Just Breathe

Ok, here is what I think "Just Breathe" is about. I was very good friends with guitarist Johnny Ramone who died of prostate cancer in 2004. I was at some of the concerts when the Ramones opened for Pearl Jam in 1995 in New Orleans and San Diego and saw the friendship between Eddie and John start and blossom. I have hung out with Eddie (one of the nicest people you will EVER meet) several times in the late 90's, the last was at Johnny Ramone's 50th Birthday Party in Los Angeles in 1998. Johnny used to tell me that Eddie Vedder was his best friend and that they spoke on the phone every day. Eddie used to fly to LA often to stay with Johnny at his house there. They were the best of friends. When Johnny died it was horrible for me and I'm sure it was horrible for all his friends. Prostate cancer is such a sad way for someone to die.

I was watching Saturday Night Live a few years ago when Pearl Jam was on, and they performed this song. I turned to my wife and said "This song is about Johnny." I think it is about Eddie and Johnny sitting there in Johnny's living room, knowing Johnny is going to die, and Eddie saying we don't have to talk, let's just breathe together while you can.

To go into more detail about the lyrics, here's how I think they fit. "Yes I understand that every life must end" Eddie knows John is going to pass away. "As we sit alone I know someday we must go" They are sitting in Johnny's living room contemplating his passing. "Oh I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love" Johnny and Eddie were best friends, but this friendship did not start until 1995. He is telling John he is lucky to have him as a friend, AND telling himself that although he is being robbed of decades of friendship with Johnny, he needs to be thankful for the time he has had. "Never gonna let me win" Johnny was very competitive and he and Eddie used to play games together, like a baseball board game. Spending a lot of time with Johnny I know he loved to play games AND win at them. "Under everything just another human being" Johnny could have a tough exterior and got some bad coverage in the press for being a dictator in the band. The truth is that Johnny Ramone was one of the nicest human beings I have ever known, and he was never anything but completely kind to me. Eddie is saying, under the celebrity or the rough exterior, John is just another human being suffering as humans do. It is hard for me to think of John as anything but an Immortal, but he was not. "Did I say that I need you?" Johnny did not always express his feelings, but Eddie did, with hugs and kind gestures among other things. Sometimes it was hard for me to tell Johnny that I cared about him, that's something that guys don't usually do. They show it in actions. Eddie is saying that he wants to say it, and if he doesn't then he is missing the opportunity. "Everything you gave and nothing you would take" Johnny was a very giving person to his friends. He gave me many gifts over the years. Eddie is very generous too. But I think this refers to the friendship and the advice that Johnny gave to Eddie. Johnny was a VERY wise person who always knew what to do. He gave me great advice over the years, and I know that Eddie asked his advice on several subjects, like whether to release that "Last Kiss" song. The rest of Pearl Jam didn't want to release it, but Eddie did. Johnny told him to force the issue and release it. John was giving of his time and wisdom to Eddie, but maybe didn't want Eddie to give him expensive gifts in return. I think John was like a father figure to Eddie, which was double imporant because of Eddie's childhood. "Meet you on the other side" Eddie is saying goodbye to his best friend.

Now I have no second source to back up my interpretation. It is just my interpretation knowing Eddie's friendship with Johnny Ramone, the way Eddie is and Johnny was, and the timing of Johnny's death.