Pearl Jam - Daughter Lyrics Meaning

I have a slightly different interpretation on this one. Eddie Vedder had a step dad whom he hated and would beat his mother (betterman). The child is Eddie, the young girl is his mother.

some support.

"tries to make her proud" -shows the love the child has for their mother, as he is trying to make her proud, not avoid a beating.

"young girl... violins" -placing the young girl (aka. mother) on a pedistal

"shades go down, its in her head" -the shades go down, as mentioned before to hide the domestic violence from the neighbors, however "it's in her head" shows that these curtains are not real, rather a coping mechanism that the mother uses to block out domestic from herself.

"Don't call me daughter, not fit to" - This confuses me, however I think that it might mean that the stepdad refers to the little boy as daughter, as a demeaning term, and he's not fit to as he is only a step dad... or it could be a little girl and her mother,,,

"the picture kept will remind me" - he has an old picture of his real father to remind him that his step dad is not his real father

"she holds the hand that holds her down" -In reference to her mother still being in love with his stepdad despite the abuse

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