with the lyrics like 'he can't help, when he's happy looks insane' and 'Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies Jake from Aberdeen, Wain my opinion this song is about a mentally retarted person.they might have changed the lyrics to make it sound better Tom from The Hague, NetherlandsSome say that Ed Ved used to hang around with a near homeless man whose name was Steven Bow.Curtis from Urbana, Ilit about a derelict thats it stop overthinking people.Molly from Niagara Falls, NyI'm going with autistic - 'he can't help when he's happy looks insane', 'thoughts arrive like butterflies / he don't know / so he chases them away' - very much sound like someone with autism.Zero from Nowhere, NjMike McCready claims to have been influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan for the guitar leads in this song.'Oh, feelin', understands the weather of the winters on it's way.'

'Oh, hand out, faces that he sees time again ain't that familiar, oh yeah' 'Freezin', rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again' The first line alone should be enough, but these make it pretty obvious IMO:

Amea from Linköping, SwedenHow is this not about a homeless man? It's so obvious.

Josh from UsaIf you listen carefully at about 3:21 on good headphones, you can hear Eddie speaking beneath the music, 'Have you got a dollar? Maybe some spare change? God bless you.'.

Dewayne from EnglandKiller guitar solo courtesy of Mr Mike McCready, dude has some serious chops.

Hiram from CarolinaObviously, the song's title is an irony the song lyrics written on a one dollar bill.

I also believe we can all relate to this homeless man which is why the lyrics are about this man to begin with- someone who people generally tend to look down upon when we all experience similar struggles of being unaware of our surroundings/situations and falling indifferent/unaware. Those troubles come in thoughts that he chases away, he doesn’t want to think about those troubles, he doesn’t want to think about changing, he doesn’t think about how miserable his homelessness is, usually homeless people just are- he chases his thoughts away maybe literally with alcohol or other substances.

“He can’t help when he’s happy looks insane” is most likely to imply “how can he be happy if he’s homeless?” He chases thoughts away because a homeless person has lived a troubled life. Serina from Los AngelesI think on the surface, it’s about a homeless man and if you want to look deeper you can probably relate it to other situations as well, however I really doubt it’s about a mentally impaired man.Karen from Your DreamsJake from Aberdeen, Wa We don’t say “retarded” anymore.i also thought that in this situation, jesus doesnt understand societal norms and is just a happy guy. Dani from Californiai always thought the song was about jesus coming back from the dead and being a homeless skater if im gonna be entirely honest.So mistakes, and also having in the back of my head that sound of 'Radioactive.' Hats off Tony Franklin!' I was always obsessed with playing harmonics on bass, but at some point I remember accidentally hitting harmonics and sliding on it, so I started experimenting with that part of it. So that harmonic, I'm kind of ripping The Firm's 'Radioactive,'' Ament said. And because of Tony Franklin, I knew that fretless would add a really cool voice and texture to rock music. 'I knew at the beginning of Pearl Jam that the way Stone was writing, it was very Jimmy Page – very riffy. In a Songfacts interview with Ament, he said he'd been listening to fretless bass greats like Jaco Pastorius and Mick Karn, but also to Tony Franklin, who was the bass player in Jimmy Page's group The Firm, whose 1985 song ' Radioactive' provided inspiration. Pearl Jam bass player Jeff Ament's slide harmonic, played on a fretless bass adds a distinct texture to this song.

Pearl jam even flow misheard lyrics