☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics are about a man who loses his relationship and himself through his actions and decisions.
- The 'Nothingman' is a metaphor for someone who has become nothing due to their decisions.
- The woman in the story eventually realizes she has been manipulated and turns away from the man.
- The lyrics suggest that the man tries to run away from his problems but ultimately fails.
- The song tells a sad story of loss and the devastating consequences of poor decisions.
Interpretation
The song 'Nothingman' by
Pearl Jam is an emotional story about a man who loses his relationship and ultimately himself through his actions and decisions. The opening lines 'Once divided there's nothing left to subtract. Some words when spoken can't be taken back.' describe a breakup and the irreversibility of spoken words. It emphasizes that words and actions have consequences that cannot be undone.
The 'Nothingman' - the 'man of nothing' - is a metaphor for someone who has become nothing due to his actions and decisions. The chorus 'Isn't it something, nothingman?' seems to be an ironic question that suggests how little the man has made of his life.
The line 'She once believed in every story he had to tell. One day she stiffened. Oh yeah. Took the other side.' hints at a relationship where the woman trusted the man and believed in his stories, until one day she realized she was being manipulated. She decides to turn against him, leading them to their 'shared prison cell' from which only she can escape.
The line 'Oh, she don't want him. Oh, she won't feed him after he's flown away.' shows that the woman no longer wants him and won't support him after the breakup. The terms 'flown away' and 'into the sun' could be a metaphor for the man's attempt to escape his problems, but he will 'burn up', meaning he will fail.
Overall, the song is a sad narrative about a man who loses everything through his actions and ends up being only the 'Nothingman'.