Eddie Vedder wrote this song about himself. He said in Five Horizons: Articles, Spin Online, August 2001: Ten Past Ten — Fivehorizons,
“The song ‘Off He Goes’ is really about me being a shit friend,” said Vedder. “I’ll show up and everything’s great and then all of the sudden I’m outta there….”
[Intro]
1, 2, 1, 2
[Verse 1]
Know a man, his face seemed pulled and tense
Like he's riding on a motorbike in the strongest winds
So I approach with tact, suggest that he should relax
But he's always moving much too fast
Said he'll see me on the flip side of this trip he's taking for a ride
[Chorus]
He's been taking too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkempt clothes
There he goes
[Verse 2]
He's yet to come back but I've seen his picture
It doesn't look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder about his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size
[Chorus]
He's been taken, where? I don't know
Off he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
There he goes
[Verse 3]
And now I rub my eyes for he has returned
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned
For he still smiles, and he's still strong
Nothing's changed but the surrounding bullshit; That has grown
And now he's home and we're laughing like we always did
My same old, same old friend
Until a quarter to ten
I saw the strain creep in
He seems distracted and I know just what is gonna happen next
Before his first step, he is off again
Off He Goes was written by Eddie Vedder.
Off He Goes was produced by Pearl Jam & Brendan O’Brien.
Pearl Jam released Off He Goes on Tue Aug 27 1996.