Black

Well......in keeping with my general desire to attempt to interpret the songs along face value lines, the song appears (to me) to be another in a list of Tool songs that are in indictment of hypocrisy and false people. The Pot, Ticks and Leeches, and Hooker With a Penis are songs with the same general theme--that of Maynard being totally disgusted with someone's hypocritical behavior, and his letting them hear about it.

Eulogy starts out sounding as if he were attempting to actually GIVE a eulogy to someone who has died. Someone he formerly admired:

"Standing above the crowd,
He had a voice so strong and loud and I
Swallowed his facade cuz I'm so
Eager to identify with
Someone above the ground,
Someone who seemed to feel the same,
Someone prepared to lead the way, with
Someone who would die for me."

But during the song, it becomes apparent that the person in question has never really died at all:

"You've claimed all this time that you would die for me.
Why then are you so surprised to hear your own eulogy?"

The person in question has proven to be an extreme disappointment to the narrator, and he is quick to expose his hypocrisy:

"You had alot to say.
You had alot of nothing to say.

Come down.
Get off your fuckin cross.
We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr.

To ascend you must die.
You must be crucified
For your sins and your lies. [sic]
Goodbye..."

Maynard sounds to me like he has realized that the eulogized is a hypocrite, and he is simply expressing anger at feeling mislead by a fool. Happens to us all.

I really believe there is way too much being read into many of these song lyrics. Perhaps I'm all wet on this opinion. I don't know. Maynard is free to tell me I am full of it. It just seems to me that if he wanted to write a song about Jesus, you would pretty much KNOW that the song was about Jesus. He isn't much a fan of Jesus, in case you hadn't noticed.

But the person indicted in this song has apparently failed to commit to dying for his cause, and that irritates Maynard a great deal. To my eyes, this is what the song is about. Just taking it at face value.

OK......I'll shut up now, and let someone else have a crack at it.

Black

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When one person suffers from delusions, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from delusions, it is called religion.--Robert M. Pirsig