ihatemickjagger
06-29-2003, 02:35 PM
this is my first time making a full on attempt to dissect a tool song and extract a meaning from it starting from square one...not looking at other's posts and building off them (sure my thoughts might be similar to others posted, i haven't checked every post written about this song)...and to me this song is so complicated, i'm surprised i was able to come up with a message from it. but this has easily become, probably, my favorite tool song...the message is awesome, the flow of the song is awesome...starts out calm, grows to a climax, then becomes near silent while building up to a powerful ending that proves the point (or what i think is the point) of this song.
"i will choke until i swallow" - to me, this shows the cramming of bullshit down our throats (similar to the message of...i think the song is called when it comes, by incubus), and we are forced to live with it. this also goes along with aenema describing the southern california lifestyle
the made up word and title of the song to me has multiple meanings:
push it: simply stating that these ideas are literally being pushed onto him without his control
put shit: he doesn't like the philosophies that today's society is teaching him to beleive, where "shit" comes in. which is true, many of the ideas our society portrays are just plain shit (i know, it's cliche, but i can't agree with it more).
one thing this song means to me, along with the pushing of ideas into our minds, is that we get benefits from these. the idea of going and sleeping around is popular by our society, and it feels good. we all conform to society, and we gain popularity. there are many other examples of this philosophy... But one of the most powerful lines of any tool song is said here "but i'd trade it all for just a little piece of mind". being a sophomore turning junior in highschool, i am glad that i do my own thing. i don't act bad-ass to get the girls, i don't go punk (which is NOT your own thing now matter how original you think you are!... it's a fucking trend that started in the eighties!) i am glad i have learned to think for myself. i dress how I want, whether it's considered trendy or punk, because i'm not worried about what people think of me. and yes, punks DO care what people think of them. that's why the all dress alike, to show all the other punks that they can be like them...that's not originality, that's a whole new conformity within itself. anyways, i'll stop rambling about petty highschool popularity.
as the song goes on, we see that maynard is starting to fight off all this temptation that society has to offer. he keeps mentioning his progression in his opposition to society, into thinking for himself. the lyrics get more confident towards his beleif.
"Staring down the hole again.
Hands are on my back again.
Survival is my only friend.
Terrified of what may come."
now he's looking into the gap that he has to face, he's naked without all of society's benefits, he now has to think for himself. the "survival is my only friend" lyric fits perfectly with aenema, in which once you "learn to swim", it becomes survival, your only friend, and method of escaping this material world. "terrified of what may come" to me doesn't show that he's backing out on the ideas expressed throughout the song, but more of a "i'm scared, but i know i can make it"
"Just remember I will always love you,
Even as I tear your fucking throat away.
But it will end no other way."
here i beleive he is saying that although the benefits of conformity will always be nice, he's giving it all up (tearing it away)
"it will end no other way" is maynard's way of saying "i'm firm in my beleifs, you can't push more of your shit into my mind"
well, that was my lengthy interpretation of the song, tell me what you think
"i will choke until i swallow" - to me, this shows the cramming of bullshit down our throats (similar to the message of...i think the song is called when it comes, by incubus), and we are forced to live with it. this also goes along with aenema describing the southern california lifestyle
the made up word and title of the song to me has multiple meanings:
push it: simply stating that these ideas are literally being pushed onto him without his control
put shit: he doesn't like the philosophies that today's society is teaching him to beleive, where "shit" comes in. which is true, many of the ideas our society portrays are just plain shit (i know, it's cliche, but i can't agree with it more).
one thing this song means to me, along with the pushing of ideas into our minds, is that we get benefits from these. the idea of going and sleeping around is popular by our society, and it feels good. we all conform to society, and we gain popularity. there are many other examples of this philosophy... But one of the most powerful lines of any tool song is said here "but i'd trade it all for just a little piece of mind". being a sophomore turning junior in highschool, i am glad that i do my own thing. i don't act bad-ass to get the girls, i don't go punk (which is NOT your own thing now matter how original you think you are!... it's a fucking trend that started in the eighties!) i am glad i have learned to think for myself. i dress how I want, whether it's considered trendy or punk, because i'm not worried about what people think of me. and yes, punks DO care what people think of them. that's why the all dress alike, to show all the other punks that they can be like them...that's not originality, that's a whole new conformity within itself. anyways, i'll stop rambling about petty highschool popularity.
as the song goes on, we see that maynard is starting to fight off all this temptation that society has to offer. he keeps mentioning his progression in his opposition to society, into thinking for himself. the lyrics get more confident towards his beleif.
"Staring down the hole again.
Hands are on my back again.
Survival is my only friend.
Terrified of what may come."
now he's looking into the gap that he has to face, he's naked without all of society's benefits, he now has to think for himself. the "survival is my only friend" lyric fits perfectly with aenema, in which once you "learn to swim", it becomes survival, your only friend, and method of escaping this material world. "terrified of what may come" to me doesn't show that he's backing out on the ideas expressed throughout the song, but more of a "i'm scared, but i know i can make it"
"Just remember I will always love you,
Even as I tear your fucking throat away.
But it will end no other way."
here i beleive he is saying that although the benefits of conformity will always be nice, he's giving it all up (tearing it away)
"it will end no other way" is maynard's way of saying "i'm firm in my beleifs, you can't push more of your shit into my mind"
well, that was my lengthy interpretation of the song, tell me what you think