the title says it all

[mr. id]

i think this song is about fisting someone in the ass. pretty simple. think about it...'relax, turn around and -take- my hand'...and the references to desensitization and no subtlety, think about how 'loose' sluts are. there you go. it's, in my opinon, maynard's way of writing a song about fisting someone in the butt with out being too obvious. it's still a great fucking song, and it has overtones of being a love song...in a weird way, it is. just not the way you wanted it to be.

[Nig]

Ya mate, its been said heaps!! but its a metophore for over stimulation. notice how it keeps geting deeper and deeper. just like any addiction, you need more. work the rest out.
peace

[idontmind462]

There's two meanings:

Drug Addiction/Rehab

The Media/News/TV

[Nig]

to me its over stimulation in genral....whether it be drugs, media, or skining ya rubarb. you just keep wanting more and more etc....why should it be limited to just "two meanings"?

[The Outlaw]

i don't see where you people get off saying that this is WHAT iT'S ABOUT. there are many different ways to interpret something, and i don't agree that a fisting metaphor is simply what it's about, although it is a very good interpretation. i don't think there is ONE thing that a song is about. my friends have come up to me telling me what they think of my lyrics, and their interpretations are wrong.
-BUT THEY AREN'T

it's just how they interprate it, and it's different then my interpretation of it. sure, it's not what i wrote it about, but it is NOT a wrong interpretation.

ANYWAY, my interpretation of the song is of a person who's been affected by a hard life (alcoholic parents, broken home, those things) and has become desensitzied to all the bad things. like he doesn't care when his girlfriend leaves him, when his friends die, things like that. i think the "finger, knuckle, elbow, shoulder" thing isn't to show a fisting metaphor, but just to show how things get progressively worse.

on a side not, with the fisting interpretation, in my opinion, i haven't found a phesable (sp?) explanation for the "show me that you love me and that we belong together" line along with the fisting interpretation.

[Nig]

keep skinin ya rubarb! i never said "this is what its about"!!! i merly gave my interpretation. would you like me to say every time i post something "warning this is only my interpretation" GO KILL YOURSELF!!! you fuckin wanker!! and about my first post... Mr I.D gave his idea about it, and along that same perspective i added a bit more. how helpful could i have been if i took a completly differant perception on it, when all he would have done was(most likely) disagree with it, cause like we all know, it is just our own interpretations....its not like we come here and post something what YOU, or my next door neighbour thinks. must we need to state the obvious that its what "i" think?? and what is wrong about saying "tjhis is what its about" anyway?? obviously to him it is what it means, whose to say its wrong, whose to say its right? its just as politically incorerrect to say either one. so before you open ya mouth i think you should wash all the cum stanes off it!! go fuck yourself poon!!

[Penguin]

Hehe that first post was funny ;D

[Jimmy Pop]

Originally posted by Nig
Ya mate, its been said heaps!! but its a metophore for over stimulation. notice how it keeps geting deeper and deeper. just like any addiction, you need more. work the rest out.
peace
I think i will have to quote the lyrics a bit. This is how the song ends:
----
Elbow deep inside the borderline. Show me that you love me and that we belong together. Shoulder deep within the borderline. Relax, turn around and take my hand.
----
So... I think that you are right about over-stimulation, but I think that Tool tries to say "Relax" to us. Ehm..

I ran out of time. Type more later. BBL.

[sircorn]

It's been simply put on these forums MANY times. It's literally about anal fisting and how much that pains the person. How to actually be stimulated you have to keep turning up the intensity.
Metaphorically its about opening up and hopefully seeing things differently. Much like you simple-minded people don't do when you say a song only has one meaning. Maybe im wrong, but you interpret it for yourself. Because your opinion is the only one that matters. It's your mind right?

[metropolis pt-1]

its really a great song. its also cool that it's the opening song for the album. it can be interpreted in many ways but i think it is basically about doing something to someone which makes him/her feel good eventhough he/she doesn't realize that what they're doing isn't actually "good". pretty much like mesmerizing or coercing someone. something like that. ahehehe... i usually sing this to my girlfriend and she likes it especially the "show me that you love me and that we belong together. relax, turn around and take my hand" part. :)

[wildeyes]

I dont think this song has to do with people coming from broken homes and such. I think its for everyone. Meynard is probably just saying that we are all trying to find a "high" in life.
He wants his life to be over-stimulated all the time. And like any addiction, new and stronger ways are needed to be found in order to get that "high." Meynard recognizes this by using the fisting the ass metaphor and saying "finger, knuckle, shoulder." to show the progression of stimulation. (I got from The Outlaw, thanks, that was a good observation)

[maelstroms_child]

How can it mean anything to me
If I really don't feel anything at all?
I'll keep digging till
I feel something.

it is definitely about the way you interpret certain phrases, if you hadn't heard the song before and you read the above phrase, what would YOU think? as an individual the interpretations are bound to be different, but the real question is, what point was MJK trying to get across? I don't really think that he would put out a point of just anal fisting someone, (despite the lyrics seemingly pointing that way) there has to be deeper meaning behind it all. I think the Addiction analisis is getting closer and maby even IS the point. what is everyone's interpretation for this?

Something has to change.
Un-deniable dilemma.
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear.

How does that fit in? Could that be the addicive nature of the song? My guess is that none of us will ever know, unless maynard himself releases a book of song meanings. But then again that would spoil the fun of analising them now wouldn't it?

[the_evil_twin]

on a side not, with the fisting interpretation, in my opinion, i haven't found a phesable (sp?) explanation for the "show me that you love me and that we belong together" line along with the fisting interpretation.


well, from what i know about fisting is that it takes a long time, and a deep emotional attatchment to the fister. it's kind of like the ultimate expression of trust and completness. at least, that's how i see it.

[dowser]

its a concept album, thus is has a meaning that fits with the whole. stinkfist is about introducing a problem (oversensitation) as in "how could this mean anything to me" and determining to find an answer "i'll keep digging". its the first step to solving any problem - recognizing it exists. think of the first stanza "something has to change, undeniable dillemma".

now take the meaning in the context of the last song, third eye. the final words on the album are "prying open my third eye".

stop overanalyzing each song and try to look at the big picture, that is where everything will make sense. this is what tool has been trying to get us to do, get a wider perspective.

[reddish]

"Something has to change.
Un-deniable dilemma. "
(He doesn't want to do what he's addicted to,)

"Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear."
(but he doesn't know what else to do)

How can it mean anything to me
If I really don't feel anything at all?
(He's become desensitized)

This song is about desensitization and lateral thinking. Be open-minded. Explore new ways of thinking. Don't just "keep digging till you feel something."

[Luna Galapogos]

This I believe is the ultimate love song. It does not beat around the bush about what love is or lie about it. I believe that Maynard is using fisting as his literal interpretation. But what fisting would mean in a love relationship is that some couple has been together for however long, and although they love each other, they find that it is increasingly difficult to stimulate the other in whatever way, sexually or not sexually, each situation needs to be more, you have to become more intimate, you need to find new ways to be pleasurable to her, you need this to be better and that to be different or new. It relates to everything in the relationship as the couple are together longer and longer. And finally, you end up dead, which is the tragic end, that leaves all of your ideas, and all of your furtherings pointless. And that they only served you if you were to blind to see that all you have to do is be happy that you are with whoever this person is that you are with.

Maybe all that I have said is wrong, so yes, this is just my opinion of this song, whatever the case may be, I personally think that this is at least on the right track. Shoot me if I'm wrong.

[buddha8916]

I don't think the song is literally about fisting. Is Prision Sex literally about prison sex? I agree there are multiple meanings for the song but to not take the song as a metaphor is an extremely shallow take on the song since as we all know, Maynards lyrics mean much more than their surface value.

LOL when my band played Stinkfist on stage the guy we had on vocals refused to sing the song cuz he thought it was about raping a little girl. What an ignorant dank.

[Jordan]

I think the anal fisting part of the song is just an example for doing what we need to do to continue feeling satisfaction.

If the song was called anal fisting instead of stinkfist, that wouldn't be as interesting, and also wouldn't have been allowed on TV for most of the fans to find out about.

[mermaidjac]

so this is all great and wonderful and all, but does anyone have anything to say about this video? how do you guys think it relates to the song?

[Ignignot]

It's been simply put on these forums MANY times. It's literally about anal fisting and how much that pains the person. How to actually be stimulated you have to keep turning up the intensity.
Metaphorically its about opening up and hopefully seeing things differently. Much like you simple-minded people don't do when you say a song only has one meaning. Maybe im wrong, but you interpret it for yourself. Because your opinion is the only one that matters. It's your mind right?

Lol! I couldn't agree with you more. Reading this whole downward spiral here is pretty funny, because all of a sudden you start belittling eachother on one's opinion. Geez... maybe you should take maynard's advise: "relax, slip away"
that's what you need to do, indeed.

[Zole]

keep skinin ya rubarb! i never said "this is what its about"!!! i merly gave my interpretation. would you like me to say every time i post something "warning this is only my interpretation" GO KILL YOURSELF!!! you fuckin wanker!! and about my first post... Mr I.D gave his idea about it, and along that same perspective i added a bit more. how helpful could i have been if i took a completly differant perception on it, when all he would have done was(most likely) disagree with it, cause like we all know, it is just our own interpretations....its not like we come here and post something what YOU, or my next door neighbour thinks. must we need to state the obvious that its what "i" think?? and what is wrong about saying "tjhis is what its about" anyway?? obviously to him it is what it means, whose to say its wrong, whose to say its right? its just as politically incorerrect to say either one. so before you open ya mouth i think you should wash all the cum stanes off it!! go fuck yourself poon!!

Someone should finish third grade, and then post.

[axe4moe]

Someone should finish third grade, and then post.

If you knew anything about CULTURES you would understand that this man is an AUSSIE (much like myself). seing as you don't then i'll explain a couple of things to you:

*Our slang is alot different to yanks

*Most of us drop out before we get to the third grade (cause the dingos invade the classrooms)

*Most of us wirte more than one sentence like "Someone should blah blah blah" and actually have meaning instead of pure ridicule (but this aussies got both!)

*The third grade is overated, Australian slang is underated

There ya go, some culture studies for little miss Zole ;)

BeautyBonzaRipperSport!

anyway, heres the best description i have read about the stinkfist meaning, and i'ts from the FAQ (if none of you have read it please do, it answers most of the questions that most of you lameasses quarrel over):

On the one hand, it could be taken literally, to be about fisting (hence all the penetration). It could also be taken more as a song about penetrating on another level, about one letting another in.

Jody Westmoreland ([email protected]) offered his take on the song: "It is using a fist up the ass metaphor for the desensitizing of the public. Saying that when (in the 50's for example) there was nothing shocking, in order for the public to be shocked / stimulated, they had to see something new. It was uncomfortable at first but soon we grew used to it. The process continues so that now it takes the whole damn arm for us to feel / be stimulated by something. The speaker would have it 'no other way' ...stressing that we must be stimulated...never allowing the mind to rest."

So basically, this stimiulation can be put into example of any aspect of life.EG. The media

Conclusion: this IS what it means to me but your all fucking right anyway.
So when little Billy bob from "wherever the fuck" says i think it's about cats....THEN IT'S ABOUT FUCKING CATS OKAY?

[mr. id]

on a side not, with the fisting interpretation, in my opinion, i haven't found a phesable (sp?) explanation for the "show me that you love me and that we belong together" line along with the fisting interpretation.

think about it, little buddy. ever listened to four degrees? i see that as a guy trying to talk a girl into letting him into her ass. maynard himself has even mentioned that one before. because the trust required to do that, the trust exchange is so great that it can be a spiritual thing. she's telling him that this is a sensitive part of her body, and he should be careful with it.

ALSO I SAID THAT THIS SONG IS A LOVE SONG JUST NOT IN THE WAY THAT YOU WANT IT TO BE. THIS MAY BE HARD FOR YOU TO ACCEPT. SO WOULD A FEW OTHER THINGS I CAN THINK OF IMMEDIATELY, TIGHTWAD.

[skarab_x]

i think this song is about fisting someone in the ass. pretty simple. think about it...'relax, turn around and -take- my hand'...and the references to desensitization and no subtlety, think about how 'loose' sluts are. there you go. it's, in my opinon, maynard's way of writing a song about fisting someone in the butt with out being too obvious. it's still a great fucking song, and it has overtones of being a love song...in a weird way, it is. just not the way you wanted it to be.


i disagree. i believe, while on some degree, it does have to do with fisting, that it has to do with imense trust. think about it. keep in mind: i am only 13 and dont know alot about sex and sexual activities. but i'd imagine that having a fist shoved up my butt would be EXTREMELY painful. with that being said, i'd only imagine letting someone that you imensly trusted, inflict that kind of pain on you. i would never let any one do this to me, but i think that maynard is simply trying to point out that trust is sometimes necessary to be pleased (even if it is in an odd fashion) in life. i may be wrong... but i'll be willing to bet money this song is alot deeper than simply fisting, or being fisted. and you my friend... you obviously only look for the answers at the surface of the problem (or whatever it may be). and sorry to pull your halo down, but that kind of thinking wont get you through life very easily. nice try though.

[soul tapp]

I think this song, like many have said, is to tell you not to desensitize yourself. To let new things in your mind and then expand them. This hole cd has something to do with that. To change yourself. Become new. Reinvent yourself. I believe everyone in this room is correct in one way or another. You have to not let yourself want anything less. Always find something that you want to have more of. Dont let it fade and becaome nothing again.

[StinkfistJEff]

its a concept album, thus is has a meaning that fits with the whole. stinkfist is about introducing a problem (oversensitation) as in "how could this mean anything to me" and determining to find an answer "i'll keep digging". its the first step to solving any problem - recognizing it exists. think of the first stanza "something has to change, undeniable dillemma".

now take the meaning in the context of the last song, third eye. the final words on the album are "prying open my third eye".

stop overanalyzing each song and try to look at the big picture, that is where everything will make sense. this is what tool has been trying to get us to do, get a wider perspective.

First guy to make a valid point in this thread...good work.

[carlos_casteneda_72]

well outlaw, ur idea that everyones interpretation is right is great, cuz really it means everything that everyone has said, it just has a different significance and meaning to each person and how they perceive things and what they have been thruogh, i beleive that is how most tools songs are.i like ur idea on that

[dischordance]

I know I'm just repeating something stated over and over by dozens of people on this forum, but, I think Stinkfist is about desensitisation.
To what?
Anything. Read Luna Galapogos' interpretation.
Or, it could be about drugs.
Or, television. The media.
Anything.
As humans we're constantly seeking new experiences in a desperate bid to escape boredom. We crave stimulation, right now. Of course, the more familiar we are with something, the more mundane it becomes.
That's how it is, with sex, drugs, television, music, any form of stimulation.
Things are never as extreme as the first time.

You have to look at it in the context of Ænima, however. To me, Ænima is an album about cleansing. Not of society, neccessarily, but of the self. You get occasional social comments (commercialism in Hooker With A Penis, shallowness in Ænema), but overall, it's about an internal struggle.
It's about change, for the better, about pushing forwards and flushing away all the shit you've carelessly allowed yourself to pick up.
Ænima is, in my opinion, a fix to a problem.
And Stinkfist is an introduction - a song detailing the problem, while the rest of the album goes about fixing it.
It tells us to take a good fucking look at what we've become. Our childish desire for instant gratification has left us seeking out extremes. Most of us can't even tell the difference between pain and pleasure anymore. S&M is the problem. We've become sadomasochists because that's the only shit which gets us horny anymore.
Metaphorically speaking.
We still have a desire to feel alive, to know that we're still human and haven't actually turned into machines, which explains people who cut themselves.
On the more moderate side, look at rollercoasters, bungie jumpers, skydivers... Look where we have to turn to find some form of entertainment.
And look at TV, feeding us increasingly explicit doses of sex and violence.
We need more and more to fulfill our unquenchable thirst for something that makes us feel. And the more we we see, the more we get desensitised to, and the more we need to fuel our addiction.
Until we see the bodies of Saddam's two sons up front and personal and we don't feel a single fucking thing.
What became of subtletly?

The problem, then, is that for a variety of factors, we've become compassionless, emotionless, and lifeless, desensitised to everything and unable to feel and properly relate to each other. Watching TV uses less brainpower then sleeping. We spend our entire lives asleep, at our jobs, at our homes...
Something has to change.

Other than all that, I think it's important to note that Maynard doesn't judge. Much like Hooker WIth A Penis talks about commercialism without condemning it, Stinkfist takes an alternative perspective on desensitisation.
It may be a good thing. Perhaps our desire for more, bigger, faster, harder, will cause us to evolve, to find God, or whatever.
We're already mutating our thumbs because of remote controls and videogames.
Perhaps that's progress.
There's an interview with Maynard where he says just that - he says it's like that scene in Stargate where you go finger, knuckle, elbow, shoulder deep and suddenly you're immersed in this whole other world.
You can find it in the "articles" section of this site.

Finally. I would post a line-by-line interpretation, but, this post has already gone on far too long, and I'm pretty sure you guys get my picture.
As for the video - it's fucking genius. The best music video ever made. Again, I'd interpret it, but I'd just be insulting your intelligence - just take a look at it with the whole desensitisation, "love-affair-with-stimulation" idea in mind.

[Cylith]

keep skinin ya rubarb! i never said "this is what its about"!!! i merly gave my interpretation. would you like me to say every time i post something "warning this is only my interpretation" GO KILL YOURSELF!!! you fuckin wanker!! and about my first post... Mr I.D gave his idea about it, and along that same perspective i added a bit more. how helpful could i have been if i took a completly differant perception on it, when all he would have done was(most likely) disagree with it, cause like we all know, it is just our own interpretations....its not like we come here and post something what YOU, or my next door neighbour thinks. must we need to state the obvious that its what "i" think?? and what is wrong about saying "tjhis is what its about" anyway?? obviously to him it is what it means, whose to say its wrong, whose to say its right? its just as politically incorerrect to say either one. so before you open ya mouth i think you should wash all the cum stanes off it!! go fuck yourself poon!!

I have a question Nig: Who are you talking to with this post? I'm honestly not sure.

It seems to me like you are responding to The Outlaw...about something he said to you...the thing is, I don't think he was talking to you, I think he was talking to mr. id, or maybe to people in general.

For you to be this upset (you're swearing, insulting, etc.) is not very logical. Especially since the person you seem to be upset at doesn't even seem to be talking to you.

[Cylith]

I think the anal fisting part of the song is just an example for doing what we need to do to continue feeling satisfaction.

If the song was called anal fisting instead of stinkfist, that wouldn't be as interesting, and also wouldn't have been allowed on TV for most of the fans to find out about.

I would have to agree. I don't see how people can think this song is literally about fisting someone...I don't think it's even possible to fist someone THAT deep. (Well, maybe if you have really short arms or something, but what I'm saying is true for just about everyone.)

[Cylith]

Other than all that, I think it's important to note that Maynard doesn't judge. Much like Hooker WIth A Penis talks about...

Really? Maynard doesn't judge? Do you know him personally? You could say you know him by the songs he writes, but that is only a glimse of him...plus he could be deliberately lying. I don't think so but...all we know about him is what he's sold us.

It seems to me like he judges in the very song that you mentioned "Hooker With a Penis"...He calls the person he is talking to a boy. If this person has tattoos and piercings, then he is not a boy in a legal sense, but Maynard calls him this to belittle him. In order to do this, it means that Maynard has judged this person. (This does not mean that Maynard's judgement of the "boy" is inacurate, however.)

Oh and one last thing dischordance: I really like almost all of what you had to say. Nice job.

[Pyrophoric_yeti]

After reading all of that I dont realy have anything to add but im dead bored so ill just go for being nice to everyone and adding things to what others have already said (sorry).

Cylith is a handy handy guy, he seems to be in all of the posts and is possibly some kind of god or super bored being (dont shoot me if its good moderator writen somewhere on his profile or something) but please stop repeating yourself by saying all this stuff about peoples opinions being their own, yadeyadeya, if your going to post anywhere you should either already know this or just not care so much.

As for our novel writing friend dischordance i have to agree with Cylith, nice job.

[Cylith]

Cylith is a handy handy guy, he seems to be in all of the posts and is possibly some kind of god or super bored being (dont shoot me if its good moderator writen somewhere on his profile or something) but please stop repeating yourself by saying all this stuff about peoples opinions being their own, yadeyadeya, if your going to post anywhere you should either already know this or just not care so much.

Sorry if my posts seem repetitive, especially when talking about how this is a forum of opinion. The reason I do it is because I believe I'm correct, and that it's relevant. Many people seem to post things, and the way they articulate their thoughts makes it sound like they are talking about "facts." In fact, the name of someone's thread is "you are all wrong." I really don't like this kind of thing, so I feel I have to say something to them.

[Pyrophoric_yeti]

Yea i read "you are all wrong" it was pretty self confident and i agree with what you said there and i agree with what you have said everywhere, my point is that you say it everywhere. nevermind.

BTW how do you get what someone else has said to show up as a quote?

Cheers

[dischordance]

eally? Maynard doesn't judge? Do you know him personally? You could say you know him by the songs he writes, but that is only a glimse of him...plus he could be deliberately lying. I don't think so but...all we know about him is what he's sold us.

I think I should clarify, what I meant was, in the lyrics to this particular song, he perhaps isn't condemning the desensitisation, just acknowledging that it exists, and that perhaps it may be a good thing (think Videodrome). I wasn't referring to Maynard as a person, or as a whole, just on this song.

"It seems to me like he judges in the very song that you mentioned "Hooker With a Penis"...He calls the person he is talking to a boy."
I always saw the confrontation between Maynard and the fan as a metaphor for pimp-hooker relationship that is the wonderful thing we call Commercialism. The reason I cited that particular song was that Maynard doesn't outright say that commercialism is a bad thing - quite the opposite, the Maynard in the song seems quite proud of himself for selling his soul to make a record, because "all you read or wear or see and hear on TV is a product..."

I don't think Tool are saying, "This is bad", in either of these songs, just that it's how things are.
I could be wrong. Both songs still seem subversive in that vague Radiohead sense, and I'm basing this upon one interview, and we all know how truthful, honest, and straightforward Tool are when giving interviews.