home?"), where she isn't understood, where her mother doesn't care enough to know what really is wrong with her, so the girl just fuels her anger and resentment against the mother, and that's the dominant feeling in the song, the feeling of revolt and entrapment. I always imagine the walls coming closer on me when I hear this song, an acute feeling of claustrophobia mixed with the impulse to break those walls, to smash things, to shake off anything that might be holding me. But for the girl, it is an inner ravage, for she has no one on whom to turn but herself and the distant image of the mother, so it just corrodes her inside, and it is all that muted pain that explodes in the chords and wails of this song.

(If you're interested, there's another poignant critique of the mental health system done by Metallica back in 1986, in Master of Puppets, named "Sanitarium". Great song as well.)

<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"

RrVwMirror
8/6/99 11:30 AM
Re: WHY GO

BRAVO....Well said!!!

Yield
8/6/99 11:39 AM
Re: WHY GO

Wow, i never realized how wrong i was about some of these songs until i read the actual lyrics.......

THEelderlywoman
8/6/99 12:17 PM
Re: WHY GO

i may disagree with you on a few points here and there. i agree that the girl is in some kind of a mental institution and i think that the girl thinks that she doesn't have a problem. but maybe she does?? maybe she is so confused that she doesn't realize the extent of her own problems? and somone said something about the mother taking the easy way out and just dumping her there--maybe the mother didn't have any other choice. perhaps she had tried to support her daughter and help her, but it was no use. the daughter's inability to realize her illness is making her hate her mother for putting her in this place that she feels is unneccesary and quite cruel. speaking from personal experience, maybe the mother is doing her best to help, but since the daughter does not realize or appreciate the efforts of her mother, the girl ends up hating her mother for putting her there. to her, going home wouldn't solve anything, so she is pondering "why go home?"
at the same time, i have doubts about my version because of personal experiences, it's hard for me to believe that a mother would just throw her kid into a mental institution as an easy way out (of course, after yesterday's song, who knows about the feelings of mothers?). in some ways, the other version of the sane girl who is thrown into an institution where she is constantly being hounded to weaken may fit better for the way people accept the song. this is only my humble, biased opinion...

Bastet
8/6/99 1:14 PM
Re: WHY GO

I work in a children's hospital and believe me there are parents who really don't want to deal with their kids if something is wrong. They just can't be bothered, it interferes with their lives and careers. I see so many parents who should never have had kids in the first place. What were they thinking? That it would be like having a pet or something? I have a mental picture of this mother. She's wearing her power suit. She is very concerned about the image she projects. She talks to the staff about her high profile job and her many charity involvements. But see, she can still find time for her poor unstable child. Wonder why that child is unstable? I understand the girl saying "don't come visit mother". Why be a hypocrit, why pretend you give a shit? Believe me these kinds of parents aren't fooling anyone but themselves. And the kids pay the price. Oh, god, don't get me started, I'm getting the shakes.

=^--^=

jcborges
8/6/99 1:39 PM
Re: WHY GO

Look, don't get me wrong... I was just interpretating the song. I believe there are people who can benefit from psychiatric treatment and institutions, and that many people endure a great grief when they commit their loved ones, and do it *honestly* thinking about their welfare. But there's the other side of the coin and I'm 99% sure that this is what the song refers to. Why? Because most of the characters speaking in the 1st person in Ten are VICTIMS which Vedder gives voice to. They are the abused child, the beggar, the neglected Jeremy... why would this one be different? (I know the guy in Black is only a victim of his love, but he doesn't BLAME anyone else). Besides, the rage in the song is too powerful for me to believe that Vedder does not identify with the girl, that he does not legitimize her anger.

<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"

JDE-PJ · August 2003

El Conquistador
8/6/99 1:49 PM
Re: WHY GO

I agree...ten definately is almost a concept album....almost....he is giving a voice to the suffering

oneiconoclast
8/6/99 1:57 PM
Re: WHY GO

I am in agreement; however, most of the interpretations have been literal.

Sometimes, we are told, even the artist is unaware of the subterranean layers beneath his or her work -- what I am choosing to call the figurative. (These are generally only uncovered later, by academics and critics and people with too much time on their hands -- like me!)

So, for fun, here are my figurative, symbolic interpretations inspired by the study of semiotics (signs).

The girl is the wall of stone and she is scratching a letter into herself. (Akin to what the tatoo and body piercing rituals have become as rites of passage.) In other words, she is marking the experience in writing; leaving something of herself behind in order to escape the inevitable conclusion of the human condition, death. She is trying to experience immortality and reaching beyond herself to subsequent generations. She chooses stone because she is barren; or if not, then she should be. She should not be allowed to conceive because she is not fit to -- she would simply be passing on her weakness to another helpless human (much like her mother did to her). The letter is her child, it is the only one she can conceive.

The diagnosis by some stupid fuck is how she got there in the first place -- but not just the institution, in general. We are constantly surrounded by people making stupid pronouncements and judging our actions. We are labelled this or that, and sometimes the labels are so difficult to peal away. They stick. Her diagnosis began years ago, long before the literal fuck made his medical assessment, at the hands of her family and her friends and all the rest of them.

She seems to be stronger, but they want her to be weak.
People are afraid of strength; they are afraid of courage; most people never move beyond the mediocre, the mainstream, the banal.

She could join the game. Okay, that one is really obvious. And haven't we all been tempted to play the game?

Don't come visit. Her mother fucked her up in the first place. End of story.

Why Go Home?
Refers to the western adage, you can't go home again. Why is it true? Because it is. Why bother going home when you can't?

Gee, that was fun. I feel like you should be charging me by the hour... I feel so much better now. Thank you...for the psychoanalysis.

Schumi
8/6/99 1:58 PM
Re: WHY GO

Like Jeremy, this one was inspired by a true story (see the "4 Heather" at the bottom of the lyrics in the album art). I think she was put into a mental institution for experimenting with drugs. I read about it somewhere, but I can't remember. Anyway, I think this song is a comment on the struggle all teenagers have in trying to gain their independence.

El Conquistador
8/6/99 2:01 PM
Re: WHY GO

yeah I heard that too...something like she got put in that place for smoking pot becuase her parents flipped out....

JamFan
8/6/99 2:26 PM
Re: WHY GO

Very interesting song with straight forward lyrics. It was written "4 Heather" (it says that in the liner notes. At a Chicago Metro show, Eddie says that who it was written for was there at the concert. So, I guess, she didn't go home.

I don't want to take what you can give. I would rather starve that eat your bread.-EV

redmosquito
8/7/99 01:18 AM
Re: WHY GO

I feel kinda lame writing to this now, since everybody's interps have been so deep, but that is our goal to bring greater insight into Eddie's lyrics for everyone, so thanks everyone, I have gained lots and lots of insight from ALL of your different and meaningful interpretations.

The only thing that I could possibly add is that the feelings and the anger that Eddie portrays in this song, I'm assuming, are very normal for mental institutions (after reading the book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" which gave a very, very graphic and symbolic view of mental hospitals).
In the book, it showed that people with strong wills are dealt with in a very firm way. For the "system" to work, the first thing that has to be broken is their will, the goal of the "system" in mental institutions is to make everyone into clones (as Eddie says).
The only thing that I am wondering about is the ending of the song. Does the girl stay in the hospital because there is no point in going home? Because if she does then I'm sad to say that her will would eventually be broken (in a way, maybe, by her saying that there is no use in going home it is a way of giving up, staying in the mental institution). If indeed that is the ending, then that is very, very heartbreaking. In, "One flew over the cuckoo's nest" the people in the institution were there so long, their wills had been broken so long ago that they needed the institution to keep living, it had totally separated them from society.
BUT! if the ending turns out that the girl leaves, and she just doesn't return to her family, then I like that so much more. Knowing Eddie (only through his lyrics) the character usually has the will to survive at the end, he (or she in this case) usually finds the strength to survive BY THEMSELVES, with no help from family or anyone. The theme of TEN may involve victims, but many of them turn out to be the triumphant victors at the end (which is what I consider Eddie to be).

"if we ever listen to the voice inside, so drowned out"

-redmosquito

P.S. I loved someones interpretation about the girl creating her immortality by scratching a letter on the stone wall. THAT is very awesome and insightful!

brokenarrow
8/7/99 9:10 PM
Hits the nail right on the head!

......As usual, you guys have great interpretaions!
.......As my kids are getting older, I'm around alot of other parents and their children. You would be AMAZED at how many kids out there have been "Diagnosed" as having 'A.D.D....Attention Deffecit Dissorder'. Quite frankly, there are children who do legitamately suffer from this, and I FEEL, some who don't.
........I get the feeling with certain parents it's a "Quick Fix"....alot of these parents have their kids in day-care from day one.....don't seem to have the time for them etc.....
.........To some of these folks' the IDEA of having a child is wonderful, pregnancy, baby showers etc....but guess what folks?
......They grow up, and you sure as shit better be there every step of the way!
......They change your life completely, and if you're not prepared for that....well, Ridalin and complaining and unfortunately, locking them up, as some parents DO.....is just selfish.....people like that should never have children in the first place!
.........This is what I think about when i hear 'Why Go'......It hits the nail right on the head!
..............brokenarrow>

evenkat
8/8/99 8:24 PM
Re: WHY GO

This song always reminds me of this girl I went to junior high with. She was pretty innocent and she starting hanging out with us and we did things like drink beer and smoke a little, but we were good kids for the most part, we weren't having sex or stealing things. Which, we knew at lot of kid's doing stuff like that. Her mother put her in this home for girls. It was pretty sad.

And it always shocked me because we knew so many kids who did a lot worse things. The song always make me think of her, and all she went through. We used to go visit her, there. But, she was a good kid and after she got out, she went back home, and she tried to make up with her mother, but moved out on her own soon after. I think when something happens like that it just can't be the same anymore.

"You know what it's like" EV

Kaddikat · August 2003

I LOVE THIS SONG

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

whoa neat to re-read this man..

!

Ms. Haiku · February 2007

It's nice to look at old posts. Interesting thoughts, eh? Someone brought up the point that for the mental institutions to work the will of the patient needs to be broken, at least in this song that is what is happening. I'm under the impression that drugs are used to subdue, and I gather physical force is also, I just never thought of it in terms of *breaking will.* It actually puts an even darker haze on the song, you know.

For those institutions that *break the will* are they under the assumption that they have the means to *piece together the will* once it's broken? That's a pretty big assumption, you know. I don't think all agencies for patients of mental health issues are there to *break the will* of the patient.

Lifted · February 2007

the song should mean whatever you want it to mean, but if we're being honest here...the song is about a girl put in an institution by her mother for smoking pot, and then blah blah blah everything everyone else said was about right. but really, what a kick ass song. glad they broke it out a lot on the tour this year.

Strutter · February 2007

i must emphasize the line : "what you taught me put me here"....that means that her mother has done the same thing...right?

Ms. Haiku · February 2007

Strutter wrote:

i must emphasize the line : "what you taught me put me here"....that means that her mother has done the same thing...right?

All of these years, and I never focused on those lines. Makes sense to me.

Strutter · February 2007

Ms. Haiku wrote:

All of these years, and I never focused on those lines. Makes sense to me.

...yeah, but the problem is: eddie said that the mother had dumped her daughter
in a mental institution for smoking pot or something like that...right?
...so wtf?

Song of the day(Why Go)

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