FlamingEye

My boyfriend has a good idea on what this song could be about. Someone waiting for someone in a hospital, or someone being sick.

"But i'm still right here, giving blood, keeping faith, and i'm still right here"

The're keeping faith for the patient, and waiting

"gonna wait it out, be patient"

waiting to see what happenes

I don't feel like typing the rest of the song but I think it makes since.

Just a thought

jpmanson

well, the song definately has the play on words: patient and patience..

reign3

But why would Maynard be singing about somebody sitting in the hospital? I think its a little deeper than that.

But who knows?

FlamingEye

Maybe it was someone close to him. Maybe it's not even something that happened to Maynard.

Typx

I thought that that might have been what it meant for a while, but it just seems to easy and obvious.

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Shinji

Can we see the patient in the light of what endured his mother ?

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Platinum

Not sure if he means patient as in someone in a hospital/doctors office... or someone being patient... as in waiting.

Inner_Eulogy

I think it's a combination of both

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Angel on the Sideline

Yep. To be simply about a patient in a hospital is too easy. It could about that on a metaphorical level. But it's also about "The Patient" i.e. one who is patient or a group of people who practice patient.

As for the giving blood reference, you shouldn't interpret that literally. Giving blood is a metaphor. What he's really saying is that he's still there, still working hard at something (probably a relationship).

Angel on the Sideline

Yeah, I think you're onto something there. What I was trying to say was that the protagonist in the song was probably stressing to many people (fans, band members, record label, etc.) to be patient. He's still right there giving blood, keeping faith and isn't walking away.

It could be Maynard's answer to the criticism that fell upon him when many people thought he was pouring too much into APC and not Tool.

There's no real way of knowing.

Angel on the Sideline

I couldn't agree more. That doesn't mean we can't share our interpretations and consider the validity (from our own individual perspective) of others' insights. But you are absolutely correct: the only interpretation that matters is your own. That's why a Shakespeare sonnet may mean one thing to me and something entirely different to you.