Severed Hand interpretations....

Vedd Hedd

Did this guy kill his wife and wig out on acid?

Everything after the lyrics "wedding band" insinuate a serious trip.

justam

LOL!!!!

I don't think so!!!!

Scotty Love

I definitely get the drug references, though.

Vedd Hedd

justam wrote:

LOL!!!!

I don't think so!!!!

"Big man stands behind an open door, said leave your lady on the cement floor"....clearly leaving her on the floor, either she was dead or he just killed her.
"Got some kicks" drugs
"Leave yourself behind" escape

"no fear but for falling down, look out below Im falling now." Falling into what? into a problem of sorts.

"Tried to walk found a severed hand, recognized it by the wedding band." Either its his or his wifes, and since there a lady on the floor...must be hers

"Its ok do you want some more, youll see dragons after 3 or 4" Clearly a drug refernece"

"Im not falling down the room is taller now" ok, delusions, denial
"I see the sound in waves, lets me stay calm" DEFINITELY sounds like Acid.

"If I dont lose control, explore and not explode, a preternatural other plain......like a tear in all we know once dissolved we are free to grow"....again people try to expand their mind..


Stone said in an interview how this was basically a person losing their mind, or something to that effect.....CLEARLY loaded drug references....

justam

I was only laughing at your first post because it was so short and comical.

Your other ideas don't seem unreasonable to me though.

Vedd Hedd

justam wrote:

I was only laughing at your first post because it was so short and comical.

Your other ideas don't seem unreasonable to me though.

Hehe, this guy wigged out!:D

i know, its seems kinda odd.

AngelofIndifference

I changed my mind. This should be looked at more closely.

darthvedder88

I almost thought this song was about Layne Staley bc if you look in Jerry Cantrell's "Degredation Trip" when you take the cd out of the case, you see a 'severed hand' with a needle in replace of one finger, and that album was dedicated to Layne...just a thought though...

clotam200mg

.."Big man stands behind an open door"

I think Big Man refers to god. Pearl Jam has finally found god. This whole albums is so religious and so spiritual.... I'm so happy!

draper

in a radio interview, didn't ed say it was about a drug trip. I thought he even referred to mushrooms in the interview.

Ms. Haiku

I think it's a drug reference. Leave the lady on the cement floor did not imply that she wasn't moving on the cement floor, but rather that he was physically above her, like floating. I think it's a song about a bad trip, too.

smithnic

I originally thought it was about a drug trip and thought that I was just a dose head, but then after two of my friends read the lyrics and thought the same damn thing, well its definitely about a drug trip.

Not sure about the severed hand reference and the wedding band, but everything else seems to point to hallucinations on drugs.

AngelofIndifference

clotam200mg wrote:

.."Big man stands behind an open door"

I think Big Man refers to god. Pearl Jam has finally found god. This whole albums is so religious and so spiritual.... I'm so happy!

You can't be serious?!

Fetus Jr.

AngelofIndifference wrote:

You can't be serious?!

I think they are. I also wouldn't call him crazy......

Merkyjamm

Off topic a bit, but still on Severed Hand:

Anyone else find the vocals and chord change at "If I don't, lose control, explore and not explode" sounds like a certain "bombs, dropping down, please forgive our home town"?

Merkyjamm

Off topic a bit, but still on Severed Hand:

Anyone else find the vocals and chord change at "If I don't, lose control, explore and not explode" sounds like a certain "bombs, dropping down, please forgive our home town", just a lil bit slower?

pickupyourwill

I seem to always have this in my head now:



"If I dont lose control, explore and not explode, a preternatural other plain, with the power to maintain......like a tear in all we know, once dissolved we are free to grow, "what is human, what is more?", I'll answer this when I get home."

love, love, love how he sings this.

as far as this part goes, it doesn't have to be a drug reference. losing control of yourself in everyday life is healthy--like dancing and just letting yourself go. too many people think that you have to be either high or drunk to be so carefree but that's b.s. they just need to let go of worrying what others think all the time. life is too serious to take seriously

Vedd Hedd

pickupyourwill wrote:

I seem to always have this in my head now:



"If I dont lose control, explore and not explode, a preternatural other plain, with the power to maintain......like a tear in all we know, once dissolved we are free to grow, "what is human, what is more?", I'll answer this when I get home."

love, love, love how he sings this.

as far as this part goes, it doesn't have to be a drug reference. losing control of yourself in everyday life is healthy--like dancing and just letting yourself go. too many people think that you have to be either high or drunk to be such carefree but that's b.s. they just need to let go of worrying what others think all the time. life is too serious to take seriously

See, I think its a direct drug reference. "Once dissolved we are free to grow"

Maybe dissolved under your tongue;)

I remember visiting a preternatural other plain once too:D And everything I knew was wrong........like a tear in all I knew..

All i really did know was that I wanted to get home....woo!

AngelofIndifference

Fetus Jr. wrote:

I think they are. I also wouldn't call him crazy......

First off, Pearl Jam has never to my knowledge claimed to be a spiritual band. I have heard them make references to God in very general terms more or less at shows but nothing as clear and direct as their political references.

When you choose to interpret something a like a song or poem a few things happen. One you look for information in the lyrics and the tone and nature of the song. Secondly we all make comparisons to something that is familiar to us so that we can understand whatever it is we are trying to interpret. It's human nature and it's how we learn and make sense of our world. What I think happened here is that for you, you took one lyric (only one) "big man" and immediately thought this was about God. The words "big man" obviously means God in your lexicon. The third thing you should do when you interpret a song is look for more evidence to back up your interpretation. Can you really say that there are any other lines that back up your claim that this is a song about God and finding spirituality? Even if you do find some loose comparison can that then be back up by what we know of the band?

To others it would make more sense that this song has something to do with the effect of drugs because: I guess that this album is partially dedicated to Layne Stanley. They have had these types of experiences. They have other songs regarding drugs and their effects "Habit" for example. Also to anyone who has experienced a bad trip, regret, or questioned their humanity, they can certainly compare this song to just that.

For me, this song is about discovery about one's self and humanity in the absence of sanity and rational thought. Whether drugs were involved here or not it's the "like a tear in all we know", that "once dissolved, we are free to grow" is the true message of the song. Ed tells us what the song is about right here, because he gives us an analogy...and leaves us wanting more with questions "what is human?,...what is more?" We, the listener should be asking ourselves this at the end of this song.

ShedMySkin

Drinking or eating herbs or mushrooms of a hallucigenic nature in a ritual context and group-setting can be an enlightening and spiritual experience for the participants. It usually brings inner vistas of unthinkable splendour and heightened bodily sensations, but also realisations of a more psychological or even psychotherapeutic nature. It is often felt as a healing experience and brings understanding of trauma’s and experiences in one’s past.

pickupyourwill

Vedd Hedd wrote:

See, I think its a direct drug reference. "Once dissolved we are free to grow"

Maybe dissolved under your tongue;)

I remember visiting a preternatural other plain once too:D And everything I knew was wrong........like a tear in all I knew..

All i really did know was that I wanted to get home....woo!

yeah, you can get to that other plane w/ or without drugs. drugs of course would make it more intense i'm sure, but not necessarily better. pot and alcohol are the only drugs i've ever consumed so i don't know what the psychadelic crap does to you but its not worth the damage on your body.

i guess i prefer not to see this song as drug related because i don't like the idea of pearl jam glorifying drugs--they want the world to be better and drugs don't offer that. I really hope this song doesn't encourage the college folk to try that hardcore crap because i don't feel that was the song's intention. for me, this song's message is similar to Given to Fly--that feeling of being free and happy and wanting to "share the key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere". that's just my two cents anyway.

Dissentist

Spirituality is what most of Pearl Jams songs are about. Or the search for it. It's all over the lyrics. Noticed how Ed is a totally differant person these days? He's found it. Listen people, listen.

Flannel Shirt

Merkyjamm wrote:

Off topic a bit, but still on Severed Hand:

Anyone else find the vocals and chord change at "If I don't, lose control, explore and not explode" sounds like a certain "bombs, dropping down, please forgive our home town", just a lil bit slower?

Exactly. I knew I heard it. This was discussed in another post, but I coudnt pin point it. Thanks!

cookies

A song will take you where you need or want to go, its always up to the listener. However I feel Severed Hand is about a drug the drug we named Love and Marriage and making it work. The big man being his conscious saying don't do it and he is giving reason why he should. the dragons are about really seeing the other half, the room is taller because of growth. And if you stay calm and explore and not explode it allows you to grow even more.

So yes it is spiritual an about a drug. does anyone else agree with me

Cookies

Merkyjamm

Flannel Shirt wrote:

Exactly. I knew I heard it. This was discussed in another post, but I coudnt pin point it. Thanks!

that is bizzle

Merkyjamm

AngelofIndifference wrote:

What I think happened here is that for you, you took one lyric (only one) "big man" and immediately thought this was about God. The words "big man" obviously means God in your lexicon.

I agree. When I heard Big Man, I just assumed it meant a thug, or something, considering the following line...

Vedd Hedd

cookies wrote:

A song will take you where you need or want to go, its always up to the listener. However I feel Severed Hand is about a drug the drug we named Love and Marriage and making it work. The big man being his conscious saying don't do it and he is giving reason why he should. the dragons are about really seeing the other half, the room is taller because of growth. And if you stay calm and explore and not explode it allows you to grow even more.

So yes it is spiritual an about a drug. does anyone else agree with me

Cookies

Thats an interesting take on it. I can kinda see that.

However, (and this isnt against you) really, this isnt the inkblot test where I see what I want to see.....there are some serious drug references here.

And I dont think they are "glorifying" drugs....I mean, the guy killed his wife?

Deep, thats about drugs, and rape. Same for a lot of their songs. I dont think all of their songs are about "Inner spirituality", I think some of their songs like this one, are more obvious.

And Glorified G is about use of guns, not about "how life is like a gun".

messmergrad00

"Tried to walk found a severed hand, recognized it by the wedding band."

Wedding band, I took as a symbol of obligation...

as if Eddie is trying to say that a hand was severed (a person hurt) because they tryed to fulfill an obligation...

slightofjeff

Vedd Hedd wrote:

Thats an interesting take on it. I can kinda see that.

However, (and this isnt against you) really, this isnt the inkblot test where I see what I want to see.....there are some serious drug references here.

And I dont think they are "glorifying" drugs....I mean, the guy killed his wife?

Deep, thats about drugs, and rape. Same for a lot of their songs. I dont think all of their songs are about "Inner spirituality", I think some of their songs like this one, are more obvious.

And Glorified G is about use of guns, not about "how life is like a gun".

The song is definitely about drugs, losing your mind, escaping reality by going on a hellacious bender. Stone and Ed have both acknowledged that.

I don't think it's about spouse murder, although I could see how some lines could mean that. It's about using drugs as an escape to AVOID doing something like that (explore and not explode).

btw, I think the severed hand ed (or the narrator) sees is his own.

Released Me

does anyone think that the "big man" is boom? Just a thought i had the other day.

slightofjeff

Released Me wrote:

does anyone think that the "big man" is boom? Just a thought i had the other day.

oh good lord ....