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Something has to change.
Un-deniable dilemma.
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear.
Constant over stimulation numbs me
And I wouldn't have
It 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
Till 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 till
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.
Un-deniable dilemma.
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bear.
Constant over stimulation numbs me
And I wouldn't have
It 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
Till 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 till
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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In my opinion, I believe that this song is related with some sort of addiction or dependance. Addiction is not exclusive of drugs. A person may be addict to television, sex, people (have you ever been in a relationship without even enjoying it?), food or even a lifestyle.
I think that Tool is trying to describe this relationship between a human being with something he/she believes he/she needs. Not because it's useful or even joyful, but a routinary/boring/destructive habit, sometimes in a conscious and sometimes in a subconscious level.
The tale is about this need, about how deep your getting sucked up into this lifestyle, into these bad decisions, into this belief system (political, economical, religious, mediatic or even in a deeper and scarier level) and into this artificial world created by the system and by our confused/ignorant/distracted/misinformed free-will.
How much we most have to get sucked into this blindness/numbness before we realize how stubborn, erratic and arrogant we've become (unable to accept our mistaken perception/beliefs)?
How deep we most have to fall in order to get over this weakness/pride and break the vicious circle?
Also, if you're simply perceptive enough to notice just how malleable western society really is, how easily manipulated and conditioned we are by corporate manipulation and media influence (think the hype generated around APPLE products and their ideals of planned and intrinsic obsolescence, and the values/mores fed to us by hollywood and pop/rap/rnb/hip-hop music), then the idea that this song could possibly be about something as petty as a relationship or even about sex, is simply ludicrous. The lyrics encourage us to think outside the box, and simply put, people here are not thinking outside the box. Maynard would be most disappointed...we need to keep riding the spiral, people...
Here goes how it is for me (and I see it pretty clearly too):
This song is definetly NOT about drugs.
Is it about sex? Yeah, but it's not that simple.
To me this is a misogenist song, only well hidden. (would not be the only one by Maynard, see "The Package" by A Perfect Circle)
It is about empty people. Empty women. How the singer has difficulty to relate and get fulfillment from a partner.
It's message is bizarrely delivered through sex methaphors.
"Something has to change.
Un-deniable dilemma.
Boredom's not a burden
Anyone should bare."
There he is talking about how boring is someone. She doesn't satisfy him, doesn't stimulate him.
"Constant over stimulation numbs me"
To me this line is about masturbation. Masturbation can't solve his urge.
He needs something more, to breathe, to feel, to "know I'm alive", etc.
Then this comes:
"Finger deep within the borderline.
Show me that you love me and that we belong together.
Relax, turn around and take my hand."
"Borderline" there means anus. He is looking for pleasure by experimenting with her. He is trying to feel good, since having sex with her isn't good, because she means nothing to him.
"Show me that you love me and that we belong togetheter"
Sounds like he is talking her into it. She doesn't want to let him, so he sweet talks her into agreeing.
"Relax, turn around and take my hand" (up your a$$)
Then he makes obvious that it is about that.
"tired moments into pleasure".
But it gets creepier.
"Knuckle deep inside the borderline.
This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to."
Since he still didn't feel satisfied he stuck his knuckle up, hence, "Stinkfist".
"This may hurt a little" is ironically he sweet talking her even more into submission.
To me it is a sick and twisted song.
He is with a woman whom he doesn't love. Doesen't respect.
And then, to sum it up:
"How can it mean anything to me
If I really don't feel anything at all?
I'll keep digging till
I feel something."
He is talking about the woman, the relationship. How can it mean anything to me? If I really don't feel anything at all.
So he keeps "diggin'" inside of her, inserting elbow, shoulder, trying to "feel" something inside.
As I said, bizarre and twisted. But also terribly well-written if you can catch it's subtleties.
It is about "conditional love". She will do anything to please him. But he cannot see her as a person, can't feel nothing for her. She is a "thing" to him, and he intend to play with it until it breaks.
Rock on!
It's about society ramming it's version of how we're supposed to act, what we're supposed to wear, the useless shit we're supposed to buy, and the lifestyle we're supposed to live, right up our ass until we conform without questioning as to why.
Being trained to need acceptance without regard for what you want or how it makes you feel.
In this song, you are the bitch being brutally used by a master who cares nothing for you, as long as you keep the checks coming. Maynard switches this up later in the album in "hooker with a penis", when he admits his role, tells you to send more money, and lets you know what he thinks if you don't like it.
As most Tool Albums, It all ties together, and is very much about recognition of the metaphysical world, and your power to change what reality has molded you into as long as you're strong enough to "pry open your third eye".
Aenima is a bit of a tribute to Bill Hicks, and his comedy, and that was all his message. "The world is fucking you, you're probably too stupid to realize it, but don't worry, later there will be dick jokes." Eulogy is about Bill Hicks's death, and how while his message was noble, his life was ultimately lived and lost in vain because no one listened.
Maynard also references his own family in the album, personally I believe it's an example of what he uses as his source of strength when he feels weak. But that's neither here nor there.
Also, "The Package" Is about drugs, as the Album's name "13th Step" suggests. It's a concept album as well that walks you through drug addiction. The Package is about how a junkie feels when he meets his connection, and the rest of the album walks you through the cycle from addiction "Weak and Powerless" to chemical euphoria "Blue" (which is the color good meth turns when you burn it), dealing with know it all born again addicts "The Noose" self destruction "The Outsider" various other aspects of the life, and ultimately salvation through inner strength "Gravity".
Maynard has actually talked briefly about this, and how a close friend's struggle with meth and heroin influenced him to write for that album.
Again sorry, i don't mean to go off on a torrent, and what ever you get from the music is applicable to your life, the important part is you enjoy it.
However, Tool is a special bird, a lot of their songs have literal roots in the mentality of people who feel "put off" by society, as if they don't quite fit in. This is by design. Genuinely frustrated people usually share certain traits, like an affinity for kinky or violent sex,, and a desire to watch the world burn. Essentially, he lures you in with songs about rough sex, dissatisfaction, vulnerability, and anger, and if you stick around long enough to let the message reverberate inside your skull a bit, eventually you realize he's telling you how to fix it and use all that to make your life better.
The actual "music" is an elaborate package for the message, and when you combine the two, you are left with a universal force that you can harness to steal ideas from as you attempt to better yourself.
Anyway, rock hard, and think responsibly.
The Symbol used in Stinkfist, is that of anal penetration. It is among the most taboo and socially removed forms of animistic aggression and base desire within man. To want to fuck someone in the ass. It is the epitome of anal retentive and controlling.
It's not merely sexual. It could also be corporate. It could be political. It could be jealousy. It could be desire. It could be hatred. It could be control. Infact, in almost every realm of life, there is someone wanting to figuratively fuck you up the ass, if not literally.
I would couple this song with "Prison Sex", though. Prison Sex is being the prey in figurative anal rape, and Stinkfist is being the predator in figurative anal rape.
The other part ("I don't want it, I just need it") is the user succumbing to the addiction.
The metaphor of a very violent sexual act is apt in that the drug is clearly telling the user that it's going to wreck him while seducing him in a calm manner.
To me it makes sense.