Maybe someone's already mentioned this, but it seems that this song is about remaining alive in general.
A normal thought from a normal person at least once in their life:
A groan of tedium escapes me,
Startling the fearful.
Is this a test? It has to be,
Otherwise I can't go on.
Also, don't forget (from Bill Hicks (and Third Eye)):
We are all part of one consciousness experiencing life subjectively.
So we know there's a belief of life as an experiment or test in general. Anyway, onwards...
Draining patience, drain vitality.
This paranoid, paralyzed vampire act's a little old.
But I'm still right here
Giving blood, keeping faith
And I'm still right here.
Wait it out,
Gonna wait it out,
Be patient (wait it out).
Life drains (to one degree or another) everyone who pays attention to the world around them. Sure, you can live in your little bubble, but if your eyes are open, you can learn just enough to "drain you." These lines tell me he knows the almost brutal drudgery of life, but he's still here. He's still giving blood (staying alive) and keeping his faith [that life is worth living]. He hasn't given up yet; he's going to wait and see if the time spent has been worth it. Moving on...
If there were no rewards to reap,
No loving embrace to see me through
This tedious path I've chosen here,
I certainly would've walked away by now.
Gonna wait it out.
If there were no desire to heal
The damaged and broken met along
This tedious path I've chosen here
I certainly would've walked away by now.
If there was nothing positive about life (rewards to reap, loving embraces, etc) then the tedious path of daily existence wouldn't be worth it. He'd stop living (walk away). But he hasn't given up. There's still hope. Although...
And I still may ... (sigh) ... I still may.
He may run out of patience and give up on this experiment, this experience. Luckily...
Be patient.
I must keep reminding myself of this.
He's determined to make this all worthwhile. I was suicidal at one point in my life, but it wasn't out of sadness or depression, nor was it a "cry for help." I just remember looking at the world around me and wondering what the point was. If life is a game of chess and you can see enough moves into the future, there can be a definite futility predicted. However, the reason we play all games, sports, etc, is because we DON'T know the outcome. There's always that chance of the worst team beating the best. So we all must wait it out and see where the score ends up.
You can always leave at halftime, but sometimes the most thrilling moments come if you just stay patient and don't "walk away."
Well, my own thoughts on this relate to meditation practice. The whole album seems like a concept album relating to that, and I am sure that this is just my own personal interpretation, but...Well, you have to patient in sitting practice and sometimes you really don't want to do it, but discipline is extremely important. You do it without realistic hopes of immediate results but because there is this inner desire for peace and an innate knowledge that this is a great path to find it. But, it is tedious sometimes, because you are tired or angry, or your fucking legs just hurt...but you do it because there is a payoff in the long run. It is experimental and a way to experience peace directly through your own efforts. And then, every time I listen to this song, my mind wanders a bit and at the point when he sings 'I must keep reminding myself of this' I just happen to be thinking something like' yeah, I need to be patient and keep practicing my meditation so that I can overcome these desires and attachments that make me ultimately unhappy...' It always feels strange and meaningful at that point, like, very coincidental...I ramble...
Wow...Sharkie. I totaly feel the same way you do. For a noob, you are damn smart! ;) People come up with all these crazy ideas like, "Maynard is playing golf...and it's boring...and he wants to leave...but he has to be patient!"
I think more Tool songs are about general topics than most people think.
I think that sharkie's idea is pretty accurate and at least has some part to do with the meaning of this song. However, when I saw Tool in Chicago last year, Maynard said that this song was dedicated to all the people out there who suck the life out everyone else. He mentioned politicians, clergy, and advertising exec.s. I think that the song is saying how these, and other "occupations" drain the essence from what life is about, but we all must be patient and it will be corrected in time. Might be right, might not.
you know... in a way... this is like a story of my life
the past 4 years of my life have really drained my patience with life and my will to live, but i decided to wait it out, in hope of better days...
"If there were no desire to heal
The damaged and broken met along this tedious path I've chosen here,
I certainly would've walked away by now."
i have that desire to heal... when i see someone who is hurt (emotionally, though many deny it) i have an overwhelming sense of compassion, and a willingess to help, so i decided that if i have feelings like that, i cant throw my life away... i found out then that i dont hate the human race as much as i think i do
and of course... i waited it out, and you know what... im glad i did, ive had some great times lately
__________________ <aenimated> You killed kroni you stupid bitch.
you know... in a way... this is like a story of my life
That's what makes the song all the sweeter. It's something that we can all identify with. We've all heaved that big sigh of dreariness. We've all stopped our climb to look up and see that we still have a ways to go.
Hearing it said so musically and poetically well done just makes the moment all the crisper and real for us. Even in the depths of the weary climb we find our breath and the will to go on.
Funny but I liken it to a recent hike with family and my kid. It was fun but work and my patience with the boy was thin. After all, it was a 3 mile, steep hike and he wanted to play, not work. Still, we took pit stops, found patches of snow not melted by the summer heat, and played. Be it through irritation, gentle coaxing we all made it to the top only to have Mt. Hood staring back at us 3 miles away in her immense glory. All the struggles were forgotten in that moment and we just bathed in the accomplishment and enjoyed ourselves.
There was quite a few times where I would have loved to have just ditched my kid and kept climbing, leaving him in the wilderness to fend for himself, because I wanted to get there. The thing is, I couldn't...or I wouldn't. I helped him along and we got there together. It was that much more enriching to be able to enjoy that moment with another than I could ever get if I did it alone. In a sense, for me, that's what this song is about.
what makes this and everyother song so great and easy to identify with is that its compatible with any of the meanings that have been posted so far
life...
meditation...
maybe just patience itself
to me each tool song is almost like a pair of glasses
some make things a different shade... so you can see something in a new light.
some are like those drunk goggles they made us put on in high school drivers ed. giving you another perspective
some (like the patient) are even able to take parts of your life and show you how they fit into the grander scheme of things
maybe everyone should think about where they hold patience in their lives is it
"yea yea yea i was taught patience, i don't cut in line at the dmv so im good to go no big deal"
or is patience larger than that, something you measure every situation next to, disciplining yourself not to become angry or frustrated
sorry for saying patience so much
I think the patient is a song about a man that's contemplating the death of another person with a blunt instrument...in a very exaggerated and grotesque way, of course.
But the love of Jesus shines through him and puts light to reason whereas he stays his hand, through the course of a tiring & intense internal struggle thus sparing the life of the contemplated victim. In turn he learns a little bit more about himself that he didn't know before. *
....You know, I wouldn't be surpised if a bunch of psych majors in labs coats sit around in university's studying this forum. If I was a prof, I'd make it an assignment.
I totally agree with the first post. And for me, it really applied to me this past year. Just growing up, coming of age, the facts of life really start to sink in and you realize what a lousy place the world is.
Plus I was finishing up school and found that I was just going through the motions. I was so sick of it and wanted to move on. My life was like driving a Ferrari and being stuck at a red light.
I just think change in life is necessary all the time. Don't stagnate. If you're overwhelmed by the pointlessness of the world, you can at least keep busy with menial crap.
