Nothing as It Seems

Downs Syndome explanation speaks loudy to me. "A chip off the old cornerstone." I actually think this is a nice song about a mentally challenged kid who sees the world differently and needs very little to be happy.

oh, in reflection to eternaljam's theory, i figured out what the 'blanket like the ozone' is.

forgive me if i'm wrong, but the ozone holds things in right? or protects them. well that uninvited chromozone is holding his true self in, or protecting it from everyone else.

that could be it...

The sense that I get from this song is that it might have something to do with a gender identity crisis. I think the never-ending bleakness of the song hammers in the hopelessness. The "nothing as it seems" is that even though he may look one gender from the outside, he's really another on the inside. The "home" that he needs is feeling at home in his own body. The uninvited chromosome is the y in xy (male) where he should have been xx (female). The "blanket like the ozone" gives me impression of something very fragile, that if it goes neglected, will cause death. "Chip off the conerstone" - I take as a chip off the old block, (boy just like his dad), but with the gender identity conflict, on the inside he's quite different - "who kidding, rainy day, a one-way ticket headstone". "occupations overthrown" - this is tough, I see it as social constructions around gender - to be male you should act and think this way, if female, another - he wants those forces - "occupations", overthrown. The scratching voice, the whisper, inadaquate words, a complete and utter outsider, with no voice, no hope, "the little that he frees" is either "nothing he believes" or "a little bittersweet", again reinforcing the unachievable end. He doesn't want to be judged from his external appearance, like as iceberg where 90% of the mass is under water. , "the little that you see...it's home."

PS: speaking of Floyd. Listen to this song then listen to "Comfortably Numb". This song makes a great sequel to "Numb". Rockstar gets hooked on drugs. "Home" can mean the career and fans he lost.

Just a thought.

I don't think Downs or Homeless. I think about Klinefelter's Syndrome extra chromosome. I think about a male who feels he can never achieve masculinity, no matter what. And his self-abuse heroin/methadone is a product of this feeling of inadequacy according to societal norms. I don't read home as being back at a childhood place. I read it as a safeplace where no one can pass judgement on him. I guess that is more in alignment with the Gender Identity conflict theory. This is an incredible song with perplexing, yet moving lyrics.

At first i thought this song was about Kurt Cobain. Silly, right? But i now know its about the bassit childhood. (Wikipedia).

I think this is a great song... pearl jam always was my favorite band.

i have a very strong feeling that this song is about someone who has seeked help for a drug addiction. he goes to a clinic and feels homesick. "putting in imputting in dont feel like methadone". the part that speaks the most is "who's kidding? rainy day, a one way ticket headstone. occupation's overthrown. a whisper through a megaphone". this says that he is in so much pain, and screaming within, but nobody understands or hears him. he's lost everything and is left with nothing but a second chance.

I like SwornToTheBlack's idea about this song, but I don't see how the line "One uninvited chromosome, a blanket like the ozone" fits in. I love that line, though, I'm trying to figure out what it means in context. Someone help me out!

"One uninvited chromosome" I know that mentally retarted people have one extra chromosome...and when you read the song over again it may have new meaning. just my opinion