Opiate

[UncnciousShadow]

I am only 14 years of age and am just starting to listen to Tool, so please realize that I am most likely missing completely.... but these are my thoughts and I do not mind if you find them wrong. I thought that Opiate would be an easy song to start with.

I believe that this song focuses mostly on the idea that most people are just followers, people that cannot make their own decisions and are looking for someone to lead them. These people usually end up turning to the church, or Jesus. Opiate kind of pokes fun at Jesus and the idea of religion. It shows that church is not so innocent and too many people turn to religion for guidance in their lives.

I think that the whole song is a satirical look at religion and the church.....

“Choices always were a problem for you.
What you need is someone strong to guide you.
Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow,
what you need is someone strong to use you.”

He is trying to convince them to follow him and depend on him.

“If you want to get your soul to heaven,
trust in me.
Don't judge or question.
You are broken now,
but faith can heal you.
Just do everything I tell you to do.
Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow.
Let me lay my holy hand upon you.”

He is coaxing the people, telling them that trusting him is the only thing that will get you into heaven. He is trying to make his followers believe that he will make everything right again.

“My God's will
becomes me.
When he speaks out,
he speaks through me.
He has needs
like I do.
We both want
to rape you.”

This shows that Jesus and his God are not innocent, but taking advantage of their followers. This I think is satirical of the church and religion, showing that everybody is depending on religion, yet religion will betray them.

“Jesus Christ, why don't you come save my life.
Open my eyes and blind me with your light
and your lies.”

I believe that this is Maynard’s thoughts now, asking very sarcastically for Jesus’ help. He is showing that Jesus is realized as this great thing...completely innocent and good, yet it is all one big lie.

Overall I think Opiate is just a song exposing the faults of religion and how so many people rely on the church for direction and leadership in their lives.

[brian c]

No doubt man, thats exactly what i got out of it. Although I don't think it trashes religion or religious people. I think that the main message is based off of one of Tool's favorite quotes and that is "Think for yourself, question authority"

I think that Opiate has a lot to do with the fact that most people cannot think for themselves, and end up turning towards religion as a way to escape their problems.

Opiate in my opinion also isn't about how anyone religious is an idiot, but instead that when they turn towards religion, they shouldn't expect a response (Jesus christ, why don't you come save my life now, open my eyes blind me with your light now).

Good post man, you made some good points

[Geoff L.]

its not really about how we turn too jesus crist its just a satire on the catholic and related religions saying how they follow without question and how jesus christ doesnt do anything and just "blinds them with his light" by saying through the biblehow good he is

[Alexinnis]

Opiate is about thinking for yourself. People claim to bring you salvation through what they teach you, but through your own growth and personal experiance you gain a broader understanding and a more possible chance to reach divinity. Making your own decisions is one of the first stages in self awareness. The song is showing how preachers try to belittle everyone, making them seem helpless and seemingly unprepared to be accepted into heaven, they draw people in because of their own mistakes in life. Without offering a true solution to their problems they claim that if they follow their religion, all their mistakes will be worked out and their sins forgiven. But religion has faults like everyone. They want to make money off of others misfortunes. I think when Maynard is referrng to god he is saying that religion has faults... god being religion... and raping being the faults.

Peace

-Alex

[onebyone]

dude im a long time tool folower. i would call myself very very much intune with all maynards messages. but in a since you cant be intune because they all mean somthing to someone. you have a good point but your wrong.

like said erlier think for yourself, question athority. but maynard would never poke fun at god. or your belief cause thats for you to figure out. i like your thoughts but you have a lot to learn

[TakenUndertow]

I am 14 years old too ,and view the song the sam way you do. i really like your view on this song and i think you really thought it out. I love the song and the message but it gets 2 me because i ama protestant and i am really into my religion.

Keep up the good work

Luhv
Heather

[onebyone]

Like i said. tool speaks to us all differntly. but he wouldnt tell us to not believe in god. he just says think for yourself

[Red Yehti]

Maynard has the most outrageous lyrics of any singer in history, and Opiate is right up there with the best of them. Imagine..the guy is slamming Jesus! Calling him a rapist! WOW!! Amazing! That takes some real guts to say.
Many people make excuses for Maynard by explaining some alternate meaning for the song. Because, WHO IN THE WORLD COULD BE SO CRAZY AS TO PUBLICLY ACCUSE JESUS OR HIS FOLLOWERS AS BEING RAPISTS?! Same thing with H and STINKFIST. The lyrics in both of those songs are totally outrageous. I keep reading post after post explaining how "H" isnt about heroin and "STINKFIST" isnt about anal fisting. HELL YEA IT IS!!! BOTH OF THEM!! When are people going to realize that Maynard might be genuinley disturbed, or maybe under the influence.
Opiate is a great song, and I dont hate what Maynard says because everyone has the right to say what they beleive. I was raised Catholic and i love Jesus with all my heart. Opiate does make me think about the abuses of the Catholic church throughout history. I appreciate Maynards effort to get people who listen to his music to make their own decisions about religion.
That being said, I also consider Maynard to be extremely mentally ill, and has suffered psychologically from the effects of hard core drug abuse for many years. I like his artistic talent, but he is a sick sick man.

Getting back to Opiate the song. In my opinion, the band loves this song. They named the album after it, and they play it on almost every tour. When i heard them play it live the last time (Gorge,WA) Adam had added a gitaur part in the middle that was so good it was spooky! Im talking about SCARY sounds coming from his amps. Sounded like pure evil.I had unbeleivable chills running up and down my spine when those sounds were coming into my ears. Great entertainment!! Thank You TOOL.

[bassplayerphillip]

Maynard has the most outrageous lyrics of any singer in history, and Opiate is right up there with the best of them. Imagine..the guy is slamming Jesus! Calling him a rapist! WOW!! Amazing! That takes some real guts to say.
Many people make excuses for Maynard by explaining some alternate meaning for the song. Because, WHO IN THE WORLD COULD BE SO CRAZY AS TO PUBLICLY ACCUSE JESUS OR HIS FOLLOWERS AS BEING RAPISTS?! Same thing with H and STINKFIST. The lyrics in both of those songs are totally outrageous. I keep reading post after post explaining how "H" isnt about heroin and "STINKFIST" isnt about anal fisting. HELL YEA IT IS!!! BOTH OF THEM!! When are people going to realize that Maynard might be genuinley disturbed, or maybe under the influence.
Opiate is a great song, and I dont hate what Maynard says because everyone has the right to say what they beleive. I was raised Catholic and i love Jesus with all my heart. Opiate does make me think about the abuses of the Catholic church throughout history. I appreciate Maynards effort to get people who listen to his music to make their own decisions about religion.
That being said, I also consider Maynard to be extremely mentally ill, and has suffered psychologically from the effects of hard core drug abuse for many years. I like his artistic talent, but he is a sick sick man.

I try to be open minded here, but this is just dumb. Maynard isn't some kind of saviour, not at all, but he's not some mentally ill, "genuinely disturbed" individual. He's just saying what he thinks need to be said, and I'm all for that. Just because Stinkfist talks about that imagery doesn't mean that it's ABOUT anal fisting. Maynard uses that as symbolism to show the real meaning of the song (which I'll reserve for another forum.

[imatoolhed]

phillip is pretty much balls on right. as for your 'real' meaning. lol, whatever.

and Yehti, you must be fucking high. stfu.

[The Face]

Maynard has the most outrageous lyrics of any singer in history, and Opiate is right up there with the best of them. Imagine..the guy is slamming Jesus! Calling him a rapist! WOW!! Amazing! That takes some real guts to say.
Many people make excuses for Maynard by explaining some alternate meaning for the song. Because, WHO IN THE WORLD COULD BE SO CRAZY AS TO PUBLICLY ACCUSE JESUS OR HIS FOLLOWERS AS BEING RAPISTS?! Same thing with H and STINKFIST. The lyrics in both of those songs are totally outrageous. I keep reading post after post explaining how "H" isnt about heroin and "STINKFIST" isnt about anal fisting. HELL YEA IT IS!!! BOTH OF THEM!! When are people going to realize that Maynard might be genuinley disturbed, or maybe under the influence.
Opiate is a great song, and I dont hate what Maynard says because everyone has the right to say what they beleive. I was raised Catholic and i love Jesus with all my heart. Opiate does make me think about the abuses of the Catholic church throughout history. I appreciate Maynards effort to get people who listen to his music to make their own decisions about religion.
That being said, I also consider Maynard to be extremely mentally ill, and has suffered psychologically from the effects of hard core drug abuse for many years. I like his artistic talent, but he is a sick sick man.

Getting back to Opiate the song. In my opinion, the band loves this song. They named the album after it, and they play it on almost every tour. When i heard them play it live the last time (Gorge,WA) Adam had added a gitaur part in the middle that was so good it was spooky! Im talking about SCARY sounds coming from his amps. Sounded like pure evil.I had unbeleivable chills running up and down my spine when those sounds were coming into my ears. Great entertainment!! Thank You TOOL.

I hope you choke.

[Ghostwriter]

Nice interpretation. Many of Karl Marx's beliefs about Socialism were based around his statement: "religion is an opiate of the masses".

[aenima19]

dude im a long time tool folower. i would call myself very very much intune with all maynards messages. but in a since you cant be intune because they all mean somthing to someone. you have a good point but your wrong.

like said erlier think for yourself, question athority. but maynard would never poke fun at god. or your belief cause thats for you to figure out. i like your thoughts but you have a lot to learn

i agree maynard is a very spiritual man as far as i can see... this song is saying that u should think for urself... dont follow every1 elses thots... religion is a symbol i believe it could be replaced with other subjects as well... but in the sense of religion maynard is saying its stupid and pointless to think that u were born a follower... deaf and blinded dumb and born to follow"... and on the sense of questioning authority ur correct as well... "dont u judge or question"....thats wat most religions (govts ect) want u not to do...question them... they want u to just trust and obey so they can control u

[R.F.]

Maynard has the most outrageous lyrics of any singer in history, and Opiate is right up there with the best of them. Imagine..the guy is slamming Jesus! Calling him a rapist! WOW!! Amazing! That takes some real guts to say.
Many people make excuses for Maynard by explaining some alternate meaning for the song. Because, WHO IN THE WORLD COULD BE SO CRAZY AS TO PUBLICLY ACCUSE JESUS OR HIS FOLLOWERS AS BEING RAPISTS?! Same thing with H and STINKFIST. The lyrics in both of those songs are totally outrageous. I keep reading post after post explaining how "H" isnt about heroin and "STINKFIST" isnt about anal fisting. HELL YEA IT IS!!! BOTH OF THEM!! When are people going to realize that Maynard might be genuinley disturbed, or maybe under the influence.
Opiate is a great song, and I dont hate what Maynard says because everyone has the right to say what they beleive. I was raised Catholic and i love Jesus with all my heart. Opiate does make me think about the abuses of the Catholic church throughout history. I appreciate Maynards effort to get people who listen to his music to make their own decisions about religion.
That being said, I also consider Maynard to be extremely mentally ill, and has suffered psychologically from the effects of hard core drug abuse for many years. I like his artistic talent, but he is a sick sick man.

Getting back to Opiate the song. In my opinion, the band loves this song. They named the album after it, and they play it on almost every tour. When i heard them play it live the last time (Gorge,WA) Adam had added a gitaur part in the middle that was so good it was spooky! Im talking about SCARY sounds coming from his amps. Sounded like pure evil.I had unbeleivable chills running up and down my spine when those sounds were coming into my ears. Great entertainment!! Thank You TOOL.

It's posters like you that make me want to pull out my .38 special and blow a bullet through the back of your scrawny little skull, containing what may be a brain.

You just don't get it, do you?

Jerk-off...


-R.F.

[R.F.]

Your joking right ??? I mean seriously ??? You have to be joking....you cannot possibly be serious...is this the twilight zone ??...did i really just read this ???

Don't read too far into his post[s]. He's high and/or drunk... Who's to say he's wrong in his own mind? We know he's wrong in the Toolnavy community, but let him believe what he wants to believe.

[BonJenko]

It's posters like you that make me want to pull out my .38 special and blow a bullet through the back of your scrawny little skull, containing what may be a brain.

You just don't get it, do you?

Jerk-off...


-R.F.

Don't get mad at the guy for having a thought. Tell him why hes wrong and move on. Don't sit there and try to grow your e-peen by taunting him either.

[R.F.]

Don't get mad at the guy for stating his opinion. Fuck off and move on. Don't sit there and try to grow your e-peen by telling others what to do either.

You obviously missed my last post. I took some of what I said back, and I still do, but his theory is way out of this world.

Just my 2 cents...

[R.F.]

No, see, you obviously missed the part where I wasn't quoting you, and basically not even fucking talking to you.

Moron.

Hahaha. I love pissing people off. Don't take it so seriously, man.

[R.F.]

Wow, if you think you actually pissed me off, you need to learn a little more about how things operate here. I was just cutting you down for being a dumbfuck because A) You're a dumbfuck and B) I enjoy it.

See, you got it all wrong. 1) I'm not the dumbfuck. The original poster of this thread is the real dumbfuck. 2) I actually don't spend my whole life on this forum, like a lot of people (That includes you). 3) Don't express yourself like person who is pissed off, because people cannot tell if you are pissed or not in real life, only in what you type on the forum.

Just a thought.

I still think the original poster is a lunatic...btw.

-R.F.

[gjamison27]

Tool says we're all dumbfucks.

You silly monkeys shouldn't have thumbs.

[R.F.]

Agreed.

Better check your facts again there, buddy. I spend around an hour at a time here, once or twice per day. And most of the other people you've got in mind probably don't spend much more time than I.


It's pretty clear if you read my post that I'm not pissed, I'm making fun of you. If you can't read into it and get that deduction, then maybe you need a basic crash course in human emotional interaction, by going outside once in a while and talking to real people.

Alright. Just drop it. I have so much I want to say but I'm not going to waste any more time on this thread trying to argue with you. I attend a public university in Pennsylvania, and I'm very social, just FYI...

[gjamison27]

Or fingers for that matter.

[Caduceus11]

everywhere on this board....