Pearl Jam: Mind Your Manners Meaning

Song Released: 2013

Mind Your Manners Lyrics

I've got an unfortunate feelin', I've been beaten down
I feel I don't believe and now the truth is coming out
What they've taken is more than a vow
They've taken your innocence and then they throw them on a burning fire

All along they're...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 16th 2018 !⃝

   Here’s what I think it means on a line-by-line basis:
   
   (I’m going to separate the first verse a little different than I’ve seen in other interpretations)
   
   “I’ve got an unfortunate feeling, I’ve been beaten down. I feel that I don’t believe and now the truth is coming out. What they’ll take is more than a vow.”
   — These lines, I feel, are about a person who feels pressured into a religion they don’t believe, and are finally forced into a position where they officially take on that religion. Personally, my friend, an atheist, had his catholic confirmation very recently, and was not all that excited. The next line I put in with this because of something he told me about it: since both parents were catholic, when they married, they promised to raise their child(ren) catholic, thus: “What they’ll take is more than a vow.”
   
   “They’ve taken your innocence and then they throw it on a burning fire.”
   —Now, I know most people on the internet are relating this to a sex scandal in the Catholic Church, however, I actually haven’t heard about it. So, I’d like to relate this line to another thing my friend and I talked about. We were discussing how a little bit of a deal is made about a person’s first kiss. His thought was more along the line of “well, there’s a first time for everything.” This view also held, to him, for the concept of virginity. How this relates to the song lyrics is because, in a sense, by making it a big deal (I make a deal of it too, so I’m not saying you shouldn’t) you are also making it nothing, taking something that’s technically yours and making it in a sense under religion’s control (“Throw it on a burning fire”).
   
   “And all along they’re saying mind your manners. So they’re saying.”
   — Manners as a concept are something made within a society, as each can have a different view of what manners are “good.” So, by telling you to mind your manners, religion is attempting to force a specific culture on you that you may or may not agree with, hence, “so they’re saying.”
   
   “Self-realized and metaphysically redeemed, may not live another life, may not solve all mysteries, right ‘round the corner could be bigger than ourselves. We could will it to the sky or we could something else.”
   — The first part of this is about figuring out your own personal beliefs. Perhaps there is no afterlife, perhaps we will never solve the mysteries of our existence, but whatever comes next in life could give your life meaning, you don’t have to let your whole meaning of being be about religion. We could hand our fate over to divinity (“the sky”) or we could take matters into our own hands, and do something. (This can also be seen in the chorus, when it says, “always praying,” as by praying (this is my personal opinion, you are free to disagree) you are putting your life into God’s hands, and taking it a little out of your own.)
   
   “I caught myself believing that I needed God, and if he’s out there somewhere we sure could use Him now.”
   — This is about feeling as though religion is so forced upon you that you catch yourself believing something that you don’t feel. You think that, if it were real, then you’d need it to stop yourself from being mentally torn between yourself and your forced society.
   
   “Tried my patience, my patience tried. This world’s a lonely planet and it makes me want to cry.”
   — This is about trying to be patient, trying to calm yourself when people start to realize you don’t believe and question you on it. With no one feeling the same way, you feel isolated.
   
   “Go to heaven, that’s swell, how do you like your living hell.”
   —Sure, if heaven exists, and you can get to it, that’s great. But feeling forced into something you don’t believe can make you feel like your life is actually just a living hell.
   
   That’s just my interpretation, however. You all are free to make your own :)
2. HeroinHero

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   Apr 1st 2014 !⃝

   I believe this song is about how we're all raised up into society living a certain way and we're taught that we can only have normal jobs, lives, positions, etc. As in the part that says, " All along they say mind your manners" is like how everything is supposed to be proper. We are made to be a living robot to all of these organizations, government, or even in teenagers positions, parents. Vedder is saying that we know not of what the next life will really be because we have yet to die, but, that we should make ourselves what we think is this best that we could be. We could be so huge in life. We could have extraordinary lives if we didn't follow by 'the directions. BE FREE

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