Go

Album: Vs. (1993)
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Songfacts®:

  • One of the more misinterpreted Pearl Jam songs, "Go" sounds like it could be about child abuse or a toxic relationship, but it's really about a vehicle that keeps breaking down - Eddie Vedder has hinted that his old truck was the inspiration. This is confirmed in the Pearl Jam tome Twenty.
  • The song started with a musical idea that Pearl Jam's drummer for the Vs. album, Dave Abbruzzese, came up with on an acoustic guitar in dropped-D tuning.

    The band was holed up at a studio in San Rafael, California, called The Site where they were making Vs. with producer Brendan O'Brien. They did a lot of team bonding as they worked on the songs, and one night they were sitting around a campfire when Abbruzzese pulled out the guitar and played a riff.

    "It was odd to have a drummer playing guitar but also to have such a cool riff," PJ guitarist Mike McCready said in Twenty. "We worked on it a little bit that night, and the next day, we finished it in the studio."
  • "Go" is the first track on Vs. and also the first single. Their previous album, Ten, is one of the most impressive debuts in music history, chock full of classic tracks like "Alive" and "Jeremy." "Go" wasn't a huge hit but it got a fair amount of airplay and became a popular live song. The album sold over 7 million copies just in America and holds up as one of their best.

Comments: 15

  • Peter Police from JailIf you think it is actually a out a truck and that this wasn't a joke statement made to the press, you are a seriously dumb individual
  • Psychefukinmike from Spokane, WaOpening song at the Gorge in 93. first freakin be note the whole place was going berzerk. Old school Gorge. With the sky bluff bleachers and the basalt wall below. There was a rock on the far side of the wall that stuck out like a thumb. I was frying balls and spent most of the show standing on that rock. Kick ass show.
  • Dave B from OhioThis song is about dying from drug abuse, evidenced by the fact that Veddar dedicated a live performance of the song to Kurt Cobain a few days after he escaped from rehab for heroin addiction. Also the lyrics "I pulled the covers over him," "tunnel vision," and Gossard's "siren-like guitar part" which sounds like an ambulance driving by, the pitch slowly dropping due to the Doppler effect. The speaker is talking to their own body, begging "please don't go out on me" as they're having health issues, possibly on the verge of overdose. "Suppose I abused you, just passing it on" refers to abusing drugs and passing them around, and abusing one's own body. "I pulled the covers over him, shoulda pulled the alarm" means he lost a friend to addiction, it should have been a wake-up call. "My nemesis, a fool, no f***ing God" as people glorify drugs, addiction controls them and becomes their God, which is foolish, and drug addiction can make a person act foolish.

    Dave Abbruzzese once quipped that it was about Eddie's truck, maybe that's part of it. But there's definitely a deeper, darker meaning. Why else would he dedicate it to Kurt Cobain after he escaped from rehab? It was a warning, and sadly Cobain committed suicide a few days later.

    I love the song. It's one of the heaviest, hardest hitting PJ tunes.
  • Dave Matthews from HawaiiThe lyrics about how "it just dawned on me now - suppose I abused you" Sounds like a young man learning how to treat his vehicle better... I doubt someone as sensitive as Ed would say such a line about a person.
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjI kinda figured that he was talking about a car or a truck when I heard the words, " Oh, please don't go out on me, don't go on me now. Never acted up before, don't go on me now." I didn't think Eddie would write about something as mundane as a truck but Obzcure's comment shed some light for me.
  • Michael from Buford, GaThe drum beat in the beginning sounds like "why go" off of ten
  • Justin from Neoga, IlAt the United Center, 5/16/06, Eddie introduced "Go" as "how you beg and plead when you don't want someone to leave"
  • Obzcure from Aucklandthats wierd. "choke the walrus".. man just keep to your drugs.. anyway yes jack iron was from rhcp. but what does that have to do with this song? he didnt drum for them till well after this and only appeared on no code and yield. dave abruzeockus did this.. and yes its true that this song is about eddies truck. it was the only thing he had that kept him him during this time. everyone in the band were buying flash cars. but eddie kept his ebat up old truck jsut to avoid being tainted by fame.
  • Ashley from Moncton, CanadaChoke the walrus? maybe if you're on crack...
  • Elliot from St. Louis, MoThe line "Don't go on me" is comonly misunderstood as "Choke the walrus". Lol, i love this song, and Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder, your drunk voice as really inspired me. Did anyone here know Pearl Jam's drummer Jack Iron's was the original drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
  • Suhaib from Karachi, PakistanVedder in one of his live acts said * ... This song is about begging someone not to leave , desperately desperately .... *
    I dont think a vehicle can leave you unless you want to get rid of it yourself.
  • Jam from Somewhere, EnglandMostly Ed says 'don't go on me,' but once near the end he clearly says 'don't you want me.' Would someone say this about a vehicle? I dunno.
  • Reed from Hagerstown, Inwell, i've always loved this song, but i'd never thought it was about an automobile until i looked at the lyrics....
  • Paulo from New York, NyThe first verse certainly seems to suggest the song could be about a vehicle.
  • Kurt from Downers Grove, IlI thought it was about death. "Please don't go on me."
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