Lyrics for Stinkfist as interpreted by implode

Stinkfist Lyrics
Something has to change
Undeniable dilemma
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear

Constant over stimulation numbs me
But I would not want you any other way

It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive

Finger deep within the borderline
Show me that you love me and that we belong together
Relax, turn around and take my hand

I can help you change
Tired moments into pleasure
Say the word and we'll be
Well upon our way

Blend and balance
Pain and comfort
Deep within you
'til you will not want me any other way

It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive

Knuckle deep inside the borderline
This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to
Relax, slip away

Something kinda sad about
the way that things have come to be
Desensitized to everything
What became of subtlety?

How can it mean anything to me
If I really don't feel anything at all?

I'll keep digging 'til
I feel something

Elbow deep inside the borderline
Show me that you love me and that we belong together
Shoulder deep within the borderline
Relax, turn around and take my hand

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 331 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
newest first     Expand All
Di55er
01-11-2009

Rated 0 
This song is simply about over stimulation. Always needing more and then when you get there needing more and more. This is evident by the progression from finger to knuckle to elbow to shoulder. The best analogy to this would be the Southpark episode where Stan's dad Randy watches porn on the 'net and once he becomes acclimated to what he's watching he constantly has to watch more perverse porn to "get off". This is one of Tool's easier songs to "break down". An awesome song nonetheless. Later

Log in to reply
Beranabus
01-08-2009

Rated 0 
first off, i have studied many tool songs and spent much time studying their song meanings. not that i have no life, i just get bored very easily. but lets face it, tool is an amazing band and maynard is possibly the greatest song writer to have ever lived.

ok, in a way, any way u interpret the song, it is correct. whether u look at it as dirty filthy fisting, drug addiction, or love clinginess all depends on your life and what u have been through. they all have the same meaning, which follows suit with this amazing tool song.

Fear Over Compassion. Doing anything to get high and not fearing the damage that could be down to your body. being in love with someone and feeling as though u cannot live unless u have them and not caring about the pain u may have to go through to be with them. or being a crazy sex addict who has gotten bored with his or her old sexual practices so they move to fisting or any type of freaky stanky hanky panky to get horny off of and ignoring the pain of their anal cavity being ripped or watever pain the sexual item may bring

Log in to reply
2 Replies
dingdongthewitch
12-19-2008

Rated 0 
maynard actually said at a concert that this song was about compassion. his exact words were "the next song is about choosing compassion over fear". then they started playing stinkfist. so there ya go!

Log in to reply
dingdongthewitch
12-19-2008

Rated 0 
maynard actually said at a concert that this song was about compassion. his exact words were "the next song is about choosing compassion over fear". then they started playing stinkfist. so there ya go!

Log in to reply
1211
12-10-2008

Rated 0 
Okay. Its been said. It's about fisting. BUT, you can use it in other contexts as well. One of which is porn. Why not? Maynard is basically saying he's become desensitized. And thats what happens. I remember tits used to do it for me, but now, I am far down the line, but not as far as the character in the song, but still a lot further than the normals.

Key line: Constant over stimulation numbs me

Log in to reply
Talkstation
12-07-2008

Rated 0 
I grew up in an extremely strict christian family. I first became aware of music outside of church hymns through a tiny little radio tape deck I had. I used to record the radio and make mix tapes of my favorite songs and listen to them in my bed late at night. When I first heard Stinkfist, It hurt me to listen to the lyrics. I was young and wasn't capable to comprehend metaphores in music yet and took it for the literal meaning only. Yet the passion in the voice and the visual sounds of tool drew me in. This was the first step in my breaking free and becoming who I am today. I didn't want it, yet I needed it, to know I'm alive. Now reading the lyrics, I interpret it as a love song, a bitter reality of love. I have felt both sides of the duality presented in this song. Love is not easy because it's easier to ignore the subtleties and turn to other means of satisfaction. Sex can be subtle but it can also be primal and physical. In this case The fist entering deeper and deeper is satisfying a "fix" but in doing so makes it harder and harder to get back to what started it all. "And love is not a victory march, it's a cold and broken Hallelujah" -The late Jeff Buckley. I see a lot of different interpretations posted here and I believe if Tool were reading them they would be proud. Tool's lyrics are intended to mean something different to everyone. If I was battling drug addiction, I could easily apply this song to my condition and that is beautiful. With that said, I encourage all posters here to shy away from starting their blog with "No, this is obviously..." or "this is why your wrong". For those bulletins are the only ones that truly miss the point of these lyrics.

Log in to reply
CORPSErawr
12-05-2008

Rated 0 
Thats not fisting
Thats arming.

heh, joke.

I love this song. Seeing as there are 12 pages of comments, i think people know what the song means, so I'm not going to throw anything in.

Log in to reply
norezen
11-28-2008

Rated 0 
Clearly the song is about anal fisting (stinkfist? cmon people). But its only an example of what I think Keenan is trying to get across. I mean seriously, who gets anal fisted the first time they have sex? The song is about the progression of taking things farther to alleviate boredom. The same old thrills just don't cut it anymore. It can be drugs. But it can also be any obsession. Video games, music, fishing, cars, sex, money. For example I used to like nintendo growing up. But then nintendo doesnt do "it" for me any more, so I go farther across the borderline with super nintendo, then n64, then ps, ps2, ps3, im shoulder deep here.

As far as the desensitized part goes, its just that like, with things that are more limited you will find that more subtle differences make a huge impact on the amount of satisfaction one gets from it. Like vanilla ice cream. Theres not much you can do to improve on vanilla ice cream. Its the little subtle differences that make all the differences. But in our society of technology (and media) constantly pushing limits theres no need to worry about subtle differences with many things. For example audio speakers. It used to be that subtle differences made a good speaker. Better sound quality was something people went for. But now speakers and amps can just get so much louder for so much less money. They have dramatic new appearance too. Theres nothing subtle about the audio equipment industry anymore.

Like my examples? lol

Log in to reply
viccie
11-14-2008

Rated 0 
This is my interpretation of the song, expressed with images from Requiem for a Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEREqER_dmM

Log in to reply
mwinklerf4
10-28-2008

Rated 0 
These are all awesome opinions and interpretations of the song. I did not have a chance to read them all. I presonally take the song as a metaphor. The use of describing the anal fisting to several other things in life. Again another interesting way I think about it is, to really test a relationship, perhaps you don't have to push further, but pull the reigns back and see how that feels, sometimes agreeing to not have sex every time you see your significant is a very liberating feeling.

Log in to reply
niugirl21
10-11-2008

Rated 0 
I read somewhere once that this was Tool's only 'love song'. Take that for what you want.

Log in to reply
BabiiGurl2012
09-30-2008

Rated 0 
I don't know what its about... but it is still a really sexy song if you ask me... i would soooooo screw maynard!!!

Log in to reply
funkymonks11
09-11-2008

Rated 0 
To each his own, Stinkfist has always made me think about drug abuse, namely skag, and like how it's becoming a serious problem for the person and even though they acknowledge it they don’t really care about fixing it.

Something has to change
Undeniable dilemma
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bear
Constant over stimulation numbs me but I would not want you any other way

Log in to reply
toolfan712
09-06-2008

Rated 0 
I agree about how people become numb to what's going on and always need to see and hear more. This is a great song, and like all Tool songs, it has many different meanings. I don't think it's actually about fisting, but it's a metaphor for different things. Like Kookkie said it could be about drugs, but that is one of many meanings. Tool would never just write a song only about drugs. I like H-bomb's idea about artists needing to give fans more and more so they don't get bored.

Log in to reply
Keithmeister74
09-02-2008

Rated 0 
One of my favourite songs of all time.
It's all about how society is desensitised to everything around us. Violence etc are tolerated and we don't even bat an eyelid. Fisting is a euphemism for this. Showing how we need it to be worse and worse before we even notice

Log in to reply
app9
08-25-2008

Rated 0 
Keep in mind.... Maynard is a true sexual deviant.

Log in to reply
aspecialkindofidiot
08-24-2008

Rated 0 
Maynard himself has said its about the oversaturation the that media unleashes on us that it takes more and more to stimulate our minds

Log in to reply
disgustipateddd
08-22-2008

Rated 0 
I always thought of it as being about herion addiction.
It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive

^ to me, obvioiusly about addiction.

This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to
Relax, slip away

it physically hurts putting the needle in your skin.
"relax, slip away." being high.

"Constant over stimulation numbs me
But I would not want you any other way"

Log in to reply
Hellequin D.
08-22-2008

Rated 0 
samatdu, i see your angle...obviously it's hard to say yes that is correct, or no way...the link makes perfect sense...i guess it's another metaphor to add to the list

Log in to reply
The Red Pyramid
08-21-2008

Rated 0 
I think it's a love song too. A weird one (where fisting becomes apparent) but I think it's mostly about loving someone.

Log in to reply
LordAjax
08-17-2008

Rated 0 
This song is about turning numb to your environment. Maynard draws analogies between this and sex because he's f'n Maynard. Once you get a knuckle inside, its not enough, you need finger, then an elbow, etc... Its very similar to Vicarious from 10,000 days. Nothing surprises us. We have to keep searching, digging, until we find something that makes us feel something, anything.

If you think its purely about sex, you don't understand Tool.

Log in to reply
samatdu
08-16-2008

Rated 0 
Fail to see how the song is about drug addiction?
The song obvisously uses an extreme love/sexual relationship as a metaphor for the relationship between an addict and their substance of choice(which doesn't necessarily need to be a drug, ex. gambling, but usually is in most cases).
1.) "blend and balance
pain and comfort"
-obvious metaphor for the polar feelings an addict has with their substance of choice

2.)"It's not enough
I need more
Nothing seems to satisfy
I don't want it
I just need it
To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive"
- Again the lyrics represent the deep descent into addiction and the increase of a persons tolerance

3.) "Constant overstimulation numbs me"
- It is common for addicts and alcoholics to describe the use of their drug to have a numbing effect on their emotions.
4.) "Knuckle deep inside the borderline
This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to
Relax, slip away"
-Again, using the increase of intensity in the sexual relationship to personify a person beginning to do things they dont want to do to be stimulated but that they will soon become numb to it. Notice how how out of all the words Maynard could have used he chose "borderline". This is probably used to allude to a persons limits or boundaries being penetrated or broken.

5.) The entire theme of fisting in the song that represents the innocence of a first sexual encounter (like that of the initial use of a drug or behavior) digressing to an extreme sexual act such as fisting or anal fisting (the downward spiral to addictive behavior)

Although I will admit there is a chance this song represents the effects that media and entertainment can have on a person there are only 2 lines in the song that represent that interpretation. Anyways, the song is about a powerful love and hate relationship between two people (like the intensity of a relationship between an addict and their substance). How does that in any way represent the effortless, thoughtless and numbing relationship a person has with their media or entertainment venue. I feel that though the media interpretation is possible, it is way more "far fetched" than the addiction interpretation. Oh yea by the way have you ever seen the music video? The last scene of the video is shows the character with a monkey on his shoulder, a common personification of drug addiction

Log in to reply
Hellequin D.
08-13-2008

Rated 0 
Well, for the people talkng about drug addiction, I fail to see it. That metaphor seems too far fetched, even for Tool.

The lyrics explicitly imply anal fisting. I agree with treestump to a degree. The fact that you become desensitised to a lot as you experience enough of it. To paraphrase South Park...once you see Japanese girls puking into each others mouths, you can't exactly go back to playboy.

Log in to reply
Creep187
08-11-2008

Rated 0 
well i think this song ist about permanent masturbation... you see how you lose the significance of sex?you always need it, eventhough you don't want to, but it keeps you feeling human. then a woman comes along and says
"I can help you change
Tired moments into pleasure"
ro help re-surrect pleasure. but you still want more until your numb to all feelings sexual pleasure and it doesn't mean anything anymore and you still keep digging.
maybe be completely off, but think about while listening to it the next time.. seems reasonable ^^

Log in to reply
Schopiateism
08-07-2008

Rated 0 
I can compare this to relationships...how when you first start out in that relationship people will die to hold the other's hand when a year later they don't find it a big deal anymore...people can never be satisfied or happy with what they have, they always want more. They always want more when the passion dies. But like I said no one will be satisfied with what they have that is until it's gone.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here