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

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stryker311
07-09-2005

Rated 0 
i think faith on the first page said it best

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absent124
07-26-2005

Rated 0 
love this song.

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toolarmy420
07-27-2005

Rated 0 
OK so yeah I'm all for personal interpretation but yeah this is where I might have to draw the line. Contrary to popular belief this song has NOTHING to do with herion or any other drugs. Its about fisting hence the name STINK-FIST. Thats just all there is to it. Well not all I mean there is a deeper meaning to it that I don't feel like going into at 11:47pm when I have been up for two days. SO ANYWHO, yeah thats just it. Anal sex, fisting whichever way you care to pronounce it. There ya go plain and simple, there it is.

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cubus
08-12-2005

Rated 0 
I feel that this song relates to many things human, all we care about is stimulating ourselves to keep us interested and happy. And we cant just be happy at any one point, as we soon grow bored of everything and as always with human nature, want more and more.

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OpinionHead
08-13-2005

Rated 0 
I think it's fucked up, need more be said? And this is coming from the guy who thought Serenity by Godsmack is about the leading singer having a problem with bladder control.

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OpinionHead
08-14-2005

Rated 0 
Plus, I think Maynard James Keenan is a toolbox.

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skech
08-26-2005

Rated 0 
HEROIN!!! first off thank got most if not all of you were ever a heroin addict...being a heroin addict ((ex now)) i feel what these lyrics are saying COMPLETELY!! when i was a heroin addicit and with my heroin addicit girlfriend listening to this song, we both just knew that was what he was talking about in more parts..i say most because the blah blah turn around and take my hand could obviously mean about anal sex type stuff cause damn im sure it hurts the girls...and well the NOT ENOUGH I NEED MORE NOTHING SEEMS TO SATISFY I DONT WANT IT I JUST NEED IT TO BREATH TO FEEL TO KNOW IM ALIVE...is straight HEROIN FEELINGS...you DONT want it after a while, but you NEED it or you will get horrible SICK which is unbearable...when i tried to detox on my own, it was 5 days of HELL puking crapping sweating all on myself...when i went into the hospital they gave me drugs to help make it easier...i finally got clean and im 8 months and 3 weeks clean about..give or take a few days, my clean date is 12/03/04 so you do the math, either way, i felt his stuff to be true to what i think and knowing he was a heroin addict too, well i can say i know for a FACT that at least SOME of it is about heroin addiction...maybe it has a few meanings, who cares, JUST LISTEN TO IT, BE HAPPY THEY PUT THE SONG OUT, AND CONTINUE TO FEEL WHAT YOU FEEL EVERYTIMG YOU HEAR A SONG....cause THATS WHAT MUSIC IS ABOUT! AIM= TheCatsCatnip same email at the aol so HIT ME UP! if you wanna talk or anything..if you got any friends on heroin, please CONTACT ME so i can talk to you, NOONE deserves to go down that road..ive od's 3 times got stabbed in the neck shot at twice, i shot up my ex and she OD'd and luckily the paramedics got there in time ((i always shot her up, i never really wanted her to learn how to do it herself and if she was gonna do it i wanted to at least contorl part so she couldnt hurt herself further...SO BE GOOD PEOPLE, BE ADDICTION FREE AND YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THIS WORLD!!! im on my way to becoming very wealthy...and its all thanks to hard work...PADTV youll hear about me..i hope hehe...

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RachelAFS
08-27-2005

Rated 0 
TOOL JUST ROCKS NO GETTING AROUND IT!!!! WOOP!

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baysic98093
09-08-2005

Rated 0 
My personal feeling on this song is that it's using "fisting" as a metaphor for drug addiction. If you listen to other Tool songs, Maynard often used metaphors to hide a dark point. I think this song is about not enjoying what you're doing (getting no satisfaction), yet unable to do it another way. It's definately not a love song (except maybe for the degradation that accompanies hard drugs) and it's definately not just about fist-fu**ing. It's deep and I'm about 90% I'm correct...(you can never be 100% correct on an interpretation of a tool song unless Maynard said it himself...and proof is available.)

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aenim-head
09-16-2005

Rated 0 
G Point stimulation maybe...
finger deep within the border line...
Or maybe im just stupid :S

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sta515
10-03-2005

Rated 0 
yes i agree with you baysic, but maybe not just about drug addiction, maybe its about other things, like, as others have said, consumerism in capitalist society by which we are metaphorically "fisted" by greedy corporations like cigarette companies...wait maybe it is about drug addiction who knows?

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sta515
10-03-2005

Rated 0 
Maynard is deep, this song is deep, (literally) talking about fist-fucking metaphorically is kind of amusing as well as disgusting.i think all of tools music is very cynical about modern society, particularly in america, where the government is really right-wing and consumerism governs just about everything. So I think you need not interpret their songs so literally but as a whole, as a cynical stab against consumerism. Not being in america myself, but having grown up listening to american music for my whole life and living in a country that follows americas example (sadly) and is becoming less controlled by the government and more by money and capital, ... anyway im going off on a tangent, but this is my favorite tool song, yeah tool is awesome, MAYNARD IS SO DEEP

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sta515
10-03-2005

Rated 0 
myabe it is also about being force-fed religion possibly

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nobodysmith
10-12-2005

Rated 0 
well the obvious explination is anal fisting, but if you really think about it, its about someone who is reaching out to something...reaching so deep and they think they found it but they dont...but...
"i'll keep digging till i feel something"

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hillzildo
10-19-2005

Rated 0 
i think maynard is a bit bi. but this song is beautiful in a wierd way.turn around and take my hand its like maynard is telling his lover ill try not to hurt you relax turn around and take my hand ....where the hell is the border line?i dont want it i just need it to breathe to know im alive its just like everyones under the table liking for sex, hes the only one out there with reality.who else could make a song about fist fucking sound so preety?

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CDawnn
12-10-2005

Rated 0 
it's about addiction, whether it's sex, drugs, religion, etc.

"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"

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kumikameli
12-31-2005

Rated 0 
i don't think this is about society mainly because of the first few lines:

"Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear"
- boredom hasn't got much to do with propaganda

"But I would not want you any other way"
- who?

what i think this is about is addiction, but i don't get why alot of people just say drug/heroin addiction... why not alcohol? and why couldn't it be any other drug than heroin?

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dorepoll
01-06-2006

Rated 0 
Fisting. Plain and simple. Those who inject more than that are just kidding themselves.

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Snoman
01-08-2006

Rated 0 
Being (metaphorically) fist fucked by an addicting drug like heroin. Theres definatley some sort of addiction in this song.

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Offatwork
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
This song very strongly supports a love theme that relates to the current society's view on what love is and what the artest wish it was.

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

-This fragment means to me that the artist believes that society needs to change it's beliefs on what love truely is. The artist also feels that not one person deserves to be alone as indicated by the second half of this phrase.

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

-I belive this phrase is a lead in to the following after it. It says that the artist's current habbits in searching for love still leans towards phyisical attraction and less of mental.

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.

-This just complements the previous phrase by saying that the artist needs more than physical attraction, it's not enough. He needs to know what true love is to feel alive.

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

-This, and the phrases that repeat this, all mean one thing really, the blind jump a person needs to take to express their true feelings for another person, the following phrases just means that the artist is sharing deeper and deeper feelings towards another person, hoping that they will trust and respect the artist's feelings.

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

-This clearly is a lead in from the previous phrase, saying that the artist wants to express his love deeper than just dry humping. The artist wants to be stimulated even further, even offering the world to the person the artist loves.

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

-This resembles the constant struggle and complexity of each human being. To express your true feelings to another person is a great leap that might blossom into something that cannot be worded other than love.

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

-This phrase is much like the epifoney/climax (Probably spelled incorrectly) of the song. The artist now realises what society has deemed true love to be just a hoax, the fact that society is now desensitized to anything but phyical attraction to another human being. People are such in a rush to flirt that they don't take time and do not use subtlety to listen and learn from the other person.

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

-This phrase is a follow up to the previous. If a person rushes to flirt/one night stand, how can you self-determine what true love is? How can love mean anything to a person who just looks for tits and ass?

I'll keep digging 'til
I feel something

-He will not give up, he will not succum to society's standards of true love, he want's something more.

This song clearly fortifies the the true thoughts of a young adult morphing into a mature adult. A mature adult that is sick and tired of just getting pussy to satisfy his manhood, he is looking for something beyond that, true love.

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Relend
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
I have found that it does have a lot to do literally with being desensitized to overstimulus (media, tv, sex, power, money, love) It is sort of the consumer within that makes us want things so bad- even if we don't really want it, we must have it. I think that this is poking at capitalism as a whole. Our consumation/indulgence in everything will leave you feeling really numb and disconnected with other people/yourself/nature/emotions. He uses the metaphor of fisting as a parallel to the extreme lack of moderation. Instead of readin the lyrics with sexual actions in mind, one could easily substitute the feeling of emptiness and (SADLY) accepting a consumer numbness.

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cobster
02-09-2006

Rated 0 
Every good poem or song by any decent artist has at least two different levels: the surface level (literal meaning) and the universal level (what it is saying about humanity, the world, etc.). Judging from the debate going every which way about the meaning of this song, it's obviously qualified to be one of those greats.

I don't think there's much doubt that it's about (in one form or another) desensitizing and/or addiction. As to whether it's about drugs, one-night stands or fisting, I think Maynard left it deliberately ambiguous. The title Stinkfist could lead it in the direction of fisting, but also metaphorically toward "getting your hands dirty," which as Faith points out is the POV of the giver.

To tie most of what people are saying together, it's important to look at the fact that Maynard references "comfort" "pleasure," etc. --not just tired moments and pain. The common theme is not just addiction or desensitivity alone: it's both.

Taken from the angle of fisting, this song portrays one person who "needs more" and is constantly being desensitized by what gives her (or him, if you're into anal) pleasure. Again, "Stinkfist" is talking about the giver getting their hands dirty dirty--in two ways. First in the literal sense, but also in the sense of becoming guilty in the process of desensitizing their partner.

From the drug angle, the themes are the same--the only difference is that giver and receiver become the same person. That's an important element because it makes the song ambivalent as to whether the themes address self-inflicted harm, per se, or those inflicted on someone else.

Finally we come to the universal level where I think the song is is talking about how people take comfort in [addicting] momentary pleasures which really only serve to desensitize them even more. It also explores the guilt factor of those providing the pleasure, whether that person be oneself or, as the title implies, someone else.

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Hraesvelg
02-09-2006

Rated 0 
Once upon a time, it did not take much to shock people (for example, saying the word "sex" on television was scandal-worthy material). But due to constant overstimulation, we need much more in order to be shocked. For example, we might have to see sex. And sex itself isn't even that shocking now; so in order to be shocked, we need something terrible like a vivid rape scene or a graphic torture scene; this repersents the whole arm.

The anal fisting is a metaphor for the media's constantly loosening boundaries (the boundaries that encompass only what is acceptable), and the song asks the question, "when will it take the whole arm?"

Finger = the word sex. Shoulder = child torture/rape scene with bears devouring (and perhaps raping) babies in the background.

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killswitch916
02-16-2006

Rated 0 
Drugs I believe, BUT TOOL KICKS ASS ANYWAY!!!!!

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Soundgarden1019
02-16-2006

Rated 0 
I think that this song is about a dying relationship...and trying to find something more to keep it alive.

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