my understanding of what this song tells me

[praga]

"It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
you know it hurt me"

-Speaking about the pain that can be caused at such a young age of innocence and religious questioning

"but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise"

-paints a picture of hope after realizing his own ideas are still in his mind although everything around him seems to go against what creeps around in his mind

"I've got my hands bound,
my head down, my eyes closed,
and my throat wide open."

-He’s bound by people that are above him and he’s scared, so that would explain the lowly position of his head being down and hiding his eyes from what’s happening around him. The throat wide open could represent either taking in the “cock” of religion, or it could be screaming, which go with the fear

"Do unto others what has been done to you"

-What’s really taught in the capitalist society

"I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while."

-During this time, he’s been working hard to keep from drowning in the stories he’s told, and he just wants a break from it

"My lamb and martyr, you look so precious.
Won't you come a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this"

-This would be the religious entity/religous leader speaking to him, in only a way that Maynard could convey telling him to embrace what he fears

"I can't stand to burn too long.
Released in this sodomy.
For one sweet moment I am whole"

-One can only put up their personal defenses for so long until they give into the comfort of what they were taught and “informed” to believe. This leaves you with a feeling of being a “normal” person again

"Do unto you now what has been done to me."

-Ditto as above

"You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole."

-This would be the religious entity/religious leader speaking to the individual. It seems that he is attempting to convince the person that the entity needs this acceptance of his beliefs to be embraced in order for itself to be fulfilled

"There's release in this sodomy.
For I am your witness that
blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind."

-The entity further trying to convince with reference to the fact that it must be right and that its way must be the only way.

"Got your hands bound, your head down,
your eyes closed.
You look so precious now."

-The entity/religious leader is telling the person it’s ok, and that they look good to everyone else accepting these ideas, and that it actually recognizes you’re in fear of it

"( Show me something
Thought I could make it end
Thought I could wash the stains away
Thought I could break the circle if I
Slipped right into your skin
So sweet was your surrender
We have become one
I have become my terror
And you my precious lamb and martyr.)" *

-This would show a type of cycling into becoming what you once feared…even after you tried not to be

"I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
shit blood and cum on my hands"

-This one’s interesting…I believe that the shit blood and cum may have a sort of symbolism towards everything that is common among animals, specifically humans. This would show some sort of embracing of the idea of global unity among ideas, possibly religious. This could also simply be taken as now that he’s become what he was once scared of he takes solace in doing this to others.

"I've come round full circle.
My lamb and martyr, this will be over soon.
You look so precious"

-This just points out the fact that he’s now what he feared and ends with the comforting line towards his religious “prey”

[dawn]

this is a beautiful song,but it gives me the creeps

[praga]

damn, this is a long winded bunch of shit, i have to say.
wait, i wrote it.
still, i think i've annoyed myself now
jesus fucking christ i didn't have anything to do

[Sora]

Never heard it put into that context before. Very nice.

Keep that in mind at all times, thank you...

[Phosphoros]

Good interpretation of the song, I really liked it, for I also interpreted it simillar, pretty cool.

[david_19690106]

I'm going to go out on a limb here.

I believe this song is exactly what it seems to be.

A recollection of memories of abuse by an abuser as he/she abuses.

I think this song is more autobiographical than people are willing to believe. I feel that Maynard is relating an event he went through, in which he found himself "abusing/exploiting" someone sexually.

During this event he had an epiphany in which he realized how insidious sexual abuse can become.

When the abused becomes the abuser.

I really think Maynard shows a lot of artistic honesty in putting those thoughts down on paper, let alone an album that the whole world can see.

When I first heard this song, I had the feeling it wasn't "fiction", or "metaphor", but real.

Then I came to belive it was mostly just thoughts and a cool way of relating an idea about sex abuse.

But now Ihave come full circle , so to speak, and really try to get into the mindset opf an abuser when I hear the song. It's very powerful when you pretend you are the abuser.

Kudos to Maynard for taking these risks ....letting himself spell it out.
Great art takes courage as well as feeling.

[SackDemon]

My thoughts exactly. With all due respect to those who've found metaphor and symbolism (in any medium), often a person who gets a reputation for being "deep" lyrically gets read into a little too deeply when they really are speaking literally.

[Jerk-Off]

maybe that's what he wants us to do

[Typx]

This reminds me of a Star Wars series I read. There was this guy called Grand Admiral Thrawn that was running the Imperials after the events in the movies. This guy was a crazy good strategist, he would look at a species artwork and social structure and such and be able to create an amazing strategy to defeat them. He was so good that it got to the point that people in the New Republic were reading into every little action he did, and second; if not triple guessing themselves. He was given credit for strategies he was not doing and ended up throwing the New Republic into complete disarray because they started to see him as omnipotent.

Seems like kind of the same thing happens with Maynard.

[praga]

i guess the bottom line to this is that unless your the bald headed wig wearing one himself, or have talk with him enought, we'll really never know to take it literally or not. I mean, it seems to me that the religious implications could be put in other lights as well, not just stuck with that one perception of it. I think if there's anything to learn from trying to figure this artistic bastard's words out is that perception can make the world of difference from one second to the next.
I guess i kinda like to give artist's the benifit of the doubt with the words they speak, and i don't tend to take anything someone says literally, unless i'm told otherwise. from what i understand, a lot of good music is written in third person and never personally experienced, but as well, many people write about themselves as well. so, basically, take my bullshit with a grain of salt, i just thought that it could possibly give someone a different light to look at these words we hear that stick in our heads.

[marcus]

Originally posted by praga





"I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
shit blood and cum on my hands"

-This one’s interesting…I believe that the shit blood and cum may have a sort of symbolism towards everything that is common among animals, specifically humans. This would show some sort of embracing of the idea of global unity among ideas, possibly religious. This could also simply be taken as now that he’s become what he was once scared of he takes solace in doing this to others.

I agree with david-19690106 and believe this song is to be taken at face value, but, if you would liken it to religion perhaps you could use shit, blood, and cum as the holy trinity.

[SRx71]

Very good writing. I believe Tool's songs have always been open to many people. In an interview with Adam that I read, he says he'll hear different views on songs like 46 & 2 from Buddhist, Muslim, or even Christian perspective, and appreciate them all. He says "whatever it does you, cool."

I think this song may have some deep personal meaning to Maynard, because I've read that the song was written in response to some abuse he suffered from him stepfather (does he even have one?) as a child. It could also be an analogy used to make a statement about what Praga described, or something close to that.

[OPUNAESALA]

just by listening to the lyrics it seems to me like maynard suffered sexual abuse from someone..i did read his stepfather was abusive.

few clues..

sodomy-definition- anal intercourse with the same sex

"...shit blood and cum on my hands"

last.. the song is called prison sex

i think if you really listen to the vocals and put the clues together i get the idea that maynard was in some way raped.

[DisgracedEffigy]

I never thought it was about being raped, specifically. I always just figured it was about some form of child abuse. Rape is one form but I don't think Tool is one for generalities.

[praga]

Originally posted by OPUNAESALA
just by listening to the lyrics it seems to me like maynard suffered sexual abuse from someone..i did read his stepfather was abusive.

few clues..

sodomy-definition- anal intercourse with the same sex

"...shit blood and cum on my hands"

last.. the song is called prison sex

i think if you really listen to the vocals and put the clues together i get the idea that maynard was in some way raped.

well, well, well...
if i took everything sang to me for face value, it'd be a boring world of people's own personal shit that wouldn't allow for the process of inturpretation (sp?) that seems quite important in all forms of art. I mean, i don't know the guy, so i can't tell you if his stepfather fucked with him or not, but i can take what the fella says and draw my own conclussions out of it without feeling like i'm making shit up about someone's life i've never met. i once heard from a friend that they thought i was dead....people say shit that isn't true, and people believe it. I do see the idea of taking any kind of painful situation involving an authority figure to be very fitting for this song. It just seems to me that the picture is painted in a different light that what is actually alluded to in the title. Bottom line, i don't give a fuck what happened to James, that's his own life to deal with. I won't ever search for meanings to songs thru anyone's life unless i know them personally or i've written them myself. No offense, James, but i'm sure you wouldn't be bothered to know i don't give a fuck about your personal life.

[praying4rain]

I agree that Prison Sex should be interpreted litterally. It is a song about sexual child abuse and the abused child becoming the abuser later on in life. Coming Full Circle. That is the way things go with most abuse cases. The abused becomes the abuser.

[brace_yourself]

I think all TOOL songs can be taken many ways, no one is wrong here, but to say it is about Child Abuse or Rape is way to easy. I mean any old fool that reads the lyrics will say its about Child Abuse,Rape or Prison Sex, but i think thats way to simple.
I always thought TOOL fans were more open minded then to think of it as that simple.
Open your Thrid eye and then listen to it and you will see what that Praga was talking about.

[Ejecta48]

I think this song is about being raped in a more emotional/spiritual sense (i.e. loss of innocence, etc.)

as in Cold's "Anti-love song" he says "No one got used to this these motherf***kers raped me" and mentioning the church in the song.
So I think Prison sex is about being betrayed and raped by someone (possibly the church) and "coming round full circle"
to hurt others the way he has been hurt.

[cainecrawford]

was maynard Molested at West Point?

[praga]

Originally posted by cainecrawford
was maynard Molested at West Point?

who REALLY cares if he was or not?
don't you think that's just kinda his business?
if you want to look at your question symbolically...
fuck yeah, he was raped at West Point
artistically and mentally, you feel somewhat fucked over by the "deprogramming" process that they put you thru
I know that feeling, i was at the Air Force Academy for a short stint
that's a whole 'nother song tho

thanks for all the comments guys, good or bad, at least they're comments

[praga]

Originally posted by mstajduh
I think it's about his first communion

do you care to elaborate on that idea?
or should we just buy into it without reason?
j/k

[praga]

Originally posted by mstajduh
no & no...j/k

I guess that's what i get for asking a yes and no question, huh? let's see...
blood = wine, obviously
cum (dried, of course) = dried up bread
shit = the preacher/priest/reverend that hands it all to you

does that touch on your idea of communion?

[SatresThirdEye]

I saw prison sex as being a song about him insulting christianity (organized christianity at least) for its emptyness. All the sexual forceing that runs through the song is a religon being forced on him, the song is about his urge to methaphorically fuck christianity, just like it fucked him. To show christianity that the only medium he finds peice of mind in in the flesh, the sweat blood and cum on his hands is where he finds his sanity. In the chaos of reality.

The song switches over, from him being the object of aggression to him being the aggressor, he has come full circle. He's had his revenge, his compensation in his somodic release.

As for this song about being any real incident of sexual abuse in maynard's life, I think its irrelvant.

[godoffeces]

Ok, I'm sure this has been beat like a dead horse out of everyone's minds but bear with me. Regardless of what the song is actually about, I believe it’s telling of the sexual abuse cycle that children experience. If you go by stages, the child is abused, the abuser saying “do to others what I have done to you.” And as the child grows, he/she can’t explain the compelling feeling to abuse in turn. And like the song says, it makes a person feel whole, but after each occasion there is a feeling of remorse and the person must again rationalize their behavior. They tell themselves that they will cease but it’s like hunger, they return to the feelings and begin abusing again. And the cycle continues, and often spreads, as new victims begin to victimize. I’ve worked with alot of sexually victimized children who sexually abuse in turn and if I were to play that song for them, I think they would probably point to the stereo and say, “Shit man, that’s it, he said it.” However, I think it’s irrelevant whether or not Maynard was raped as a child because I think the art in this piece is his ability to describe the process. If anything, Maynard’s ass could be as tight as a tree but wouldn’t it be even more interesting to know that the artist can paint such a vivid picture from pure imagination?

[Ravenwolf]

Nice work Praga, but I think you missed something.

"For I am your witness that
blood and flesh can be trusted."

Religious leader + 'blood' and 'flesh'

Any thoughts?

[praga]

Originally posted by Ravenwolf
"For I am your witness that
blood and flesh can be trusted."

Religious leader + 'blood' and 'flesh'

Any thoughts?

well, communion back in the day taught me that consuming the blood and flesh of ol' Jesus was a symblic method of letting him into my life. Now, stale crackers and wine aside, i'm thinking that this is religious leader refering to himself as the "blood and flesh" that can be trusted...symobolically touching on the self-righteousness involved and also stating that he is merely of flesh and blood, but he can be trusted to know what is right or wrong, regardless we learn that humans are fatally flawed with igorance throughout life. I'm thinking that most of what i said sounds like bullshit, but i do like that line, and if i forgot to dwell on it, there ya go. blood and flesh i guess could deal with the bleeding anus of a 8 yr old child too, i assume, but that just seems a bit too direct for me, plus just downright gross.

discuss amongst yourselves

[BackToMyKnees]

Of all of Tool's songs, this one seems the most different to me than any of them. It's just so weird in structure and the music. I dunno, maybe I'm just hearing things.

[anna]

yeah, so i think that obviously the song is OSTENSIBLY about being sexually abused and then experiencing being (or being scared about becoming - which is my prefered interpretation) a perpertrator of sexual violence.

EQUALLY, it could be metaphorical (like i think nirvana's 'rape me' is totally metaphorical). but especially when you combine it with the video, it seems at least to me (and i am biased towards this literal interpretation) to be about experiencing sexual abuse. i mean, its a lot more poetic than, say korn's 'daddy', but yeah, i think people are way too eager to go for a less than literal interpretation.

i dont want to speculate about maynard's personal life, but it seems to me that if you are going to write and perform a song that people are going to interpret as you being sexually abused, then i know that i wouldnt want to make a public statement like that lightly.

on the other hand, rape and sexual violence are pretty powerful metaphors (like the raping of forests, a culture etc) to portray a huge sense of loss, of something being forcibly taken, of an insidious, secret whatever, etc, etc, but i dont know, i just believe that prison-sex is probably literal.

[UncnciousShadow]

great post, good interpreting, but i believe that this song is about sexual abuse, one of Maynard's personal experiences, some of his songs are about his experiences, and i think this Prison Sex is one of them. Never looked at prison sex that way, nice work

[anna]

"i believe that this song is about sexual abuse, one of Maynard's personal experiences, some of his songs are about his experiences, and i think this Prison Sex is one of them."

yeah i totally agree, this is what i think prison sex is about

[MaryMagdalene]

. That is the way things go with most abuse cases. The abused becomes the abuser.

Actually, in most cases, the abused doesn't become an abuser. It should be noted that most abusers were abused. I did some research on child abuse for a project, I just remember reading that the abused "always becomes an abuser" is a common misconception because the converse is true. Doesn't make child abuse any better though : /

[AllforUnity]

l thought at the beginning of that you said that the abused doesn't become an abuser, and in the end you said they do...did you mean something else?

[anna]

l thought at the beginning of that you said that the abused doesn't become an abuser, and in the end you said they do...did you mean something else?


no, what he said was many (or most [?]) of those who commit sexual abuse have been sexually abused themselves

but, not all who have been sexually abused go on to sexually abuse others

so: not all kids who have been molested go on to grow up abuse others, but a lot of people who commit sexual abuse have been sexually abused themselves


an analogy(not a perfect one but you get my drift): all murdered people are dead, not all dead people have been murdered

[anna]

I think the religious references in prison sex ("do unto others....") may have something to do with the character in the song who is the sexual abuser (whether or not this is someone in maynard's life) and who may also be a christian, who preaches the lessons of the bible in one breath, then goes on to sexually abuse a child in the next.

i think this ties into the video where the black figure is ripping pages from a bible - symbolically ignoring the parts of the bible that would condemn sexual abuse.

Also, i think this works with the line "do unto others what has been done to you": it represents the subversion of a biblical axiom - the sexual abuser is hypocritical: a morally righteous christian who is sexually abusing a child

but i believe this is just one facet of prison sex

[AllforUnity]

l was never answered...*sigh*

[INNER_STRUGGLE]

tells me that people say their never gonna be like that but in teh end they always seem to turn out that way.

[Pitts]

[QUOTE=OPUNAESALA]just by listening to the lyrics it seems to me like maynard suffered sexual abuse from someone..i did read his stepfather was abusive.

few clues..

sodomy-definition- anal intercourse with the same sex

"...shit blood and cum on my hands"

last.. the song is called prison sex

i think if you really listen to the vocals and put the clues together i get the idea that maynard was in some way raped.[/QUOTE

exactly!

[Pitts]

Praga I think your on the right path but if you put it into perspective it all comes down to that he was probly raped mentally, emotionally, and maybe even physically, but none of us are Maynard so we may never know. Cause this song could be just for this reason, discussion, Maynard has his own little way of mind fucking us and wanting us to form our own opinois on all of his songs. The man is a genuis.

[praga]

Yeah Yeah Yeah...i know i'm right ;)

who wants to hear about Maynard getting assfucked anyways? I'd rather hear him speak about the things that bother me and others i know like me
and i've not been assfucked
nor have they
only in my mind do i feel that way
i'm impressed at how many people actually read my shit on here
fuck a duck, maybe mom was right when she said i was smart

[Mr Omnipotent]

prison sex = identifying and becoming our enemy