"Going On" as written by Peter Dunton, Brian Joseph Burton and Thomas Decarlo Callaway....
I've seen it with my own eyes
How we're gettin' otherwise
Without the luxury of leavin' (leavin')
The touch and feeling of free is
Un-tangible technically
Something you've got to believe in (believe in)
Connect the cause and effect
One foot in front of the next
This is the start of a journey.
And my mind is already gone
And though there are other unknowns
Somehow this doesn't concern me.
And you can stand right there if you want
But I'm going on
And I'm prepared to go it alone
I'm going on
To a place in the sun that's nice and warm
I'm going on
And I'm sure they'll have a place for you too oh oh oh
Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn't want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first of my to-do list
But every once in a while I think about her smile
One of the few things I do miss
But baby I've to go
Baby I've got to know
Baby I've got to prove it
And I'll see you when you get there
But I'm going on
And I'm prepared to go it alone
I'm going on
May my love lift you up to the place you belong
I'm going on
And I promise I'll be waiting for you oh oh oh
How we're gettin' otherwise
Without the luxury of leavin' (leavin')
The touch and feeling of free is
Un-tangible technically
Something you've got to believe in (believe in)
Connect the cause and effect
One foot in front of the next
This is the start of a journey.
And my mind is already gone
And though there are other unknowns
Somehow this doesn't concern me.
And you can stand right there if you want
But I'm going on
And I'm prepared to go it alone
I'm going on
To a place in the sun that's nice and warm
I'm going on
And I'm sure they'll have a place for you too oh oh oh
Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn't want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first of my to-do list
But every once in a while I think about her smile
One of the few things I do miss
But baby I've to go
Baby I've got to know
Baby I've got to prove it
And I'll see you when you get there
But I'm going on
And I'm prepared to go it alone
I'm going on
May my love lift you up to the place you belong
I'm going on
And I promise I'll be waiting for you oh oh oh
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It seems to me more about the idea that he's elevated to a higher state of mind and has decided that even if he would rather be alone than dwell in the base mindset that would have people see this as a suicide note.
It's even in order of his self discovery:
"I've seen it with my own eyes,
how we're getting otherwise,
without the luxury of leaving. (leaving)
The touch and feeling of free,
is untangible technically,
is something you got to believe in. (believe in)"
In the opening verses it's all about looking around you and becoming aware of the fact that things just don't seem quite right. The awakening of individuality.
"Connect the cause and effect,
one foot in front of the next,
this is the start of a journey. (journey)"
Realizing what it is that makes you unique and beginning to move in that direction is definitely a journey of self discovery.
"And my mind is already gone,
and though there are other unknowns,
somehow this doesn't concern me. (concern me)"
Just because you are aware of a simple fact doesn't mean you understand it all... at all... there are always plenty of unknowns but rather than roll over and give up on finding some sort of answer for yourself, you look past it. It doesn't concern him anymore. He's on his own path now. His mind is already gone all that trivial stuff people let pull them down in life are the unknowns that doesn't concern him anymore.
In the chorus he's just stating that he's going on down his path and he doesn't care if people understand him or not. He has faith that perhaps someday the people he loves will come to their own awakening, and he'll be waiting for them to catch up (and i'm sure they'll have a place for you too)
"Anyone that needs what they want,
and doesn't want what they need,
I want nothing to do with. (to do with)"
In this verse he's more pointedly singling out people that are unaware. People who need what they want and don't want what they need don't have their priorities straight, and people who can't straighten their priorities usually don't have a very straight mind and lack the awareness he's gone on to find.
"And to do what I want
and to do what I please,
is first on my to-do list. (to-do list)"
It's definitely "ON" his to do list because that's what he wants to do first. He's stating that the number one thing you should do in your journey is to do as you please. There's a quote by Jimi Hendrix that follows the same vein - "When time comes for me to die, I'm the one that's gotta die; so let me live my life the way I wanna live it". This is the awareness he's talking about.
"But every once in a while,
I think about her smile,
one of the few things I do miss. (do miss)"
To me this is what blows the suicide idea out of the water. He is thinking - something dead people can no longer do. I believe this points out that there will be some aspects of the unexamined life you miss, but he seems to be saying that he misses it without regretting that he left. The rest of the song he's repeating how he had to go.
To me it's as though he's sending a message back to his old life. Songs tend to be mirrors, not books. They reflect whatever we're going through at the time and we tend to find in them what we find in ourselves. To me this song is written this way because that person he left behind will understand the message of it when they move past the small stuff in life that trips us up all the time. When they finally wake up and realize that there's so much more to life than drama and petty bull sh!t, when they realize that the act of creation is more important than feeding your own negativity, then they will understand this song, and will hopefully seek him out because as he repeatedly said in the song in various ways "I'm waiting for you" and the final lines explain why he left without her/them.
"Freedom is () me,
Still I try I never know what to do.
Don't follow me.."
Just because somebody does come to that realization that there's more to life doesn't mean s/he has all the answers. The "Don't follow me..." is more underlining the importance of discovering yourself rather than trying to keep up with somebody else's changes. If you follow them, you just go where they're going, and that may not be what's right for you. It's better if you both go your own ways and see if your paths cross again than it is to conform to a partner.
I seriously seriously doubt Cee-lo ever reads these, but I hope she caught up finally...
there are small number of people that will understand it like this, especially by their own head :)
I can understand why people think it's about the afterlife, but to make the song relate to myself I try not to think of this song meaning he accepts his fate, death is near. lol great song. :-)
When I hear this song I think pursuit of happiness.
"The touch and feeling of free,
is untangible technically,
is something you got to believe in"
This verse sticks out the most to me. Everything else is just blah blah that makes the story of the song, but when you hear this, it makes you think deeply about the song. What is Gnarls trying to say by stating in a song that the feeling of free is something you have to believe in?
The song is obviously about a lady, he misses her smile. So maybe the song is about a relationship where the woman is confused about how to obtain happiness. Where at the same time, the man is moving forward from being held back by the woman, to going to search for his happiness and/or freedom.
Then you have the whole
"Anyone that needs what they want,
and doesn't want what they need,
I want nothing to do with."
Maybe the woman was extremely materialistic. Maybe he is stating that people are materialistic. Maybe he is stating that by being materialistic, it is hard for people to find their happiness. So they live day to day being depressed wondering when happiness will kick in. Thinking it is just some random situation that happens. But it's not random. People have to realize that humans aren't random. You have sex, have a child. It is planned, if not planned than you know the consequences. (Not applied to rape.) By that I mean that the outside nature cannot cause you happiness, you have to.
Maybe the couple was in a relationship and they were both materialistic, but when the man realized that he was being held down by the material belongings of the wants of the woman, he decided to grow up and move on either with her, without the material NEEDS, or without her and by himself.
I don't think this has anything to do with death or the afterlife. Who would waste their time writing such a good song about what can never be proven true or false?
Life is random. We can plan things, but millions of situations are out of our hands. You don't plan for someone to die. So why think about death? Why think about what is on the other side of life? You will see, if anything is there, when you die.
Everyone has their own path. He's following his. And other people have to walk their own. Hence, the "don't follow me." Walk your own path in other words.
I wouldn't really say it's about suicide or drugs. It's more about being enlightened, rather than killing yourself or poisoning your mind.
it's like my own mother wrote it.. =\
"baby I've got to go, baby I've got to know, baby I've got to prove it."
"Anyone that needs what they want,
and doesn't want what they need,
I want nothing to do with. (to do with)
And to do what I want
and to do what I please,
is first on my to-do list."
This doesn't necessarily mean he's going to die: I believe it to be more of a hymn urging us to do that NOW, and not wait until we're about to die. Focus on what matters now, and lead a much fuller and happier existence, free from the ridiculous issues we tend to be consumed with. It sounds like he's speaking from the experience of knowing what's truly important (regardless of whether he's dying, has had a near-death experience or similar...), and believes this can be achieved if one puts his mind to it.
"I've seen it with my own eyes,
how we're getting otherwise,
without the luxury of leaving."
The touch and feeling of free,
is untangible technically,
is something you got to believe in."