MJK REVEALS MEANING

[moneyisevil]

11/1/01

"THIS SONG GOES OUT TO ALL THE BLOOD SUCKERS IN THE INDUSTRY..."

Is this song about making music? Does MJK think about giving up making music because of agents, management etc? I always liked to think that this song was about a relationship...one of special value...but now i think its about MJK's passion for creating...oh well

[paraflux]

Honestly, that sounds more like a dedication than a meaning.

[hanger25934]

i always took this song as maynard telling the band to " be patient " with the legal battles, side projects etc.... that took up so much time before lateralus came out. cool

[Bogart]

I don't think the song is about the music industry specifically, like most of their songs, it was written to have many different layers. I think the song was intentionally written to have many different meanings and the listener chooses what they get out of it.

[hateAliases]

I don't think the song is about the music industry specifically, like most of their songs, it was written to have many different layers. I think the song was intentionally written to have many different meanings and the listener chooses what they get out of it.


i like the idea "many different meanings, listeners choice" ...

it could also be just what its called. a patient, is giving blood and the only thing he can do is "keeping faith" = still right here and this whole "desire to heal" stuff... hmm

[Dedicated_TOOLfan]

This song is one of my favorite Tool songs.....when I listen to it, it makes me feel comlplete....and I don't know why either.....

[a788]

This song is one of my favorite Tool songs.....when I listen to it, it makes me feel comlplete....and I don't know why either.....

this one too, eh?

no but this song has i think the literal meaning and a personal meaning for myself (and maybe for others)
literal... being patient with the all the shit in the music industry- annoying fans, people like the hooker with a penis, managers, cds, legal battles, side projects, money, etc.... you get my drift

and then the personal meaning is teaching me to be patient with life... a bit more general than the literal meaning. Teaching me that there's something there waiting at the end of the line, and i got to keep on, not kill myself (walk away) because there are rewards or anything to see me through

[martyrinexile86]

This song always tends to remind me of a serious surgery I underwent on my legs about three years ago. For what was possibly three of the longest months of my life, I was completly out of commission, having to rely on people for everything. Even though it was a very trying period in my life I knew I had to 'Wait it Out'. And I often wondered if the path I'd chosen was the right one. Like the narrator in the song, I felt as though all the vitality and life had been sucked out of me. So the song strikes a huge chord for me, and whenever I hear it, it reminds of the pain and difficulty I faced as well as the joy of recovery.

[idontmind462]

this entire album has to do with a relationship with something far deeper than a record company.

[martyrinexile86]

this entire album has to do with a relationship with something far deeper than a record company.
I agree

[UtUmNo1]

I'd like to see Maynard hand make his own CD's if he has such a problem.

[gnarlius]

Recently my father has been totally paralyzed, and this song has taken on a new meaning. It's so perfectly apt to my dad's condition that it's quite uncanny. The line 'I certainly would have walked away...' is pretty wrenching to hear. Next time you hear the song think of lying helpless and tube-fed.

And now, does anyone know what Maynard is chanting during the intro?

[idontmind462]

notes.

[StoneyB]

I've toyed with the idea that the song may be about a patient of Carl jung's. right around 1900, Jung had a young girl patient, who would have visions of evil spirits and she would also do many devious things that went against her personality, and afterward she wouldn't rememner a thing. Carl Jung had many patients like this, whos subconcious or multiple conciousness would take over.

Some of the lyrics do tie into it quite well, but other times not. Just thought I'd let you know my opinion.

[Carny_Handles]

I enjoy the fact that Maynard said that on 11/1/01 or 11:11.. (jimmy anyone)



show's he's definitely not talking about 'the industry' as the blood suckers. ...the new upcoming album should reveal more of the big picture.
~spiral out~

[lateral_circle]

Hmmm......I remember "TIcks and Leeches" being about the bloodsuckers in the industry. "The Patient," seems to be more about being comfortable in your skin. Just relax. Things will come.

[idontmind462]

industry is a very loose term.

[allusion7.0]

"a mass of gallon sloth, as flys have walls for feet, a rapturous-verbatim-someone said but who's to know, and when you find the fringe, the one last hit that spent you, you'll find the ossuary is spilling by the day"

would you mind explaining this?

[idontmind462]

You could never understand unless you experienced it.

[burning bridges]

Here is a hint..... Rosetta Stoned and The Patient are somewhat tied together lyrically in meaning.

[moneyisevil]

how so

[idontmind462]

read them.

[ween69]

I've toyed with the idea that the song may be about a patient of Carl jung's. right around 1900, Jung had a young girl patient, who would have visions of evil spirits and she would also do many devious things that went against her personality, and afterward she wouldn't rememner a thing. Carl Jung had many patients like this, whos subconcious or multiple conciousness would take over.

Some of the lyrics do tie into it quite well, but other times not. Just thought I'd let you know my opinion.


cool idea. like a werewolf. that would be so wierd and it would suck cuz you would have no recollection of your deviousness.
definetely wouldn't enjoy that

[Holy_Crow]

I like to interpret the meaning of this song for myself. MJK himself said in an interview I had read that most of the fans' interpretations that he has read are wrong, but he's happy to see them take something out of it. To me this song is almost spiritual in nature concerning "the path" and "healing."

[moneyisevil]

after istening to it again, its deffinatley about the record industry and about his patience wearing thin on making new music and dealing with all the bullshit

"if there were no rewards to reap, no loving embrace to see me through.."
talking about the release he gets from making music and the love he gets from his band mates as a chance to heal...he looks at music as a healing process and an oppurtunity to share it with other people and make them feel good and in return he feels good...makes sense dont it

[BallsOfSatan]

Ween. you look strikingly similar to this guy:



http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/Imagezz/peter_dancewear1.jpg

[seemyshadowchanging]

i always thought that this song went well with the grudge.for me the song is saying be patient the person who is carrying the grudge will let it go in time,but you have to keep reminding yourself not to let this grudge destroy anything you and this person have together.i think thats why schism is after this.it makes me think of when the person does finally let the grudge go you can then learn to rediscover communication and put things back on track.just my opinion.

[slamminsalmon]

ive always related this song to somone thinking about killing themselves, and trying to find meaning in life without becoming a cog in the social machine

[Carny_Handles]

for fucks sake, that might be MJK's meaning, but it sure as hell isnt the meaning i get out of it.

who the fuck cares what maynard means by these songs, what I take out of them is much more important, and 'real'.

[paraflux]

Ok, so...
Honestly, that sounds more like a dedication than a meaning.

[Inner_Eulogy]

Ween. you look strikingly similar to this guy:



http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/Imagezz/peter_dancewear1.jpg

LMAO, yeah, but Ween looks like he has many more issues than that guy

[Inner_Eulogy]

Here is a hint..... Rosetta Stoned and The Patient are somewhat tied together lyrically in meaning.

Those two songs have absolutely nothing to do with one another. And if ANYthing at ALL had any relation it would be simply the term "the patient" and Lost Keys because he is in a hospital. Other than that very slim retardation of a similarity you made...they HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON

[Carny_Handles]

dude the patient in lost LK/RS is maynards dick. His pecker was abducted by aliens, thus the strange sounding voice... his 6" cock can really sing though.


But the song 'flood' is connected for sure, you'd have to be a moron not to see the similarity. "gunna wade it out"

[rageboy]

for fucks sake, that might be MJK's meaning, but it sure as hell isnt the meaning i get out of it.

who the fuck cares what maynard means by these songs, what I take out of them is much more important, and 'real'.

agreed. and i think that's what all of their songs should be/are supposed to be/are. Because that's the way poetry is meant to be read.

[HateSolstice]

Most artists enjoy the fact that you get something out of their music, whether or not it's what they intended for you take from it. Besides, it is kind of interresting to see what they really meant with each song, even if it's not what any of us expected or understood from it.

[maggie2toes]

I thought the "blood suckers in the industry" line was attached to Ticks and Leeches... at least it was when I saw them on that tour. I guess it could be either/both.

[martyrinexile86]

Recently my father has been totally paralyzed, and this song has taken on a new meaning. It's so perfectly apt to my dad's condition that it's quite uncanny. The line 'I certainly would have walked away...' is pretty wrenching to hear. Next time you hear the song think of lying helpless and tube-fed.

And now, does anyone know what Maynard is chanting during the intro?
That sucks beyond words man, sorry.

[Friamannen]

Recently my father has been totally paralyzed, and this song has taken on a new meaning. It's so perfectly apt to my dad's condition that it's quite uncanny. The line 'I certainly would have walked away...' is pretty wrenching to hear. Next time you hear the song think of lying helpless and tube-fed.

When thinking of what you said the song really gets a new meaning. A lot of it really makes sense in that context, while (of course) some of it doesn't.

"No loving embrace to see me through this tedious path Ive chosen here,
I certainly wouldve walked away by now."

The love of relatives and family helps keeping you alive for sure. Although being paralysed is surely not a path you choose. Maybe "waiting it out" would be something like.. "learning to adapt" to the way of living, since you can't heal from a paralysis. Heck,I wouldn't know, it's a terrible condition and I can't imagine. Adapting to a life of total paralysation is probably impossible. What you said sure gave the song more feeling though... I can't get my thoughts straight.

[gmenright]

Funny, I actually took this much more simply and directly than most. I took it to reflect a person's (most likely Maynard's) conflict with religion - wanting to believe, fearing that to do so is foolish; but yet, admitting that there's no "test" or "loving embrace" would be too painful ("can't go on").

But yet... the lines

Draining patience, drain vitality.
This paranoid, paralyzed vampire act's a little old.

But I'm still right here
Giving blood, keeping faith
And I'm still right here.

Wait it out,
Gonna wait it out,
Be patient (wait it out)

... really lend themselves to the "lawsuit" interpretation, and perhaps less so to the more seemingly-direct religious conotation. Perhaps it's both?

Maynard could be drawing parallels between his early faith and eagerness toward christianity as a child, and the same (some would say naive) optimism he would have had for being a contracted recording artist. Just as his faith in religion was eventually shattered (or at least tested to the brink of it), so was his patience with the legal issues arisen with their label.

[Aunt Acid]

I've never read the lyrics to this song, but I've listened to it enough to interperet. I always took the song to be about meditating to reach enlightenment but not really getting anywhere with it. Maynard, or whoever the narrator is continues to meditate and delve himself deeper spiritually but he's at the same spot when he's done (but I'm still right here giving blood, keeping faith and I'm still right here). He must keep reminding himself that his goal is approaching, and if he didn't do that, he would have walked away by now, and he still may.

Maybe there are lyrics and points that I'm missing completley, but that's just kinda how I interpereted the song.

[moneyisevil]

its about the music industry, you dont think maynard wanted to vent his frustrations/hatred for the music company lawsuit through a song?

[(t)hick]

Wasn't that Ticks & Leeches?

[Roadiepat]

Wasn't that Ticks & Leeches?

yep....

[transcend187]

yep....

Yep.

[viciouscycle]

11/1/01

"THIS SONG GOES OUT TO ALL THE BLOOD SUCKERS IN THE INDUSTRY..."



I thought "Ticks and Leeches" was inspired by a crappy manager Maynard had in the early stages of his career...what I heard, anywho. So yes, it is about the industry, but I think that it's about sleazy, immoral people in general.

[iAMtheMA!]

THE PATIENT = MAYNARD/TOOL
(99.99993% possibility of truth)

h.= a private life vs. saving all of us us
(this is what kills tool, even though we don't hate 'em)

i think he's saying that if there was nothing REAL to the entire sacred geometry, ascending into a higher plane of dimension and consciousness, utilizing your merkaba (to recognize the world's merkaba) via remembering prana, being one with love (since love is all there is), etc. ..."if there were no rewards to reap - no loving embrace to see me through this tedious path i've chosen here, i certainly would've walked away by now." he's "gonna wait it out" because he has faith in our ability to find balanced communication and "get the fuck off this planet" (as hicks would say). he would've quit trying to save us before releasing undertow. the dude has found a way to over-ride this "fleeting time here", he was aware before opiate (while listening to what bill hicks was aware of all along). but again...

THE PATIENT = MAYNARD/TOOL

[the_shrike29]

This is from the 8/13/01 LA show I was at that I found a recording of. Seems to fit with the original quote as well:

MJK:

"Every now and then you have to ask yourself why it is we do this. It's never really more apparent or appropriate than it is usually in LA. Everything gets so convoluted, everyones got their hand out. They're all a bunch of liars and thieves and kling ons and ...(he trails off, I can't make it out.) The industry of art. You have to remind yourself that it is about this: what your feeling right now, what we're feeling right now. That's what its about and the parts we're in for it. Then fuck 'em. Then we're going to continue doing it against all odds, we're gonna continue to make art, all of us. This song is about vampires. It's called The Patient."

Hope that sheds a little light.

[tuck]

This song took on a new meaning if you look at it from Maynards point of view when a friend of mine went to see Tool in Arizona recently. We all know that Maynard's lyrics are very personal and emotional. They are usually about his own life experiences that he has either learned some new lesson or experienced some profound insight. So in essence, when Maynard gets up and sings these songs, I would imagine it is a very emotional and draining experience. He is giving/sharing himself to the audience in a very vulnerable way.

The way I see it there are really two types of Tool fans. The first type is the type that would read the above paragraph and totaly get what Im saying. One could say that they are in to tool for this very reason. The other type is the fan that just wants to hear opiate and other "harder" songs that they can go get into a mosh pit and beat the hell out of each other. At the show in Arizona recently, there were an exceptional number of these type of fans. Big mosh pit. ONe thing my friend noticed was that Maynard openly mocked these fans. He would say 'fuck' every other word and they would start screaming "wooooo", "fuck ya", "tool fucking rocks" typical bullshit.

So, Maynard gets up there exposing himself very transparently to inspire and help people realize certain things and maybe make the world a better place. Can you imagine getting up on a stage and discussing things that are very personal and emotional and getting the type of "ignorant" bullshit fan just wanting you to shut up and sing opiate? I can imagine Maynard thinking to himself, "Damn, why do I even try?" "fuck'em, Im out of here." But then he realizes, that the process of exposing himself like this is healing, so he continues in spite of the ignorant. That's what the patient means to me in regards to what maynard meant. My own meaning is totally different and personal, like many of you guys. Thats one of the many things that makes tool so damn good.

My friend said that when they did the encore of wings, 10,000 days people were just walking around and talking. He was soo pissed, it totally ruined his experience. He ended up just closing his eyes and listening. He said it was still incredibly performed.

This kind of thing makes me wish tool should do small shows in small places and just jack the price of the ticket way up. You know the only people to buy those tickets would be people like us. I guess thats just selfish of me? probably. Does saying all this mean Im a typical arrogant, "others just dont get it" tool fan, absolutely. The fact is I dont really care. Just my .02.

[iAMtheMA!]

tuck, i love your posts.

[tuck]

tuck, i love your posts.

thanks, I love them too ;-).

[ktdude]

what tuck said makes sense and I have to say I really pity you guys in the states for having to suffer these bullshit fans who don't want to watch the band at all. I don't understand why they bother going. The two shows I have been to here in tne UK were exactly as I expected, a lot of people giving the band their full attention for the duration of the gig, and loving every minute of it. The way it should be.

[iAMtheMA!]

no shit. fuck me. i've been watching the "eyes wide open" dvd by king crimson ...they played outta japan (uk, too) and all were so attentive and respectful. THEY certainly got their money's worth...


"yankee"...

[kcobain3]

Yep.

yep....