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chewy
11-20-2002, 08:15 PM
i'd personally like to say that i have heard a lot of people immediately jump to the conclusion that this song is about abuse (sexual, most of the time) suffered as a child. i think that if you were a kid that suffered this kind of thing then yes, that song would mean that to you. most of us were not though, and this song has a whole different meaning then...it can be taken as any sort of hardship that is inflicted on you by another, any sort of suffering that you cant tolerate, but has been forced upon you so you become accepting of it.

pink gentile
12-03-2002, 02:02 PM
ive read somewhere that maynard himself said it was about child abuse.

Hyatir
12-03-2002, 02:36 PM
yeah, thats maybe thats the subject (not saying it is, but could be) but thers a difference between subject and theme.

chewy
12-04-2002, 03:01 PM
Originally posted by pink gentile
ive read somewhere that maynard himself said it was about child abuse.
well, in a 1997 much music interview, maynard said that it's more about the cycles of abuse in general. its about recognizing those cycles. its about recognizing whether or not you in turn become the perpetrator and bring the abuse upon yourself in some way, by victimizing yourself repeatedly or by passing it on to another. this is a little bit deeper and/or more important than...."child abuse."

and yes...there is a big difference between subject and theme. well played.

paraflux
12-06-2002, 08:09 AM
I agree with the last post. If you watch the video, you see that the black-clad guy, the one who tortures the wooden soul, seems to come from within the wooden soul himself. Once, when the wooden soul is alone, he turns slowly around and the black guy is there, and the shadow of the black guy quickly shrinks to go inside the wooden soul. It was pretty cool the first time I saw it.

Metalanarchist
12-13-2002, 11:28 AM
Chewy is right on here. We should all listen to this song with this principle in mind: recognizing abuse we deal to others as a way of managing the abuse we have received. Like I realized just the other day that I complain about stuff at work, my boss acting really petty about minor stuff and simple mistakes, but I sometimes turn around and do basically the same thing to my girlfriend around the house if she's messy or something.

In a similar way this song could reflect how much people carry personality traits of their parents — they manifest themselves unconsciously, even if we consciously resolve to NOT be like our parents! This song is one thing that has helped me to recognize this process and begin to unravel it.

The "shit blood and cum" metaphor is especially interesting because it is a visual symbol of how our hands are steeped in this cycle of violence and abuse — what better metaphor to express it? And while it may be pleasurable to release that anger we have built up onto another, just as it may be pleasurable to ejaculate semen, it is also painful because having blood and especially shit on our hands (for almost all people!) is an unpleasant and awful thing. Amazing song.

EmbraceTdOxOmL
12-15-2002, 10:10 PM
You can bring it a little further just by generalizing. Concider that its about recognizing cycles in general, or simply picking up on things that you are exposed to for a long period of time. They of course use the subject of child abuse because its a perfect example.