In a 2001 Spin Online interview, Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder explained, "The song 'Off He Goes' is really about me being a s--t friend. I'll show up and everything's great and then all of the sudden I'm outta there."
Vedder wrote this acoustic ballad at a time when he was becoming the focal point of their songwriting. It's part of their fourth album, No Code, which has five songs exclusively written by Eddie. "Off He Goes" makes it clear that he's aware of his patterns, and to his credit, he never left Pearl Jam and made sure the band stayed together.
When Vedder brought the song to his bandmates, they knew it should make the album. Their producer, Brendan O'Brien, said in Pearl Jam's book Twenty: "It's one of the most meaningful songs of theirs that I've ever worked on. It haunts me."
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