frankzeppelin
12-03-2002, 08:40 AM
jimmy seems to be the union of a man with his child self. The fact that "jimmy" is in lowercase implies Maynard in his youth, but I really don't think the song is about him, at least not necessarily. "Eleven and she was gone/Eleven is when we waved goodbye" means the child lost his mother in some way when he was eleven. Since then he has been, in some sense, frozen in time. "...standing still." Perhaps he has been mentally traumatized and can't "move on," unable to grow and become whole as an aduld. The lyrics certainly paint bleak scenery. "Under a dead Ohio sky." "Leaving you with the dead and hopeless." Also the fact that he is "defending his light and wondering 'where the hell have I been'" gives me a picture of a boy struggling to hold on, though he feels alone and abandoned.
As an adult he realizes his lost child-self, and wants to go back and save him. Somehow he is shown "where it all began." Perhaps he has repressed memories of youth that traces back to his loss at eleven. Since then his mind has been "sleeping, lost and numb," but still he has felt some kind of draw to the source or his despair, or whatever he feels. "It took so long to realize you hold the light that's been drawing be back home." The fact that his inner self still holds the light, still glows, shows that there is still hope of getting back.
The adult gets back to the child with each "step by step by inch by loaded memory," going back perhaps to repressed memories. He has resolved himself and won't stop until "one [man] and one [boy] are one [being]." He tells his inner youth-self to shine bright so they may do this, so he will be "heading back home."
As an adult he realizes his lost child-self, and wants to go back and save him. Somehow he is shown "where it all began." Perhaps he has repressed memories of youth that traces back to his loss at eleven. Since then his mind has been "sleeping, lost and numb," but still he has felt some kind of draw to the source or his despair, or whatever he feels. "It took so long to realize you hold the light that's been drawing be back home." The fact that his inner self still holds the light, still glows, shows that there is still hope of getting back.
The adult gets back to the child with each "step by step by inch by loaded memory," going back perhaps to repressed memories. He has resolved himself and won't stop until "one [man] and one [boy] are one [being]." He tells his inner youth-self to shine bright so they may do this, so he will be "heading back home."