Whats it about?

[grungebass1029]

I love this song so much, and i probably my favorite to play when im dickin around on bass and guitar. But anyway, whats it really about? is about an addiction of some kind that cant be escaped and pulls you under like undertow?

[ClockworkPmpkin]

Addiction or a relationship. Something that hits him like a sack of bricks, but that he finds a certain kind of solace and peace in. Even though he knows he should not keep relying on or using this mystery object , he continues to be sucked down by the soothing alure of it all. He knows that it makes him weak , evident in the lines....

"Why don't you kill me,
I'm weak and numb and insignificant, and I'm back on my knees"

I'm not quite sure exactly what it is about though, subject wise. Obviously it is something obusive yet soothing , and tempting but grossly wrong. Any suggestions??

[LateralUndertow]

Maybe drugs (just a random guess but drugs are wrongs, although they're soothing.

[zaum]

This, like all Tool songs, is many layered, addiction could be one as mentioned. These lyrics could be a reference to heroin

"Deep and rich like silt on a riverbed"

"Cold and black like silt on a riverbed"

Along with "Two times in" and "Third time in" Gives a kind of timeline, of how he has been trapped by the undertow, wanting to fight it but it feels so good...

"Euphoria"

[grungebass1029]

Isnt H. also a song refrencing to heroine addiction? or at least something similar.

[bdm56]

I think this song is definately about addiction. I'm not sure what and I'm not sure that it really matters. It's almost a warning, its like swamp song from the point of view of the person who is sinking.

So it could be that Swamp Song is the warning and is immediately followed by the warnee falling into the trap.

[NdorphinStimuli]

Probably about opiates, I can say they are definatly calming and reasurring

[16 Degrees]

This song has to be about addiction, even when you think you can stop the drugs, theres an undertow which brings you back to the level of the drugs. This undertow gets you addicted all over again.

[Undertolerance]

I strongly believe that Undertow is about how we find sollice in something that is detrimental to our being. But we find ourselves being pulled back to it again and again. The lyrics state this fact more than once. At the same time it does put us in the state of euphoria, but after that you are right back were you started. As many times as you try to walk away its hooks are far too deep to let you be free. I don't believe that is referenceing any one thing, but it is meant to have a certain meaning to everyone. We have all had, if not have, these types of experiences before. Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, your saturating me!

[The Village Too]

yeah its about anything that anyone's had too much of that they need a break from. they're saturating it and the undertow expells the crap they've put up with

[Thimble in sea]

Or, as I usually try not to bring up, it could be about religion. Somewhere in this sites FAQ or maybe somewhere else, I read that Maynard was raised by a Baptist father. Of course he had been brought up in that faith and as a child probably believed it as any child does with his parents' beliefs.
Two times in, meaning he's has been struggling and he's tried to come back. It all seems so nice to him, all so tempting, a calming experience that is washing over him. With it 'suggesting and beckoning all while swallowing' it's trying to control him and suck him in again.
It fails, as we can see, and he tries for a third time, but this time he sees how devious and untrue it is. He looks around and instead of it looking calm, it is cold and black. Treacherous, devious, and once again it tries to snare him in, and while it's comfortable to be in ignorance he's telling it to shut up and leave him alone, to be deceived is not what he wanted.
And although he may have resisted he's still caught in the water's (religion loosely) undertow, he still has to hear about it, it's preached to him constantly, whether it be televangalists or Jehova's Witnesses at his doorstep, he's awake (Knowing of the truth) but he still has to hear it.
If that was too incoherent of an argument for you, tell me, I'll try to type up a better formulated one, but I'm in kind of a hurry.

[drum_dood]

Originally posted by ClockworkPmpkin
I'm not quite sure exactly what it is about though, subject wise. Obviously it is something obusive yet soothing , and tempting but grossly wrong. Any suggestions??

i read somewhere maynard used to do a lot of shrooms...

[Mr Omnipotent]

i used to think it was about a relationship with a very controlling person... but that changed a while ago

[Guard385]

I think that the song is about changes in life, and since everyone sooner or later understands the impermanence of all things, life has a tendency to almost literally sweep you up completely like a tidal wave almost to the point of throwing you around in the fury of the ocean's waves. It would make sense if the reference were to addiction and to being "sucked back in" to the use of whatever drug, opiates, those are certainly one of the most addicting drugs, mushrooms are pretty far away on the spectrum of experience and I dont think anyone really gets addicted to those.

I personally don't think this is limited to drugs. In reference to religion, it could certainly have a lot to do with reverting back to old ways, back to old outdated and dyfunctional religion-based belief systems, that are so hard to completely break free of after being raised that way.


I personally think the reference is general, and that if you live life getting too comfortable and if you lose your appreciation, and you stop being humble, life will seriously overturn your situation and bring you back to reality because change is inevitable and constant, and if we live in a way that we are being overly conservative with how we live our day to day lives, and if we stop learning, stop growing, its just a law of the universe that we must endure change at some point or another, and when the change comes, for some people it can be rather invasive, as if you are being sucked back into the storm and forced to learn lessons, forced to grow again...

[Malaclypse]

it's about YYYOOOOOOOUUUUU-FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-RRREEEEEEEEEEEEE-UUUUUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!



but really, it's about chasing what gives you that euphoric rush, because what else is the point of life???
i wouldn't even limit it to sex (unless maybe in Freudian vocab) or drugs, because there are several well-adjusted people that have never really done drugs or been promiscuous yet have grown healthily, and even every junkie hits a point where they recognize that drugs aren't making them as "high" as they used to. some people learn to sublimate this obsessive compulsion into hobbies, work, education, or religion, while the rest just let their addiction spiral out of control with whatever substances they can get their hands on. it kind of reminds me of H. in this way.