Next year will mark 10 years since the release of progressive meal band Tool‘s last album 10,000 Days and they are sorely missed, as evidenced by the number of people who are still desperately awaiting new material. I count myself among those people even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of their latest album. As I wait, sometimes patiently, sometimes full of frustration and excitability, I find myself coming back to their discography and relishing the music that we have been gifted over the years.
Now, as almost anyone who has any knowledge of the band knows, Tool is known for their incredibly inventive and, quite often, terrifying imagery. But another aspect that they have earned much respect for is their use of incredibly intelligent and thought-provoking lyrics. However, just because their lyrics are smart doesn’t mean they aren’t sometimes downright unsettling.
So let’s take a look at five tracks from Tool and some of the lyrics that have managed to send shivers up and down my spine. When you’re done reading what I’ve got, make sure to leave a comment with your favorites!
Prison Sex
“Thought I could make it end
Thought I could wash the stains away
Thought I could break the circle if I
Slipped right into your skin
So sweet was your surrender
We have become one
I have become my terror
And you my precious lamb and martyr.”
This song is about molestation and rape, two horrible things that I would not wish upon anyone, even my worst enemies. That subject matter alone makes this a difficult track to listen to. However, when you look at these lines, which suggest that the raped has become a raper, his becomes far more sinister. The cycle of abuse continues, only to be stopped when we listen to the sister companion track “Jimmy”.
46 & 2
My shadow’s
Shedding skin and
I’ve been picking
Scabs again.
I’m down
Digging through
My old muscles
Looking for a clue.
This song is considered by many to be about growth and moving beyond ourselves into a higher plane of consciousness and evolution. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the idea of a shadow shedding its skin is goddamn creepy as shit! Picking through the scabs and digging into the muscle of a shadow simply makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to think of my shadow as something corporeal, something that I can physically manipulate.
H.
Venomous voice, tempts me,
Drains me, bleeds me,
Leaves me cracked and empty.
Drags me down like some sweet gravity.
That ever present voice that constantly aims to get us to do things we don’t want to do or things we know we shouldn’t, that’s what this line calls to mind. We all have to fight the negativity inside of us that threatens to crush us with uncertainty, with false hopes and promises, with deceit. The idea that this voice has enough power to completely and utterly break me is something terrifying. I never want to give it that kind of power.
Sober
There’s a shadow just behind me,
Shrouding every step I take,
Making every promise empty,
Pointing every finger at me.
As someone who has suffered depression for many years, these lines haunt me. They are, for me, a representation of the never ending, always present fear of depression and when it will take hold. When it does, nothing I do feels good enough and I feel ashamed for my actions. As a result, it becomes a chore to even do anything at all, meaning that any promises I may have made could be broken, only furthering the self guilt and shame.
These lyrics terrify me.
Ticks and Leeches
My blood is bruised and borrowed.
You thieving bastards.
You have turned my blood cold and bitter,
Beat my compassion black and blue.
By taking advantage of my kindness, my charity, my generosity, you have turned me into a shell of what I once was, a husk. And that husk, that revenant, is, as the song says, bruised and bitter, unable to ever become the person that they once were. By being used over and over, they lose that compassion forever.
As someone who gives freely as often as I can, I know that feeling of being burned, or realizing that I’m being used. And it has changed me, although I don’t know if it’s for the better. That’s what unsettles me. How would I be different had I not encountered these parasites?