Has it ever occured to you that you are all using your brain to interpret all of the songs....Tool wrote because as all of you who have been to a concert know...their music envokes certain feelings from within you. Has it occured that you arent spost to use your head to figure the songs out but YOUR HEART. i know the meaning of the song stinkfist but i will not tell anyone because when you finally use your heart to figure it out instead of your head, you WILL click to the meaning..and when it happens its a great feeling to hold onto when you know what it is...why else do you think maynard says that no one has even come close to understanding the lyrics...everyone uses their head because authority says its our strength...think for yourself QUESTION authority...use ur weakness...use ur heart...for it is actually your greatest strength...when you do this you will understand what i am saying. Stinkfist is a love song
I do use my heart. I do feel it click. But the only way to express it on the web is through words and intellect, which have limitations. Should we all just come here and say we get it but dont try to explain?
of course the music touches us in our hearts; we all know and understand that. but AFTER the emotion is when the analyzing comes in. and what makes us so wrong when we analyze tool's music? maynard wrote his lyrics so that we may each have different interpretations of the songs, and we are all here to express our feelings about them. i think i've posted something like this before.
Last edited by scorpioali; 12-05-2002 at 02:14 PM..
there are some parts to their songs, certain layers of meaning that people couldnt interpret until they have the stimulation that they can find here. i know i was stuck on some songs until i read something that clicked with me, and im just glad to be able to share that with others to help them
All I know is that this and many other Tool songs have the same intense feeling now as when i first heard them. I feel the songs in my mind, body and soul.
thankyou for your advice, i will try to use my heart a little more from now on, but i think you are being a little selfish, what good is knowledge (or in your case, wisdom) if you dont impart it to others, advice and guidance is one thing, but when you tell us we're dumb it hurts.
First of all I don't thin it's coolto tell everyone tey are all wrong. There is no right or wrong about any of TOOLs songs.Whatever they mean to you, thats great. I read an article where a fan told TOOL that he loved the song sober cause it made quit drinking and helped him et off drugs ad the band told him hey thats great man, even when it is almost obvious hat sober is not about that, it doesnt matter cause the song is what it is to each and every fan differently. I leave you with this, I was ata TOOL show in Bakersfield in Jly of 2002 and Maynard said this "We thank you for being here tonight, to share this moment with us, we hope that you can take whatever you're feeing right now, and in the coming days, weeks, months and years, can use it to do something positive."
Uh, UseurWeakness, you are, my friend, a complete and utter moron. You sure haven't fried your brain listening to Moby records? First of all your heart would'nt work without your brain, and the deepest emotions felt by your soul or your heart would be rendered meaningless without a brain to inturpret the signals your receiving and releasing. Stinkfist is not a love song. It is a song about how desensitized people have become to each other, especially in relationships. People have become so connected to chaos and drama when dealing with others, that its to the point where people just can't let shit be, and if things are going ok and everythings fine, then we are all so addicted to the mayhem we cause for ourselves that we'll fuck shit up just to make it interesting. Afterall, boredoms not a burden anyone should bare. The song also talks about how we are so used to dishing shit out to people and taking shit from others that normal relationships no longer exsist. We slowly over time, take so much shit from people that we take that as the norm, and as we get more and more used to them fucking with our heads and treating us like shit, the more shit we'll eventually take from everyone. Thus the metaphor of getting fist-fucked. First the fingers then the knuckles, (this may hurt a little, but its something you'll get used to) and soon enough, after accepting the way your getting fucked over you have someone shoulder deep up your ass, fucking you over and still be putting up with their "love for you" Show me that you love me(by putting up with all the abuse I give you) and that we belong together. The song is one big metaphor for co-dependency in my eyes. And one more thing UseurWeakness. If your not going to post any valid opinions or thought processes, whats the fucking point of posting at all?
My heart has no cognitive abilities. Feelings come from the brain. My feelings tell me this song is using anal fisting as a metaphor for pushing the boundaries of censorship in the media and over-stimulating our minds. Quit being so uptight and trying to sound deep... start using your head.
__________________ "All our beliefs are being challenged now... and rightfully so, they're stupid"
-Bill Hicks
You can use your heart all you want to attempt to "figure out songs" but without at least a little correspondance between your heart and your brain your not gonna get very far.
Tools's music is supposedly meant to be used as a "tool" to learn from. And without using your head and discussing their songs how are you meant to learn anything???
Quote: "My heart has no cognitive abilities. Feelings come from the brain."
Seeing as the hearts function is purely that of pumping blood and supplying the body with oxygen, it would logically be impossible to think with, but the phrase of thinking with your heart is meant to encourage the use of compassion and empathy in your reasoning, something the use of pure intellect and analyzation suffocates. This requires tapping into emotions, which are controlled by the limbic system, a brain structure located about right in the middle of your lump of grey matter, so alas, use your head.
useurweakness , i was about to start a similar thread, but it seems here like you are getting killed.
I have many interpretations of this song, ive heard them all before so please dont lecture me, I intrpret this song as being a love song as well. I think that maynard speaks of sex as a commitment to one another, and it later in the song he talks about how sex means nothing to this society.
And for all of you that see the metaphors in Tool's music, did you ever think that "heart" (in the way it was refered in the first post) was a metaphor?
How can anyone be wrong about a song, they say what it makes them feel. Doesn't tool want poeple to THINK for themselves more? to think about a song isnt a bad thing, its just espressing what our hearts feel. Just look at how everyone is rated upon how much they reply in here, Lurker all the way up to DEEP THINKER,m if you think about a song it doesn't mean you can't have a toolgasm ( an extremely good feeling reached at a peak in a tool song). Anyone really interested in tool and wants to learn as much about them as they can go to www.innuendocornecopria.com, its an excellent site and tells you about their history, what tool is about and other cool, things such as forty-six & 2 theory etc.
__________________ Who are you to wave your finger?
I don't agree straight out that it is a love song, but having said that, when I listen to it, really listen, with my eyes closed and just letting it wash over me, through me, around me (I think we all know the tantric state that one enters when tooling out) I must say that on a purely emotional level, I find this song to be incredibly uplifting.
There is of course the chance that I have issues.........
... but somehow the message I take away from this song is positive, despite the bleak nature of it's apparent meaning (literal or metaphoric).
And I know this is a different thread, but whatever your rationale, there is no way it is the worst song on the album.
You can use your heart, but you heart allows you to feel, your brain is what interprets what you feel.
Stinkfist, i am almost positive that it is indeed about desensitation, and not nessecarily a love song. I must confess, I wonder where: "Show me that you love me, and we belong together" fits into desensitation.
I also agree however, that there is no wrong interpretation to a song, nessecarily at least. I mean isn't art what we ourselves individually see?
__________________ -DXRocker, who tries to see things from all sides.
"I mean isn't art what we ourselves individually see?
Amen to that, however I must agree that the most important 'tool' (sorry couldn't resist) for interpretation and analytical procedures is indeed the brain.
__________________ PRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!
PRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!
PRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!
Last edited by Alice In Chains; 01-18-2003 at 02:40 PM..
In these forums, you will find fans' observations about Tool songs, videos, and more. They may be "wrong" (not what Tool intended), but this section is not about "what it means" -- it is about "what it means to me."
a love song, some might say
theres this (ex)girl(friend), who, long story short, broke up with me for reasons unknown. she claimed to be scared of the feelings she could have about me being too great (i'd assume).
since me she has been with multiple other guys, getting hurt and being thrilled. but every now and then she has to remember, or think, that she likes me. but then she realizes its not exciting enough. there was a time when i could drown out her past enough to where she could be with me. but things have caught up to her. now shes just trying to put out the fire with more alcohol. why can't she take my hand in the middle of the bullshit, turn around, and listen to herself once again. even if it doesn't involve me.
well the music has served its purpose, tool is a helpful vehicle
Well. I think it's just a combination of the two together. I mean we cannot totally describe how we feel, because the Engllish language (and indeed all languages) has a limit.
We sure can try though. It might not come out the way we want it. It might not be what you intended. People might take what you say the wrong way.
But its about how you express you feeling, and indeed what those feelings are.
Take this song for example -
This song, blends the affection and intense feelings that come with love and sex, yet through them in with desire and a severe thirst.
It almost sounds like Maynard is begging, as if to plea to someone.
That is as close as i feel to what i can write down. But it's the best to my abilities,so why complain?
__________________ Your love is like a rollercoaster baby baby. I wanna ride!
If you maintain a fist, you can't retrieve your hand.
If you hold on too tight, you lose your fist.
If you hold on too tight, you forget what you were holding in the first place.
Stinkfist, to me, is about the filthiness of the grasping hand;
about spoiling something, stretching it to numbness, ruining it in our fear of losing it.
Have any of you studied Procrustes?
Procrustes was a legendary fellow, who was renowned for kidnapping folk and spiriting them away to his chambers.
In his room, he had a great rack, upon which he would bind his captives.
If they were too short, he would stretch them; if they were too tall, he would chop them to fit: either way, in Procrustes' endeavor to stereotype or conform everyone to the "perfect" mold, to impose his needs upon them, he ended up maiming or killing his victims.
While I don't apply this motif directly to the song, I think it is an invaluable concept when considering any Tool music.
