for me it's an anti-love song

[foma]

Like many, when i first heard this song i didn't like it... but listening to the album again, figuring out the lyrics changed things for most of the album.
Except for Jambi.
After listening and loving Parabola, the lyrics of this one sounded so much stupid, like listening to jenifer lopez.
and the music in the beggining isn't a work of art niether, although it gets gradually great after the first minute, and after the 'd*m my eyes' part blows me out.

then, the last two lines cleared it all. It's like if Maynrad is making fun out of all the stupid love songs our world is full of. and most of them aren't even sincere, they're just there because they sell a lot of money. I think that's the meaning of "breathe in union so as one survive another day"...

I mean: he says he's too rich, but would 'wish it all away' for a person... but then the 'breathe in union' part is just like saying it takes sooo much effort to stay toghether, just another day... like forcing oneself to do so. so the 'wish it all away for you very easy' part is just bullshit.

and then there's 'silence leech' :)
like saying i don't wanna hear your stupid songs, know about your stupid gossip life etc... just stay out of my way.

forgot to tell: the 'I, I, I, I, I would...' part still makes me feel unconfortable
this doesn't sound like maynard at all :)

---------------------------------------------------------
this was my first interpretation...
i have to say that reading about all your interpratations puzzled me about it...
but most of them don't face the 'silence leech' part, which for me is essential for this song.

so imho this song is like saying TOOL CAN DO IT BETTER, if they want to...
I like this song very much, expectially the 'shine on' part... the bass makes me explode :)

what do you think about it?

[sp4cem0nkey]

My interpretation was the song being about temptation and being caught up in a lifestyle of hedonistic pleasures that are killing his soul:

"The Devil and his had me down
In love with the dark side I’d found
Dabbling all the way down
Up to my neck soon to drown"

But he has fixated on this one person that he would give it all up for.
The thing is he can't give it up. All he can say is "I would wish it all away", which is really just a cop-out way of saying I don't want to put any effort into leaving this life.

It's really easy to wish something to be different, but it takes will and determination to actually make it happen.

I think the last 2 lines (and the mood seems to change for these) are a rejection by the object of his fascination. That person sees him for the spineless degenerate that he is and basically tells him to fuck off.

Unless he says "silence, Legion" instead of "silence leech and", as in confronting his demons.... I'm pretty sure its "leech" tho.

[Muladhara]

Actually, I would say he's praising the hedonistic lifestyle and the "Devil and his had me down" line means "I was stupid for believing in the God and the Devil.".

But he would get rid of the lifestyle he Loves so much if he thought he would lose whomever the song is about. He'd trade it all in if it meant he could keep whomever the song is about.

[sp4cem0nkey]

If he is praising the lifestyle, why does he say "Up to my neck soon to drown?"

[foma]

But he would get rid of the lifestyle he Loves so much if he thought he would lose whomever the song is about. He'd trade it all in if it meant he could keep whomever the song is about.
but once again you're ignoring the 'silence leech' part, and, again, I think it is crucial for the song.

Hey Spacemonkey, you have a good point there :)

[holotrope]

The song sounds, to me, like a battle between Higher Self and Lower Self. Like there's a part of him which is still the animal, and he feeds it, but if he ever felt it stood in the way of his spiritual development, he'd leave behind this animal nature.

The leech is likely symbolic of the aspects of the animal nature which visibly drain spiritual energy.

In the same vein, it is a conflict between the feeling that Life is valuable and that the exprience it offers is something we should cherish, and the feeling that our highest ability lies in contemplation and detachment from the world of experience.

The ultimate balance of those things in this life would lead to a full awareness that these things don't ultimately matter, so we can enjoy the experience for what it is- a continuous dance of light and sound.

But that's just what I think...

[sp4cem0nkey]

Interesting take, holotrope.
There are still two things about the song that don't seem to 'fit'.
The sudden aggression at the very end and the use of "wish" to imply a passive (and IMO meaningless) act as opposed to an active one.

Oh... and my head asplode!

[foma]

In the same vein, it is a conflict between the feeling that Life is valuable and that the exprience it offers is something we should cherish, and the feeling that our highest ability lies in contemplation and detachment from the world of experience.
:)
nah... that's buddhist. AND you can't destroy hedonism with anger (refering to maynards voice in the end)
I think you should enjoy life a little more :P
give lateralus another listen.

Any other guesses on the 'silence leech' line?

[eslupminoyler]

Like many, when i first heard this song i didn't like it... but listening to the album again, figuring out the lyrics changed things for most of the album.
Except for Jambi.
After listening and loving Parabola, the lyrics of this one sounded so much stupid, like listening to jenifer lopez.
and the music in the beggining isn't a work of art niether, although it gets gradually great after the first minute, and after the 'd*m my eyes' part blows me out.

then, the last two lines cleared it all. It's like if Maynrad is making fun out of all the stupid love songs our world is full of. and most of them aren't even sincere, they're just there because they sell a lot of money. I think that's the meaning of "breathe in union so as one survive another day"...

I mean: he says he's too rich, but would 'wish it all away' for a person... but then the 'breathe in union' part is just like saying it takes sooo much effort to stay toghether, just another day... like forcing oneself to do so. so the 'wish it all away for you very easy' part is just bullshit.

and then there's 'silence leech' :)
like saying i don't wanna hear your stupid songs, know about your stupid gossip life etc... just stay out of my way.

forgot to tell: the 'I, I, I, I, I would...' part still makes me feel unconfortable
this doesn't sound like maynard at all :)

---------------------------------------------------------
this was my first interpretation...
i have to say that reading about all your interpratations puzzled me about it...
but most of them don't face the 'silence leech' part, which for me is essential for this song.

so imho this song is like saying TOOL CAN DO IT BETTER, if they want to...
I like this song very much, expectially the 'shine on' part... the bass makes me explode :)

what do you think about it?


Definitely not an anti-love song. Lateralus was about unconditional love, and this album has evolved from that. So unless anti-love can evolve from love, i'd saying you are looking at meaning within yourself and not the transcendental quality of this song.
I'm not knocking you; just saying that we derive meaning quite often from our own predispositions. YOu are not incorrect, because you've given evidence for your opinion. I just don't agree. :)

[foma]

I think i misled you by my wrong spelling eslupminoyler.
i didn't mean 'anti-love' song, but anti-'love song', being tool making fun of jenifer lopes and co.
that was my first interpretation, though... now i'm more puzzled then then :)

[sp4cem0nkey]

That may be one facet of it. And that can be true for you even if it wasn't necessarily the consious intention of the songwriter. Maynard is quoted (upon entering this forum i think) to say that each person is encourage to find meaning for themselves in Tools music.

That said, I think this song, like most of Tools songs, has multiple layers of meaning to it.

It's like an onion. The more you peel it, the more you want to cry ;)

[Stev]

Actually, I would say he's praising the hedonistic lifestyle and the "Devil and his had me down" line means "I was stupid for believing in the God and the Devil.".

But he would get rid of the lifestyle he Loves so much if he thought he would lose whomever the song is about. He'd trade it all in if it meant he could keep whomever the song is about.

I think that's a very loose interpretation. For one, I don't think anyone would say 'The devil and his' and mean 'The devil and God'. Sure, it's not hard to imagine the devil and God as one and the same, or part of the same structure, but to imagine God as 'belonging' to the devil (ie 'his') seems highly unlikely.

It's also a weak interpretation of 'had me down'. 'Had me down' means someone's putting pressure on you, fucking up your life and making things difficult and unpleasant. 'Don't let the man get you down'.

Maynard may well feel that he was stupid for believing in God and the Devil, but I find it difficult to interpret this line as such.

[bawb]

I think it could have something to do with his son.

[swampyfool]

I think that's a very loose interpretation. For one, I don't think anyone would say 'The devil and his' and mean 'The devil and God'. Sure, it's not hard to imagine the devil and God as one and the same, or part of the same structure, but to imagine God as 'belonging' to the devil (ie 'his') seems highly unlikely.

It's also a weak interpretation of 'had me down'. 'Had me down' means someone's putting pressure on you, fucking up your life and making things difficult and unpleasant. 'Don't let the man get you down'.

Maynard may well feel that he was stupid for believing in God and the Devil, but I find it difficult to interpret this line as such.

I think your looking past this argument without considering the body of work. In Opiate, Maynard asserts that the Christianity's god wants "to rape you." In Disgustipated he mocks the evangelical sermon, and in Eulogy he mocks the entire process of Christian martyrdom. The overall impression that I get from these sentiments is that Maynard feels that Christianity is a representation of a metaphorical devil (and I, for one, agree). Thus, I think it entirely possible that Maynard could lump the notion of the Christian god in with "The devil and his. . ." Given the fact that he was raised in a tradition of devout Christianity, you must concede that Christianity had a strong influence on the formative years on his life- and given the aforementioned feedback, one could hardly assume that he views this as a positive influence. Thus, it would seem to me that this jibes perfectly with your definition of ". . . had me down." And thus the whole line, "The Devil and his had me down," could be interpreted just as Muladhara asserts.
If he is praising the lifestyle, why does he say "Up to my neck soon to drown?" He is not using this line to praise a lifestyle. Instead, with this line he is praising the fact that he has freed himself from the shackles of the antithesis-lifestyle propagated by oppressive, Christian dogma. While he was still caught up in the rhetoric of "the devil and his," he was "up to his neck; soon to drown."

The devil and his had me down,
In love with the darkside I'd found.
Dabblin' all the way down.
Up to my neck; soon to drown.

But you changed that all for me.
Lifted me up turn me 'round.

The portion of the lyric in bold is the key to this interpretation. In these lines, he sheds the shackles and extracts himself from the cycle of negativity and division (Christianity) that has compromised his soul. Thus the bits about "damn my eyes if they should compromise our fulcrum," and "no pressure/prize here could hold sway or justify my kneeling away my center . . ."

I'm not saying that you guys are wrong in your interpretations, merely that you are too quick to dismiss a perfectly valid one that is supported by abundant evidence and strong context. Peace.

[foma]

I really still think that you are the devil successfullypriedopen.
it's the thing that makes most sense, I think.

[swampyfool]

I really still think that you are the devil successfullypriedopen.
it's the thing that makes most sense, I think.

But when I was in your digs (visiting Roma), some crazy old Italian woman with an Italian flag-lookin' thing to tie back her hair told me I was Jesus Christ (true story). I think I like yours better, though.

[StereoScopicLenses]

The thread starter says this song is not a "work of art", and they didn't like it at first until they listened to the lyrics later on. WOW. I must be crazy b/c I friggin' love listening to this song. Maybe cuz I am a Meshuggah fan. Influences seem to show up in that song.

[RidetheRedshift]

It's like an onion. The more you peel it, the more you want to cry ;)


word up G