AHelton
05-04-2007, 04:51 PM
It's not unheard of for a Tool song to rail against a certain subset of their fans; Hooker With a Penis does it quite well, and I think Ticks & Leeches is a song in the same vein (no pun intended).
The second line in the song's second verse is very telling, and I think the widely-accepted word in that line is wrong:
My _blood_ is bruised and borrowed. You thieving bastards.
actually sounds like:
My _throat_ is bruised and borrowed. You thieving bastards.
Changing that single lyric alters, in my opinion, the meaning of the entire song. Maynard is singing a song that absolutely destroys his vocal chords, giving what a subset of his fans must have been pining after: more screaming.
Hope this is what you wanted.
Hope this is what you had in mind.
Cuz this is what you're getting.
I hope you're choking. I hope you choke on this.
Furthermore, it's no secret that his fans adore his voice. I'm sure that, after awhile, he must feel like we're sucking him dry. No matter how much he gives us we'll always want more; and being as the voice of a lyricist is so organic and intimate than any other instrument, it must have even more of an impact on him. All of this singing he's done over the years is slowly doing irreparable harm to his vocal chords. As such, we, the "thieving bastards," are stealing his voice.
The song's other lyrics simply reinforce this theme:
Taken all I can, taken all I can, we(?) can take.
Taken all you can, taken all you can fuckin' take
Got nothing left to give to you.
Blood suckin parasitic little tick/blood suckin parasitic little tick
Take what you want and then go.
The last line in particular seems like it fits perfectly with fans that come to a concert. We come, hear him sing, and leave...satisfied, but leaving him drained.
Suck me dry.
Is this what you wanted?
Is this what you had in mind?
Cuz this this is what you're getting.
I hope you choke.
Here Maynard seems to be directly addressing that subset of fans that love his screams, and it makes perfect sense now why they would have recorded this song in a way that was so detrimental to Maynard's voice (other than it sounds fucking incredible). The message would have been lost if it had been done any other way.
I've listened to the song live and in studio repeatedly, and I swear that he is saying "my throat is bruised and borrowed"; does anyone here "blood" instead?
The second line in the song's second verse is very telling, and I think the widely-accepted word in that line is wrong:
My _blood_ is bruised and borrowed. You thieving bastards.
actually sounds like:
My _throat_ is bruised and borrowed. You thieving bastards.
Changing that single lyric alters, in my opinion, the meaning of the entire song. Maynard is singing a song that absolutely destroys his vocal chords, giving what a subset of his fans must have been pining after: more screaming.
Hope this is what you wanted.
Hope this is what you had in mind.
Cuz this is what you're getting.
I hope you're choking. I hope you choke on this.
Furthermore, it's no secret that his fans adore his voice. I'm sure that, after awhile, he must feel like we're sucking him dry. No matter how much he gives us we'll always want more; and being as the voice of a lyricist is so organic and intimate than any other instrument, it must have even more of an impact on him. All of this singing he's done over the years is slowly doing irreparable harm to his vocal chords. As such, we, the "thieving bastards," are stealing his voice.
The song's other lyrics simply reinforce this theme:
Taken all I can, taken all I can, we(?) can take.
Taken all you can, taken all you can fuckin' take
Got nothing left to give to you.
Blood suckin parasitic little tick/blood suckin parasitic little tick
Take what you want and then go.
The last line in particular seems like it fits perfectly with fans that come to a concert. We come, hear him sing, and leave...satisfied, but leaving him drained.
Suck me dry.
Is this what you wanted?
Is this what you had in mind?
Cuz this this is what you're getting.
I hope you choke.
Here Maynard seems to be directly addressing that subset of fans that love his screams, and it makes perfect sense now why they would have recorded this song in a way that was so detrimental to Maynard's voice (other than it sounds fucking incredible). The message would have been lost if it had been done any other way.
I've listened to the song live and in studio repeatedly, and I swear that he is saying "my throat is bruised and borrowed"; does anyone here "blood" instead?