Maynard uses an interesting way to play on words.


This song is about the good ol' USA, in general...and not a specific f*ck up this country has commited. The titles is just missing one word - Melting. Maynard is talking about the The great melting pot.

This country has waved its finger at many countries, justified or not.

We must've been high to do all these things.

Killing the indians (pissing on my black kettle)
Eyballs deep in muddy water (the Cuntrina ordeal)
Kangarooed (Gitmo, secret prisons, wire tapping)

I won't elaborate further, thats for you to do.

well i think the marijuana reference is intentional.. i don't think the song is "about" weed per se, but it's definitely alluded to.

nah dungflowers is right, nard is always saying how he never says stuff obviouse as. So i think that the Melting Pot theory is correct! Why would maynard make a song to do with marijuana?

Oh really? Wonder why the last line in the song references "Ganga Police"

i highly doubt that that is the real line..

well like i said, i think the weed reference is really more of a red herring.. it's just a touch of surface imagery, not the main idea.

Picture Maynard singing this song to a one man audience comprised of President George W. Bush.

someone should make a video for this song using various news clips of bush being embarrased or having that stupified look on his face during the "you musta been sooo hiiiigh" parts, katrina clips in the "muddy waters" parts, and iraq war stuff for the "you must have been outcho mind" parts and such

i bet it would be pretty awesome

Double/dual meaning. A basic, simplisitic one for the unmotivated populous and it's artistic meaning hidden for those willing to find it.

Actually, it really does sound like "Ganja Police", but quite frankly, this fits in perfectly with the them of hypocrisy, considering how much damage the drug war causes, all despite the legalization of drugs the government decides through some kind of esoteric method.

I mean, I might be wrong, but I get the impression a lot of the time, they throw in little tidbits like that, that vaguely reinforce the superficial interpretion, so that having to dig past it to find the deeper meaning is so much more rewarding. I mean, after listening to this song a few times, I really don't have much doubt in my mind that the title of the song refers to the old "Pot calling the kettle black" saying, but the ganja police lyric doesn't contradict that in any way.

Well even if they reference Ganja Police it continutes to support the theory that it's a critque of our current administration. Rumsfield's War of Drugs is just another atrocity carried out to an overly zealous degree. Operation Pipe Dream anyone? What rational person would put Chong in jail for blowing legal glass pieces? Even if they disagree with the stoner culture, pariphenila production is legal (unless specified for illegal drug use).

Of course the marijuana reference is intentional. It's not the subject of the song, but it's there on purpose. It's a play on words

But "melting pot", while interesting, I don't think is correct. "The pot calling the kettle black" is a better fit since the song is about hypocrits

My opinion of what this song means seems to change every time I listen to it. I'm pretty sure the drug references are a red herring as someone else already said.

Most recently I've been looking at it in the context of the previous few songs before it, and it feels like MJK is addressing the people who will call him a hypocrite for singing Wings I & II about heaven and god and all that when it seems like a departure from everything he's ever said before. The Pot feels like he's kind of saying fuck you to people who are going to question what he just said when it was inspired by his love for his mother. I was kind of taking the "eyeball deep in muddy water" to be a reference to the water imagery in Undertow, with that line being spoken by his accusers to reference himself. I dunno, with how introspective this album feels, it doesn't seem too far off.

Then I've also had the ideas about it referencing the USA or any number of other things, I'm sure I'll change my mind a thousand more times in the next million times I listen to it.

That's why I love Tool.

Am I the only one who thinks he's singing "Ganjapolize" - as in a play on the titular Pot calling the kettle black and the world monopolize? That's what it sounds like, and it fits pretty well.

Exactly. "Ganga Police you must be out your mind" is what I'm hearing.

Disclaimer - I haven't heard the song so maybe the lyrics might prove me wrong.

That being said, pot refers to an actual pot. The second meaning (marijuana) is probably being used to say that whoever's doing it must be high to think that his/her action can be justified.

The pot comes from the saying "the pot calling the tea kettle black" or whatever, which is an analogy for people that talk negatively about a trait or something someone posesses whilst the speaker themselves posesses that same trait.

In an interview, Adam also said revealed the line "who are you to wave the finger?" which is pretty much supporting the notioned aforementioned. I don't think the word pot has anything to do with native americans (or indians as you called them).

I also don't think that the pot has anything to do with america from what I've heard so far, but if the lyrics do tell stuff like that then you might be right, which would be a great use of words by MJK (triple meaning...).

i hear (it's) not your place.

interesting theory. im not saying you are right, but it works.

to make fun of all the little kiddies who spend their time getting high instead of doing something productive. that is definently something the nard would make fun of.

I agree with other posts here that relate this to the hypocrecy on the war on drugs as one of the possible interpretations. Tool's songs often have multiple interpretations that follow the same line or topic, in this case I'd say the song denounces the way in which all of us take certain behaviour patterns for granted or as "valid" from what society has to offer and deny others or tag them "incorrect" without ever stoping to think and decide on our own.

As an interview with AJ posted on the audio section here states, the band (or in this case one of the members) is about evolving, moving onto the creative and positive aspects of existence leaving rules, judgements and boundaries behind, and doing it by any means, sex, drugs, going out and taking a walk or whatever suits one's personal needs.

Many people struggle with their own drug usage because of the social perception that drugs are a bad thing, instead of making something mind-expanding from their experience, to this people, and all those who cast quick judgement onto others without looking at their own actions and how closely those actions resemble precisely what they intend to point their fingers at is to whom the song goes out to.

And that is all of us.

It may seem obvious to you that smoking pot and making nothing with your life is a waste, but it might not be as obvious to you that many people do the same with their TVs, or their jobs, ot their religion. When all those TV junkies point their finger on drug addicts, they must be SO HIGH to not see that they are doing just what they denounce and reject.

yes is songwriting is clever here...the play on words..the way we look at others
to give us ideas...to give us answers..the way these people come back around to
bully and control us..the audacity of the fact that when we change there is no
acceptance...but blatantly and more simplistically...the state of the world today.
the goverment...and the public..it is a revolution song

http://www.starlightnews.com/lemon.html

Interesting reference.

Some research suggests the use of cannibas extract in the anciet healing water Jesus and his people used on others. Apparently they mix that with olive oil and some other crazy shit to come up with their Holy Water...

Eyeballs deep in the mud.... They used to baptize each other in dirty rivers...

Look it up.

Listen to the first half of the song.. he talks a lot about rolling stones away from graves, raising the dead etc... etc.... all things Jesus did or claimed to do.

have you ever seen the clip of Bush drunk? Here it is:

http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1135609201

That would be pretty cool in the vid...

anyone remember the guitarworld interview? adam said its the pot calling the kettle black

It's just a slowed down press conference to make it appear as if he's somewhat intoxicated.

Thanks,,,

why does everyone keep saying "Ganja police"?
unless he is mispronouncing "police"(which, as a singer, I can't understad right there)
but i'm more inclined to believe "ganjapolize" than that.(even though thats silly too)

I think some people just cant get the whole
"TOOL made another song about drugs" thing out of their heads.

pot is used as a double entendre in this song in all references
except the direct "you must have been high" reference and the "kangaroo be stoned" line
which bounces off the nondirect references
and I will go ahead with that assumption and say that I think
he is saying "reap or save your" and not "reefer savior"

i dunno if someone said this but adam said in an interview something out "the pot calling the kettle back"..so uhh ya........ its something about a hyprocrite

Pretty much sums it up. It's such a damn simple title, and yet it has so much damn meaning.

I think the marijuana reference is the most obvious, it's humorous as many a stupid hypocritical redneck has no doubt referred to marijuana as "The Pot". Then you have "The Pot calling the kettle black"; "The Melting Pot"; and "The Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" (oil). Would not be surprised if all were intended, or at least most. I mean what is this - the damn guy has gone from double entendre to possibly quadruple entendre lol. What 's the fuck next?

I thought the line was "I'm balls deep in muddy water". I was like, damn thats nasty.

just me but I took the whole "you mustve been high" thing to be more of a "high horse" reference, going back to the whole hypocrisy/pot and kettle analogy. though as others suggested, i am sure there are numerous references and meanings throughout the song.

I like to picture the creators of the toolband-sucks.com website. It makes me happy.

1st post..

damn I love this song, but the first 5 times i heard the album, i really didnt like it, but ive warmed up to it alot, so much ot say its my #2 fav song on the album now..

i agree with all the pot calling the kettle black thoughts etc..

"you must have been so high" probably refers/means somethign like "what were you thinking?, you really F'ed up this time!"

thats why i love this band.. I dont dissect ANY other artists lyrics like i do with TOOL

and very clearly, i hear this last line:
"ganja police (or please! - im not sure), you must have been out your mind"

so (ganja?, please!) or ganja police....

so yeah, underlying meanings are abound, i love speculation ; )

To me, that Ganja Police line sounds like he's saying , "Got to, Please, You must have been out your mind..."

I kind of doubt this...although it was the initial feeling I got from the song...once I heard "ganja police" it was pretty obvious that this song was about the hypocrisy of our current war on drugs. I also kind of doubt maynard would make a song bashing personal freedom, considering I've read a number of interviews where he talks about his own personal drug experiences. just a thought.

you really dont need specific clips for that..... thats how he looks 24/7

lookin way too much into... the title is very simple... it's in reference to "The Pot" calling the Kettle black... simple as that

^^ Nope, its three things: The political melting pot, marijuana and pot calling the kettle black. Got that first time i listened no overanalysing required

lol he's such a fucking doofuss.. I hate to admit I'm from Texas.. he gives us a bad name.. I found it so humorous his response to the drug problems in the u.s... he said that to get rid of the demand.. he was going to illiminate supply..... someone needs to go back to economics 101..