After much thinking, I think I know...

[LabRat404]

I've been listening to this album for years, and have heard many interpretations. I hate to say "this song is about ..." because its a bit arrogant, but I'm almost certain...

Someone here once said its about maynard and his kids (how many does he have?) and I think that is right on the money. however, I don't think they ellaborated as much as I'm about to:



A groan of tedium escapes me, -- obviosuly, he's drustrated (with his kid)
Startling the fearful. -- his groan scares the kid. you know what it feels like when you're in trouble with your parents as a child!
Is this a test? It has to be, -- parenting
Otherwise I can't go on. -- all parents sometimes wanna just throw in the towel (and some do)
Draining patience, drain vitality.
This paranoid, paralyzed vampire act's a little old. -- his vamipre, his child

But I'm still right here
Giving blood, keeping faith -- giving his blood to his child, his vampire (metaphoricly, of course)
And I'm still right here.

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

If there were no rewards to reap, -- there are rewards -- the kid will grow up someday
No loving embrace to see me through -- his wife, to help him with his parenting
This tedious path I've chosen here, -- he chose his path. he chose to be a parent.
I certainly would've walked away by now.
Gonna wait it out.

If there were no desire to heal
The damaged and broken met along -- perhaps he thinks he's helping others with this song
This tedious path I've chosen here
I certainly would've walked away by now.

And I still may ... (sigh) ... I still may.

Be patient.
I must keep reminding myself of this.

And 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.
And I still may.

Gonna wait it out.

[Arkham Asylum]

I like your interpretation. I personally still believe the song can be about any struggle or arduous matter (people have mentioned suicide, etc.), but I like this parenting analogy. The only thing that keeps me from going with your interpretation 100% is how you said it's about Maynard and his kids. I tend to avoid attributing the lyrics to anyone specific, so maybe if you said this was about parenting in general...

Sorry, I'm being picky. I'm glad you gave me some food for though, LabRat404.

[LabRat404]

Every song is about something specific. It doesn't matter what the song is truely specificalyl about, only how you interpret it and apply it to yourself in a positive way. If I were a parent, I'd surely appreciate teh song for this meaning. However, I tend to think of the struggles of life in general when I listen to the song -- as many do.

[benjamin]

What an ambivalent "parenting" song imo. The Patient is pretty slow and arduous, a little dark and not exactly an upliftingly optimistic song.("..paranoid ...vampire acts a little...") Lateralus, Parabola, even Schism do more for me as far as "parental enlightenment" ...
For the record, I've never wanted to just throw in any towel (""all parents sometimes..."") there absolutely is not even a towel, not even a single thread of cloth to throw anywhere, ...nothing.

Parent of 3; 6yr, 3yr, and 5 months of age, peace.

[LabRat404]

What an ambivalent "parenting" song imo. The Patient is pretty slow and arduous, a little dark and not exactly an upliftingly optimistic song.("..paranoid ...vampire acts a little...") Lateralus, Parabola, even Schism do more for me as far as "parental enlightenment" ...
For the record, I've never wanted to just throw in any towel (""all parents sometimes..."") there absolutely is not even a towel, not even a single thread of cloth to throw anywhere, ...nothing.

Parent of 3; 6yr, 3yr, and 5 months of age, peace.

I did hesitate to say that, really.

[Gently]

i wish maynard was my dad

[benjamin]

I did hesitate to say that, really.


I figured as much ; )

I've listened to The Patient a few times since posting here ... I do appreciate your view that it gives you a positive message bout parenting ...it is aftter all one huge part of "the purpose of life". imo, Parenting that is.

You wanna know the best thing about raising littlins ...they take all the fear out of death!
...I told my dad this a few years back, and he gave a hoot. And you may feel, as I did, that "I don't really 'fear' death anyway..." but I mean seriously, a whole new level of embracing the natural process of life.

I realize now though, that my sentiment is a little bit like what you're saying..."the groan of tedium" that is.

Peace.

[benjamin]

i wish maynard was my dad


"Daddy, sing me a lulliby."

"Don't fret precious I'm here..."


...I wonder how many times Devo has puked on him? lol

[O.G.T.92]

i wish maynard was my dad

Fuck that, he'd always be gone, or working on albums or growing wine. I doubt he would have the time to be around a lot. He really stretches himself out a lot. I wish maynard was my uncle!

[Clutch_The_Cornerstone]

I like your interpretation. I personally still believe the song can be about any struggle or arduous matter (people have mentioned suicide, etc.), but I like this parenting analogy. The only thing that keeps me from going with your interpretation 100% is how you said it's about Maynard and his kids. I tend to avoid attributing the lyrics to anyone specific, so maybe if you said this was about parenting in general...

Sorry, I'm being picky. I'm glad you gave me some food for though, LabRat404.

It is a song about giving you light to help you (TOOL) get through the hard times in your life. Times when you are down on yourself with certain topics. I play this song and everything seems to go away and it sometimes make me emtional and some tears drip ya know? I am only human and it happens. Truly awesome song.

[Clutch_The_Cornerstone]

Fuck that, he'd always be gone, or working on albums or growing wine. I doubt he would have the time to be around a lot. He really stretches himself out a lot. I wish maynard was my uncle!

lol doesnt everyone wish that maynard was their uncle. That would be awesome. I would love to interview him on day but that will never happen but it is kool to think about. I wonder what I would ask him? So many damn questions!

[LabRat404]

I don't see any benefit of having maynard in my family, other than perhaps the possibility of free concert tickets and more insight into the meaning of songs...

but even having more insight takes away the fun in applying each song to your own circumstances.

[Jimmeny]

You don't have kids, do you? I don't think any self respecting parent (and considering the lengths Maynard goes to keep his privacy, I think it's fair to say he respects himself alot) would ever compare their children to vampires, especially in the public domain.

[LabRat404]

You don't have kids, do you? I don't think any self respecting parent (and considering the lengths Maynard goes to keep his privacy, I think it's fair to say he respects himself alot) would ever compare their children to vampires, especially in the public domain.

children are vampires. they're godless little heathans that whine and bitch and take whatever they can get with absolutely no appreciation or gratitude -- they just want more, just as a vampire sucks blood to greedily prolong eternal life.

this is the hard part -- teaching them to be civil and polite, and appreciate what is given to them. this would be tedious for any loving parent.

apparantly you underestimate how savage children are until you teach them to be civil. just look at half the adult populous of america that STILL haven't been tought to be civil.

don't be so ignorant as to not see past the cuteness of children to see them for what they really are, and what they need to be taught. and tedious it is.

[Jimmeny]

God save us!

[amenorakumo]

civil? lol children are the purest thing earth has made

[LabRat404]

Children are ignorant, not innocent. The only thing they're pure of is intelligence. They must be trained like animals before they're able to act like civil human beings. If you don't believe this than you're product of your own stupidity.

I'll bring examples.

Watch the behaviour of these children:
1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yXSLvpb3Oh0

2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=t4HorgEMV6o

as you can see, they are barbaric. Children don't learn this kind of stuff from adults, it is inate. You think the children saw their parents (or any adults) acting like this? I seriously doubt it. There is no intelligent excuse to not train your children.

sure, both links are from the same shitty TV Show, but it proves the point regardless. in both cases are children which have not been properly disciplined.

[Jimmeny]

You're right, after watching two youtube videos, I think it's fair to write off all children as ignorant, vile, animalistic barbarians. This sounds almost exactly like what The Patient is talking about.

[Rod]

You're right, after watching two youtube videos, I think it's fair to write off all children as ignorant, vile, animalistic barbarians. This sounds almost exactly like what The Patient is talking about.

My wife loses her shit all the time, the boy is constantly testing limits, it is tedious.

I fall into the power struggle category. Kids can be a bitch to raise. They all have their own personalities .... they're like little people

I think the "loving embrace to see me through" line is not directed at Maynards wife but coming from the actual kid giving him a hug.... that shit feels good ... pure, unconditional love. ... that's one of the rewards.

We'll never really know though will we?

[LabRat404]

You're right, after watching two youtube videos, I think it's fair to write off all children as ignorant, vile, animalistic barbarians. This sounds almost exactly like what The Patient is talking about.

Its not because of the videos that I think children are satanic little cretins, the videos came far after my belief. The videos have only been shared with you to back up my position.

In my experiences, I've come across many children that are both "satanic little cretins" and "civil little people". In every single case where they are "satanic little cretins" they are raised by people who I firmly believe should not be parents. The ones who show respect and are respectable are raised with discipline and consistently expressed expectations.

Give me examples of children which are civil who have not been raised with discipline and constantly expressed expectations. As it stands, I've given you examples, and you've given me no evidence to believe that children have any sort of "innate manners" whatsoever.

[Jimmeny]

No need for quote marks, since you're not actually quoting me. My original point is that Maynard, and people like Maynard, aren't likely to publicly refer to their children as Vampires. Of course, people that arent fit to raise children probably wouldn't think twice about saying such an expression, and it's also a reasonable assumption that bad parents make bad kids. Ok, my 'evidence' is nothing more than a few friends coming from broken homes who have turned out alright, which I would agree doesn't really constitute evidence, but I don't think a couple of vids of bad children is really enough either.

I think there's some truth in what you're saying, though. When I was young I had a tantrum or two, I once smashed a window with a toy car. My parents knew how to handle it though and I didnt really mess with my parents in that respect. Perhaps I would have become a problem child, but I just don't think a reasonable parent would put in a song that their child is a vampire (metaphorically). I think in general it's the contrary. You hear alot more about people saying their perspectives have changed when they have a child, the focus of their responsibility completely shifted and that they would do anything for their children, and that the bond between parent and child isn't quite as intrinsically volatile.

Basically, I don't think Maynard would have said it.

[LabRat404]

I'm not suggesting that all children are "problem childs" as shown in the videos, I'm merely trying to prove that there is no such things "inate manners" in young children. manners come either from teaching, empathy, or introspection. I've always been very empathetic (perhaps too empathetic) but I'm not sure I'm a very good anti-example for my own points because I had very good parents.

I can see why calling your own child a vampire might be harsh, but it doesn't have to be negative. perhaps the child "vampire" is feeding on the parent's morals and teachings. In common beliefs about vampires, vampires aren't just created, they have to be taught by its sire how to catch meals, avoid capture, etc.

edit: I put quote marks around the phrases in my previous post because they figurative and weren't meant to be taken too literally.

edit: P.S. totally not relevant, but I'd really like to download "Articulate Conspiracy" from your myspace band page...but you hven't allowed it :-/ I'd certainly buy/download an album if one were available.

[Jimmeny]

True, I didn't realise that was the background for vampires. It's entirely possible I suppose. I think the rest fits pretty well, particularly the 'chorus' section, but I'm still tripping over the 'paranoid, paralyzed vampire act' analogy for rearing children.

--

Thanks for showing an interest in my music, though. Myspace sucks for file sizes and the length of that song meant it had to be compressed to a ridiculous 'quality'. It used to be on Soundclick but it fucked up and I never got round to re-uploading it again. Soundclick is better for sharing because it streams at hi-fi and lo-fi and lets anyone registered to the site download mp3s of all the songs too (you can register simply as a 'listener' too).

Articulate Conspiracy is part of an album I'm writing at the moment, but there is my album from last year, it's called Cre:Volution.. all of that is on soundclick, but it's also on yousendit split accross a couple of zips.
http://download.yousendit.com/451B5F066A22293A
http://download.yousendit.com/2E0408C21AA8090D

[LabRat404]

True, I didn't realise that was the background for vampires. It's entirely possible I suppose. I think the rest fits pretty well, particularly the 'chorus' section, but I'm still tripping over the 'paranoid, paralyzed vampire act' analogy for rearing children.

don't forget that the sire to a vampire is also vampire. he could be referring to himself, but that might be a far fetch. I base most of my knowledge of vampires on the Whitewolf tabletop game Vampire: The Masquerade, but any telling of how vampires work is just as prone for error as the next, especially since you can't prove their existence.

and thanks for the links!

[benjamin]

What an ambivalent "parenting" song ***. The Patient is pretty slow and arduous, a little dark and not exactly an upliftingly optimistic song.("..paranoid ...vampire acts a little...") Lateralus, Parabola, even Schism do more for me as far as "parental enlightenment" ...
For the record, I've never wanted to just throw in any towel (""all parents sometimes..."") there absolutely is not even a towel, not even a single thread of cloth to throw anywhere, ...nothing.

Parent of 3; 6yr, 3yr, and 5 months of age, peace.

Why are my "***'s" being acksterixted ed out???

[benjamin]

W T F !!!!! ?

[masta killa]

I see it as being about any type of struggle and I've considered what you're saying about parenting, but I don't think so. I don't really think there's any wrong way to look at it though, as long as you can relate it to something.

[LabRat404]

I love thinking about the meaning of tool's songs. It's more that I enjoy the challenge of demystifying it, not really that I'm genuinely curious.

I couldn't really care much less about Maynard's personal life. Though I think this meaning applies pretty well, with few snags.