"Off He Goes" lyrics - PEARL JAM

Know a man
His face seems 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
On this trip he's taking for a ride
He's been taking too much on
There he goes with his perfectly unkempt clothes

There he goes...

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
He's been taken
Where I don't know
Off he goes with his perfectly unkempt clothes

There he goes

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 going to happen then

Before his first step
He is off again