um... i dont think tht tylerdotcom13 got it exactly rite. i dont think tht eddie actualy knew a guy personally tht did tht howevr the part about the guy in texas is true i found a great page on it the other day
i actually have a teacher who went to school with jeremy...and he moved...thats where he shot himself infront of the class.
when everyone at his old school (the school my teacher went to) found out, they were all acting sad, like they missed his, and they were crying...then one of the teachers was just like "this is a bulls***, none of you cared about him! so stop acting like you care...cause if as many of you that are "sad" were actually friends with him, he might still be here"
actually its about two different people
one is a 15 year old boy named jeremy that lived in texas and killed himself infront of his whole class in 1990 (he put the barrel in his mouth while facing the class, hence the lyrics Try to erase this... From the blackboard.) and the other is a boy eddie vedder knew personally in his school daze and had gotten into fights with. One day the boy snapped and shot up his classroom. Eddie said that he remembered hearing the shots from his class (hence He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting Dropped wide open Just like the day Like the day I heard[ the gunshots]).
This song is a very sad song. It shows what can happen to young children when they are neglected by family and friends. I'm not sure if the boy actually commits suicide, I think he just snapped.
It seems like Jeremy was a quiet boy, that everyone picked on. His parents just ignored him. Dad never even acknowledged his existance and Mom was disgusted by him. After a while, a demon emerged from within the child. He was no longer going to take it. He goes to school and raises hell...maybe with guns and violence. In the end, he killed himself or was taken away forever. No matter what anyone does, they won't be able to forget that one day when Jeremy spoke in class.