champion
10-24-2004, 11:30 AM
i recently had a discussion about undertow with a friend, and i've come to a nice explanation of intolerance.
in my eyes, the song is about recognizing a fundamental state of humanity. important lines from the song include "no one is innocent," "you lie, cheat, and steal, and yet i tolerate you," "our guilt, our blame, i've been far too sympathetic," and "i will no longer tolerate you, even if i have to go down beside you."
humans try to convince themselves of having a good-hearted nature. maynard is explaining the true reason why human beings are intolerant; not because we are upset that people get away with doing bad things, but because we are envious and angry because they are using us as a tool to get ahead. we live our lives completely for ourselves, and by other people being one step ahead of us, we feel cheated and used. "shroud of virtue hung to mask your stigma" is about our habit of pretending and convincing others that we are good people, when we fail to realize that the purely egotistical nature of man is what truly drives us.
the theme for the entire album, i think, is about the nature of humanity; ie., our problems and why we are only creating a deeper cavern by trying to convince ourselves that they can be fixed.
in my eyes, the song is about recognizing a fundamental state of humanity. important lines from the song include "no one is innocent," "you lie, cheat, and steal, and yet i tolerate you," "our guilt, our blame, i've been far too sympathetic," and "i will no longer tolerate you, even if i have to go down beside you."
humans try to convince themselves of having a good-hearted nature. maynard is explaining the true reason why human beings are intolerant; not because we are upset that people get away with doing bad things, but because we are envious and angry because they are using us as a tool to get ahead. we live our lives completely for ourselves, and by other people being one step ahead of us, we feel cheated and used. "shroud of virtue hung to mask your stigma" is about our habit of pretending and convincing others that we are good people, when we fail to realize that the purely egotistical nature of man is what truly drives us.
the theme for the entire album, i think, is about the nature of humanity; ie., our problems and why we are only creating a deeper cavern by trying to convince ourselves that they can be fixed.