i am just going off of listening to the song with out a lot of interpretation but taken almost for face value it can be seen as a warning, that we are taking a trip into maynard's (tool's) world uninvited we may not like what we find and if taken to far we may be drawn deeply into this (hmmm not that anyone who is here posting as possibly gotten entirely to wrapped up into this, myself included in that bit o' sarcasm) as the subject states maybe the song is a warning not to delve to deeply into the meaning of the song(s)
that is not a bad thought -- it makes this whole place that much more entertaining. i suppose it is the ultimate irony, then; discussing the meaning of a song which might be advising you to keep out, that there *is* no hidden meaning.
but that vagueness / open-endedness is what makes all these lyrics more intriguing than, say, "doing it all for the nookie."
Wow, surprisingly enough, I agree with you (Not that I think I am any smarter than anyone else, cause if you really know me, you would say that I am intelligent, but I would disagree). It took me a while to get this song, but when it hit me, I interpreted it the similar to they way you did.
For a long time, I always felt intrigued by the (mainly Undertow and Aenima) songs, but didnt really understand each song in their complete form; only partially. Then one day, I read that 4 degrees was (loosely, about anal sex), meaning the anus is 4 degrees warmer than the vagina. So, when I understood that, I began to realize that some of the songs seemed to be about anal sex, or at least appeared to be that on the surface. They may just be metaphors used to express how taboo it is to cross boundaries and find something good after breaking the stigma. Stinkfist, Prison Sex, Pushit, seem to have a bit of an anal sex connotetion to them, or maybe just about sexual abuse.
So, what I got out of swamp song sounds a little strange, but what if what Swamp Song is about has to do with "participation in group sadomasochism" I wont get too detailed, but just maybe that's what it's about....
Peace
__________________ "...those whose devotion leads them to the true meaning beneath the outer form of their religions prayers come to realize that it is not an external message system, but a dialogue between self and self, a channel to the wisest of our inner personalities." -Willis Harmon, Ph.D.
This reminds me of how I felt when m closer friends were getting into the kind of things I had already gone through; only being stupid about it. That's the overview. But specifics...
This song, to me, seems to be about a loved one who takes into a drug, probably acid or some other kind of psychadelic. The narrator (Maynard) is angry with this loved one. He had warned his loved one not to get into this stuff, and they did anyway. The loved one isn't intelligent about the drug; and probably got bad stuff. Now their trip, or their addiction in general, is dragging them down and they don't even care. Maynard continues to warn throughout the song, and gets frustrated. "This could kill you! You're lost, you don't know what you're doing, you dumbass! Get out! Jesus, I hope you fucking choke!"
The loved one ignores all of Maynard's warnings, all of his advice. No matter how bad it gets, they don't even care. The loved one is a beligerant fuck; and doesn't accept that this drug WILL destroy him/her.
__________________ I am God. I fully understand that after some kind of psychadelic experience. I created all of this to enhance my being.
i prefer the idea of the song being about a warning to not enter an intellectual world rather than the drug world ( just cos it is less obvious) although i doubt it is a warning not to enter tool's world (ie analysing the songs) as he says noone even invited you in and they sell their records dont they?!? thats kinda an invitation i think. so maybe the warning could be more personal eg telling a friend/loved one not to try and understand him because they would get sucked in.
hmm it probably does make more sense though if you take the song to be about drugs, but hey, who wants to do it the easy way?
If nothing is everything I've got it all (tdn $upporter)
Join Date: Nov 2002
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General warning to idiots
I think the song is basically to tell someone not to get sucked in to something, but since they are 'stupid belligerent fuckers' they won't listen. Maynard apparently has no sympathy for this fool, for he then intones that he hopes is 'sucks him down'. Basically, we can learn from this song that we must be not be arrogant and pay attention when others try to warn us of dangers.
__________________ Let us now, as Futurists, enter one of these hospitals for anaemic sounds. There: the first bar brings the boredom of familiarity to your ear and anticipates the boredom of the bar to follow. Let us relish, from bar to bar, two or three varieties of genuine boredom, waiting all the while for the extraordinary sensation that never comes.
