thumbing my way....
CHANGEinWAVES
Posts: 10,169
I have not been home since you left long ago
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
Counting steps,.. walking backwards on the road
I'm counting my way back to heaven
I can't be free with what's locked inside of me...
If there was a key, you took it in your hands.
There's no wrong or right,... but I'm sure there's good and bad
The questions linger overhead
No matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
I wish that I could hold you... wish that I had
Thinking 'bout heaven
I let go of a rope,... thinking that's what held me back
And in time I've realized,... it's now wrapped around my neck
I can't see what's next,... from this lonely overpass
Hang my head and count my steps, as another car goes past
All the rusted sign we ignore throughout our lives
Choosing the shiny ones instead
I turned my back,... now there's no turning back
No matter how cold the winter,.. there's a springtime ahead
I smile, but who am I kidding?
I'm just walking the miles,.. every once in a while I'll get a ride
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
Thumbing my way back to heaven
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven...
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
Counting steps,.. walking backwards on the road
I'm counting my way back to heaven
I can't be free with what's locked inside of me...
If there was a key, you took it in your hands.
There's no wrong or right,... but I'm sure there's good and bad
The questions linger overhead
No matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
I wish that I could hold you... wish that I had
Thinking 'bout heaven
I let go of a rope,... thinking that's what held me back
And in time I've realized,... it's now wrapped around my neck
I can't see what's next,... from this lonely overpass
Hang my head and count my steps, as another car goes past
All the rusted sign we ignore throughout our lives
Choosing the shiny ones instead
I turned my back,... now there's no turning back
No matter how cold the winter,.. there's a springtime ahead
I smile, but who am I kidding?
I'm just walking the miles,.. every once in a while I'll get a ride
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven
Thumbing my way back to heaven
I'm thumbing my way back to heaven...
"I'm not present, I'm a drug that makes you dream"
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1996 Merriweather, MD; 1998 Camden, NJ; 2000 Camden, NJ; 2003 Camden, NJ; 2005 Philly, PA; 2006 Camden, NJ(nights 1 & 2); 2006 Arnhem, NED; 2008 Camden, NJ(nights 1 & 2), Washington DC, MSG(night 2) 2009 Philly Spectrum Shows(nights 1,2,3,4) 2010 Hartford,CT and MSG(night 2)
ED Solo - 2008 Washington DC, 2009 Philly, PA(nights 1&2)*Met Eddie
I'm in a coldest winter right now and I don't even know when the spring time will come.
...............
i didn't give this song the respect it deserved the first few times i gave it a listen...
love it
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Me too. Not kidding. My first lesson is next week, and I'm doing it because of the first few chords of this song.
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
Classic Eddie there.
"All the rusted signs, we ignore throughout our lives, choosing the shiny ones instead."
I love that line so much... so true.
And he who forgets, will be destined to remember...
Way underrated!
Lyrics are unbelievable.
Who was the gay hairdresser that died?
Joh Bailey?
from this lonely overpass.
Hang my head and count my steps,
as another car goes past."
:(
now there's no turning back"..
Classic Springsteen-style play on words...
Love this song live!
EV intro to Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns
10/25/13 Hartford
Yes, you are right.
I don't know the name of the Message Pit member who posted it (sorry), but I saved it on my computer because it's a touching story and a beautiful song.
I don't think Eddie Vedder has ever done an interview about his song Thumbing My Way, but me and my family have a very personal song and I have knowledge on how the first draft of it originated. My aunt through Marriage had a brother die of Aids in early 2002, and this brother happened to be Eddie Vedder's personal hairdresser and an aspiring musician in the Seattle Scene. His name was Troy Bethel and evidently got to be pretty good friends with Eddie Vedder. Eddie Vedder wrote the early version of this song to play at Troy's funeral service and I have a copy of the original lyrics to this song framed. The song deals a lot with Troy's background as a gay man shunned by parts of his family, and I think this background knowledge can really shed some light on this song. At the service my Aunt ended up sitting next to Eddie Vedder, and she says Eddie was about the nicest and most compassionate guy one could ever meet, and really helped her through the whole ordeal and talked to her for a while after the service. Here's a copy of the original lyrics I have on my framed copy, I thought this might interest the hardcore Pearl Jam fans out there like me:
There is not title, but in the top right hand corner it says For Troy.
I have not been home since you left days ago
Thumbing my way back to heaven
Counting steps walking backwards on the road
Counting my way back to heaven
I can't be free with what's locked inside of me
If there was a key you took it in your hand
There's no wrong or right, but I'm sure there's good and bad
The answers linger overhead
No matter how cold there's a springtime ahead
Thumbing my way back to heaven
I wish i could hold you, wish that I had
thinking about heaven
You hold on to a rope, but it never held you back
holding on for one more song with your arms around his neck
we cant see whats next from this lonely overpass
still used to sound of you walking up the steps
it's my turn to grasp all the memories of the past
know that I loved ya completely
All the rusted sign giving us hope throughout our lives
I never liked the shiny ones myself
No matter how cold the winter there's a springtime ahead
I smile but who am I kidding?
I'm just walking the miles, sometimes get a ride
thumbing my way back to heaven
february 2002
It's interesting to see how his thought process evolved from this original to version we hear on Riot Act. He clearly was forced to write this version rather quickly to get ready for the service, but his poetic skills are simply amazing. My personal (well in a way) knowledge of Eddie and this band just make it that much easier to be fan of this great man and this great band.
RIP Troy
Thank you Eddie
It's growing up just like me.
9/29/04 Boston, 6/28/08 Mansfield, 8/23/09 Chicago, 5/15/10 Hartford
5/17/10 Boston, 10/15/13 Worcester, 10/16/13 Worcester, 10/25/13 Hartford
8/5/16 Fenway, 8/7/16 Fenway
EV Solo: 6/16/11 Boston, 6/18/11 Hartford,
Wow! Thanks for sharing. A true poet indeed!
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
Ed is mind blowing. He is a true artist. What he does with his lyrics and music is just magic. So deeeeep...so pure....so beautiful....
"It takes a Village" and Ed is the ace in the hole....
This misheard lyric ain't funny. But there is a story.
From "Thumbing my Way", I first heard, "all the rusted sides, hanging throughout our lives....choosing the shiny ones insteaaaad".
(I thought sides as in side roads.)
Then 4 days later I thought, "Why the ___ would a "side" be hanging? OH! It must be rusted signs, yeah that makes more sense!"
When I read the lyrics (11 days after that) it's "all the rusted signs WE IGNORE throughout our lives....". (Note that nothing is hanging at all)
I think it's IRONic (does iron rust?) that a MISHEARD lyric fixed a different misheard lyric.
When I listen to the song now on a live version, I can still hear "hanging".
GASP--Isn't one of the lines about a rope around his neck? (by the way, there is no GASP emoticon)
Doo do do do Doo do do do (Twilight Zone music).
(P.S. I was also thinking (back at the 11 day mark) "Why the ____would a ROAD be around his neck anyway?")
ONE MORE GASP--Wouldn't a hanging be a real quick way to "hitchhike back to heaven????"
More Doo do do do
I just got this from Google for "hitch definition":
weaver's hitch - a hitch used for temporarily tying a rope to the middle of another rope (or to an eye)
becket bend, sheet bend, weaver's knot
hitch - a knot that can be undone by pulling against the strain that holds it; a temporary knot
OK,.....I am OUT OF HERE!
Maybe this should one should be posted in the "IS EDDIE GOD?" strand.
"All The Rusted Signs, we ignore throughout our lives. Choosing the shiny ones insteaaad"
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
This lyric provides so much hope...
Definitely a great song, and in my top #5 at the moment.