Going On

I gotta say - I feel really bad for anybody who sees this song as a message of despair, and I really hope you can get out of that mindset. Moving forward - this song is all about moving forward.

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...