some word in the lyrics

[Zeral]

Hi all,

I found the lyrics of the song on your site, and in it is the following line:
"My blood is bruised and borrowed"

But Maynard isn;t singing this, the word blood is incorrect, he says something else, anybody has any idea?

thnx for any response
Zeral

[rickiep00h]

well... the lyrics on this site came from maynard himself, so... I'd watch who you point your finger at.

Other than that, the only thing I could imagine that word is would be "body"

[sadi]

It sounds to me like he's saying "My friend, bruised and borrowed", though I'm not sure that makes sense...

[spedracer1]

It sounds to me like FRUIT. my fruit is bruised and borrowed. it almost makes sense.

[fibonacci]

Originally posted by spedracer1
It sounds to me like FRUIT. my fruit is bruised and borrowed. it almost makes sense.

thats exactly what i originally thought

[Andorion]

I'm pretty sure spedracer1 and fib are right ... I hear 'fruit' too and it definitely makes sense (not just almost!)

~Berj

[LateralUndertow]

I also agree with you guys that it says "fruit". Thats what I've heard since I got the CD and I was deeply confused when I saw the lyrics said otherwise. I don't see Maynard making a typo so maybe he's trying to get some unknown point across with writing blood instead of fruit in the lyrics, or maybe there is two versions (with only one word changed!!??). Has anyone heard him say blood live instead of fruit?

[Christopher]

blood sure makes alot more sence...

[mdc244]

You can put my vote on the "blood" side.

[fibonacci]

well it IS blood, just sounds like fruit a bit...

[Chris_Brightwell]

[...] I don't see Maynard making a typo so maybe he's trying to get some unknown point across with writing blood instead of fruit in the lyrics, or maybe there is two versions (with only one word changed!!??). Has anyone heard him say blood live instead of fruit?

Something to consider, from the t.d.n lyrics front page:

Some Tool songs undergo slight lyrical variations in each performance; Maynard's own typed versions are shown here, uncorrected, to provide you with a straight-from-the-source guide to what he has said / might say next time.

My $0.02.

[rewnfloot]

I think maybe he didn't say anything in particular, and they just left it that way because it sounds fine. As for fruit or blood- it sounds like neither. It sounds like friend. When I sing along I either say, "My friend, (I'm)" or "My veins are" because those make sense. Fruit makes no sense to me, and neither does blood, because I've never heard of blood bruising.

[Christopher]

Originally posted by fibonacci
well it IS blood, just sounds like fruit a bit...

you try and say blood like fruit

[BrokenHalo]

you wouldn't know about it being played live because he can't sing it live, he threw his voice out doing it for the album, so he vowed not to do it live.....only did it once live, no more

[N_I3]

Straight from the bottom of the Lyrics page
Transcription credits
01 - 12
Were posted to the Official Tool Site,
and updated by a whole bunch of toolshed.down.net visitors.
(Original posted lyrics corresponded to pre-release drafts of lyrics.)

Is it a crime for something to be incorrect. The lyrics were updated by US. We know that they differ from the orginal version.

I personally think that it sounds like he is saying "friend" my Friend Bruised and borrowed.
That makes much more sense than fruit to me.

[ThePerfectDrug]

maynard has sung ticks many times recently and it doesnt matter what it is or isnt, all that matters is what it means to you, actual lyrics are irrelevent.

[gun shy]

i registered just to put in my 2 cents

i know it isn't blood and doesn't sound like fruit

it could be friend but what makes sense to me and what i hear is "frame"

my frame is bruised and borrowed, you thieving bastard.........

let me know if you agree

[Cracker]

In the live bootleg I have, it sounds alot like fruit, more so than any of the other suggestions (though it could be friend). And "friend" fans - do you think its "my friend bruised and borrowed" or "my friend is bruised and borrowed", because in this recording its quite clear that he says "is"

[CrazyJoeDevola]

He says "fruit" everytime I've heard the song on record or live.

I registered just to say that.


But I'll probably frequent this place.


And yes, I am the authority on Maynards spoken lyrics.

Booya!

[N_I3]

Yes, I meant to say my friend, not friend is, but now that you said it it may be frame. Who knows, what it really is, though I think we agree that it begins with [fr]. As far as 'is' goes, I don't hear is, all i hear is a pause. so there. let us be so compeled to end this arguement, because I really don't think that it makes that much of a difference. Blood was in the rough draft of the lyrics, so blood is the orginal idea. It may have been changed because Maynard didn't like the consance of blood bruised borrowed. We don't know. It is all speculation, so go ahead and believe what you wish.

[BentEnvelope]

I just listened to it about 10 times over, I'm hearing "My friend, bruised and borrowed." I think if you set your mind to it it could sound like anything beginning with fr...

[Billy GreenJean]

This song seems to be about the fans and playing for them.

I think he's singing "my fret hand bruised and bothered"...

[mdc244]

, it does sound like he says "my friend , bruised and borrowed"

It could be frethand , but I don't think he's saying fruit - not that it really matters anyway.

[Zeral]

Don't think its blood, and let me tell you why i think so:
the next line he is singing bout whats it like to his blood.

Seen the poetic quality of the tool-lyrics, i think Maynard made a typo out of association: since blood is the next line he by accident typed blood in this line also

Fruit sounds damn good to me, but what to think about my flesh?

Zeral

[sundryan]

My fruit is bruised and borrowed - 7 syllables
My friend bruised and borrowed - 6 syllables

Forget what you think he's saying, just count the amount of syllables you hear and you'll realize it can't be "friend." He says "Fruit is" very quickly, but I still don't understand how you could mistake that for "friend."

Just look at how it would fit in with the context of the song. The "Ticks and Leeches" are attached to HIM. Having his "friend" be "bruised and borrowed" just doesn't seem to fit. However, "fruit" could be the "fruits of his labor" being "bruised and borrowed," possibly referring to the way his lyrics are mangled and distorted, therefore making him angry.

[Cracker]

haha, if you are right sundryan, its pretty ironic...

I hear this rhythm:

----x---x-x---x---x---x-x--


and to me, it definately sounds like a constanant made by the tongue (eg n, d, t) at the end of the word in question.

I'm going off a live bootleg. The album version may be different (I'll check later).

[noisetherapy]

all i have to say is that christopher made a really, really.................... REALLY good point... make 'blood' sound like 'fruit'

IMO, Maynard is the type of person that will try to get a lyrical meaning across some how, in many different ways... a simple answer would be, he decided to mix everyone up on purpose... to make a point.

[6bit]

I always thought the lyric was:

"My veins, bruised and borrowed...."

It fell into the theme of his blood being sucked, etc. just a though.

[Spiritual3rdEye]

I am almost certain that Maynard is singing "My blood is bruised and borrowed", because if you take that line of music into the context of the song, it all makes sense. The song is about a parasite that won't stop latching onto certain things, and sucking them dry. Well, parasites suck blood dry, so Maynard is talking about his blood being bruised from the constant sucking and resucking again and again. His blood is also borrowed, because the parasite borrows the blood for itself.

Take my thought into consideration.
**Pry open that 3rd eye and witness the world with a new vision**

[bottom_feeder99]

Okay here are my feelings on the subject.

Ticks and Leeches...What are they?
They're a nuissance and general pain in the ass right. Well it sure does sound like Friend but I don't think it is. I think when he recorded it he said fruit... insects eat fruit he may be compairing whoever/whatever this song is about to the insects that the metaphores are reffering to.

in the end I play music so I'm going with fret hand.

[volcano lance]

Originally posted by Billy GreenJean
This song seems to be about the fans and playing for them.

I think he's singing "my fret hand bruised and bothered"...
LOL, i just think thats fucking hilarious.


vl

[iS!]

I'm sorry, but I think "bruised and borrowed" doesn't make sense. I sing "bruised and burrowed." I have actually had ticks that burrowed in my flesh about seven years ago (I had been wading in stagnant ocean water on a camping trip and picked them up from there), and I think it is much more sensible for blood, flesh, veins, or fruit to be burrowed than borrowed.

[George Bush Sr.]

i READ SOMEWHERE THAT THE SONG IS ABOUT US BUT NOT A SERIOUS ANGER TOWARDS US. HIS BLOOD OR FRUIT MAY BE AND IS HIS MUSIC WHICH WE BORROW TO PEOPLE. USUALLY CD'S GET FUCKED UP OR BRUISED. BUT I'M JUST AN EX-PRESIDENT WHAT DO I KNOW

[Asdf]

I think fruit fits... the song is about being wronged greatly. A fruit is usually thought of as something sweet and generally desired, to some extent. If this song is interpeted as about a relationship, then fruit just symbolizes the emotion he put into that relationship, thats been marred, bruised and bloodied, by whoever.

Friend would be a very literal way of talking about someone else's pain.... and we all know Tool doesn't like being very literal about anything.

[Heartthew]

Originally posted by sundryan
My fruit is bruised and borrowed - 7 syllables
My friend bruised and borrowed - 6 syllables

Forget what you think he's saying, just count the amount of syllables you hear and you'll realize it can't be "friend." He says "Fruit is" very quickly, but I still don't understand how you could mistake that for "friend."

Just look at how it would fit in with the context of the song. The "Ticks and Leeches" are attached to HIM. Having his "friend" be "bruised and borrowed" just doesn't seem to fit. However, "fruit" could be the "fruits of his labor" being "bruised and borrowed," possibly referring to the way his lyrics are mangled and distorted, therefore making him angry.

Man, no one saw this: Burrowed. My fruit is bruised and burrowed. I thought it was skin, but I guess it may be fruit. Either way, it's burrowed. Makes much more sense in both counts. :)

[Cronos]

Well it definately is borrowed, NOT burrowed.

If you think about it, borrowed maked more sense rather than burrowed. The fruit/blood/brood/frood/friend/fret hand is BRUISED because of the insect sucking him dry, and BORROWED, because of the insect sucking him dry. The insect borrows blood from you for it's own needs.

Now don't take borrowed as in the literal sense, taking, then returning. I know you've all asked to borrow 5 bucks, or borrow something, but didn't really intend on giving back, you just said it.

Now he could be saying anything, but it doesn't sound like blood. Originally I had thought he doesn't sing this live, because he did throw his voice out, now I'm hearing he has once, and recently on other occassions. Does he compensate for the first time, and sing the lyrics to the song a little differently than it sounds in the cd version?

But since I thought he didn't say blood, I assumed that he just improvised when singing it in the studio...and no changes were made to the lyrics. But, then I realized he threw his voice out, and I thought he just ran over a word. You know how you're singing or trying to talk, and you just garble up a word. It happens. He probably didn't even bother re recording it. They did one recording, and it stayed. So, I just thought maybe it isn't even a word at all. Maybe it's a little error, no one can sing their lyrics perfect on the first try, like no actor can remember all his lines first try. He had one shot, was pleased enough with the result, and couldn't do it again on account of his voice, but if it really doesn't even sound like blood on live versions, it probably is fruit and that's what I'm going with.

Fruit being the object that the insect desires from you. It's food. It's nectar, it's driving force to take from you. It doesn't necessarily have to be an apple in this case.

[Misanthrope]

I always thought he said 'Veins'

But its definately 'Borrowed' not 'Burrowed', in my mind.

[xSaveXmondaYx]

if you say"my blood is" fast it could sound like fruit, friend, or viens

[soul_excursion]

how about my face is bruised and borrowed
or my friends are brutes and hollow

[Pro_Art]

Originally posted by sundryan
Just look at how it would fit in with the context of the song. The "Ticks and Leeches" are attached to HIM. Having his "friend" be "bruised and borrowed" just doesn't seem to fit. However, "fruit" could be the "fruits of his labor" being "bruised and borrowed," possibly referring to the way his lyrics are mangled and distorted, therefore making him angry.

I'm not gonna rule out any of the theories given so far, but I do think this one fits the best, and for the very reason stated.

Tool however, has a tendency to play with our heads. Don't stick 100% to one theory, and don't try to count syllables because there's always the possibility of a miscount.

My two cents. Anyone care to give a subtotal?


Pro Art (Protocol Artisan)

[The Huntsman]

How about this:

"My friends bruise and borrow"
"My friends [a]buse and borrow, you thieving bastards, you have..."

Veins is an option.

Fruit is a fantasy, which I must discard as so much ordure.

The Huntsman

[Fruitbar11]

MJK from what I have heard has a good ability of making words sound like another word. Maybe this could be very much intentional. If you thought in this way the phrase could have a double meaning entirely, the words as written are listed, but what about the words as heard? just something to think about

[Rooney eats it]

let me ask you this... in the song Aenema, when maynard says "I'm praying for rain" does he not pronounce it "i'm prayin for ray-in"? but it's still rain, so he could be saying "fray-end" as friend not "frame is" cuz i know end CAN sound like end when you're singing

[corps d'allumen]

blood is life. ticks and leeches suck the life out of their host to sustain their own.

in the garden of eden, god said "do whatever you want, just don't eat the fruit."
the fruit represents knowledge in the metaphoric sense, and of what i won't comment. (this is not an ecumenical approach, but a secular interpretation of a parable.) eating the fruit is(was) like leaving the garden of ignorance to go to the swamp(song), and it's damn hard to grow anything in the swamp. since it's apparent that it's difficult to grow our own tree here(just read through some of these posts), even though a little more effort can yield grand results, what gives us the right to devour all of someone else's fruit? their grow-light works just as well on our own seeds. isn't that the point of all of this? you were warned, and now the host is getting fed up and tired. (well, the host isn't getting fed at all.) what will happen when the host is dry? who will we feed off next?
grow your own fruit.

#5 jerk-off
#6 swamp song
#7 hooker with a penis
#8 ticks & leeches
#9 ...
#10 ...

they are in this order for a reason; it is all one big story. and that story is coming to an end...