Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
You know it hurt me,
But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
I've got my hands bound,
My head down, my eyes closed,
And my throat wide open.
Do unto others what has been done to you
I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while.
My lamb and martyr, you look so precious.
Won't you come a bit closer,
Close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Released in this sodomy.
For one sweet moment I am whole.
Do unto you now what has been done to me.
You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
Close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
There's release in this sodomy.
For I am your witness that
Blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind.
Got your hands bound, your head down,
Your eyes closed.
You look so precious now.
Show me something
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.
I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
Shit blood and cum on my hands.
I've come round full circle.
My lamb and martyr, this will be over soon.
You look so precious.
I was so young and vestal then,
You know it hurt me,
But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
I've got my hands bound,
My head down, my eyes closed,
And my throat wide open.
Do unto others what has been done to you
I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while.
My lamb and martyr, you look so precious.
Won't you come a bit closer,
Close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Released in this sodomy.
For one sweet moment I am whole.
Do unto you now what has been done to me.
You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
Close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
There's release in this sodomy.
For I am your witness that
Blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind.
Got your hands bound, your head down,
Your eyes closed.
You look so precious now.
Show me something
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.
I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
Shit blood and cum on my hands.
I've come round full circle.
My lamb and martyr, this will be over soon.
You look so precious.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
The creaking at the beginning of the song is meant to emulate a door being gently pushed open, creaking loud among the silence.
He hadn't picked up the name Maynard yet, that came later. He was James now. Probably was referred to as 'Jimmy' around this time. He was 11. His mom had her fateful aneurysm that left her broken down and paralyzed, forever changed, her faithful devotion intensified and led her to become more and more delusional and willfully ignorant.
Jimmy's stepfather was caring for him at this time, he inspires the content for this song for about two years until Judith finally sends him to his fathers in Michigan.
The part that gets me is that the child molestation is only the first verse, the rest of the song is about him, the victim, becoming the perpetrator. What fucks my mind is that i cant decide whether of not this is a metaphor for him getting into sodomy as a result (4 degrees, stinkfist) or if he for real raped a dude. Or both.
In the live sessions of Prison Sex they add a set of lyrics right before the 'i have found some kind of temporary sanity..' climax, Here they are:
"Show me something (4x)
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"
I never quite understood the 'Lamb and Martyr' part until i heard/read this, and even so i hope its only just my interpretation. he's referring to a single person. If you can't see what im getting at maybe its best i don't spell it out..
Before playing 'Jimmy' live once, Maynard addressed the crowd, announcing it as the sequel to Prison sex. Jimmy being a very personal story, the announcement of it as a 'Sequel" to Prison Sex is kind of shocking. That gives it a light of being a personal story, just by that strong association. H is a sister piece to Prison sex, its about him struggling with the abuse he grew up with, in the face of having a child of his own. The snake hissing was his lamb and martyr. That's a beautiful song about him realizing he doesnt have to perpetuate.
I have a deeper respect for Maynard than i ever have ever had for a singular artist, and the reason for that is songs like Prison sex, Jimmy, H, Judith, Passive, Orestes... he just completely opens himself up and turns his personal pain and sorrow into beautiful art as a means to move forward himself and as a tool for others to do so as well. "Turn these leaden grudges into gold"
for me this song it's all about "divine sadism"
"It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
You know it hurt me,
But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise."
life is pretty much a walk in the park until one day you loose your inocence and get a broken heart. you keep breathing, that doesn't mean so much.
"I've got my hands bound,
My head down, my eyes closed,
And my throat wide open.
Do unto others what has been done to you"
hands bound, head down, eyes closed. this is pretty much the act of praying.
throat wide open: you're nothing, a sacrifice, anything that god want from you.
Matthew 7:12- "So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
this is pretty clear. I guess!
"I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while."
everything is useless and there's no rest
"My lamb and martyr, you look so precious."
god mocking at you.
"Won't you come a bit closer,
Close enough so I can smell you."
You're just a prey
"I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Released in this sodomy."
you want sympathy. a shoulder to cry on.
it hurt's like hell and you want to put an end on it.
"For one sweet moment I am whole."
before deception... there's always a sweet moment
"Do unto you now what has been done to me.
You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise."
same but by the counter part (god)
"For I am your witness that
Blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind."
blood and flesh are not divine. are imperfect, but it's all we have at the end.
we need to trust in ourselves. to become our own saviours.
"Got your hands bound, your head down,
Your eyes closed.
You look so precious now."
(praying)
"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"
nothing in life it's how we expected, we cant escape from our destiny or what god impose us.
"So sweet was your surrender
We have become one"
people in disspear sooner or later accept god as a solution. even if he is the cause of all your suffering.
"I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
Shit blood and cum on my hands."
shit, blood and cum. you can find some temporary relieaf in earthly pleasures/distractions.
"I've come round full circle."
no matter where you go, you go nowhere
"My lamb and martyr, this will be over soon.
You look so precious."
My son... eventually you'll die and I'll be there.
Besides... the Video it's pretty elocuent.
we are the little doll. without legs, crippled on this life in one way or another. we are no more that a puppet living a shitty life and we will end in our personal hell without even notice.
anyway....
The problem is whenever I've had sex it leaves me unsatisfied. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, but I end up feeling low about myself and can never fall in love. Is it common? Am I the abuser in this song?
Not trying to bash your comment, just giving a song suggestion.
"
It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
you know it hurt me,
but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
I've got my hands bound,
my head down, my eyes closed,
and my throat wide open.
"
something was done unto us consciously by the powers that control us, it is not immediately obvious to us that it is harmful ("you know it hurt me" - the ones in control know that this is harmful but we might now), still our basic vital signs are still the same. still we are born into slavery, hands bound, head down, eyes closed, but throat wide open - meaning we still talk talk talk to each other without even realizing that we are just babbling and not understanding what is really going on
"
Do unto others what has been done to you x2
"
this form of society is self-perpetuating, people think how they are living is right even if they have a hollow feeling inside of them, and they structure the world in a way that the next generation is bound to end up in slavery again
"I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while."
treading water refers to being stuck in a meaningless job that takes away all your time to actually think and free your mind, when you get home from your job you are tired and you go straight to sleep, again not ever having any time to really think
"
My lamb and martyr, you look so precious.
Won't you come a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Released in this sodomy.
For one sweet moment I am whole.
"
the only temporary escape is fulfulling your bodily needs, like sex, without caring for the person you are doing it with, but only caring about your body getting what it wants. in the sweet moment of fulfillment we feel happy, but it is a hollow happyness, for it will be over soon. it is happiness that only comes from short-term fulfillment of your ego needs.
"
You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
There's release in this sodomy.
For I am your witness that
blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind.
"
for the other person it is the same, but they both see that they are happy for a short time, and so they both assume that this is what happyness is - blood and flesh can be trusted, there is no need to try to become happy spiritually using your mind
maybe this explanation is overly elaborate, especially for such an early tool song. it might be better to just see tools lyrics as general concepts most of the time. seeing it like this, this song is definitely about the concept of vicious cycles, all the bad in the world self-perpetuating by continiusly corrupting people
The religious "rape" interpretation was very interesting. I never thought of it in that aspect, and it was very enlightening.
And I'm pretty sure the only ones in the world who know if Maynard was molested as a child is, in fact, Maynard and whoever did/did not molest him... Jussayin...
Actually, I'm just full of shit.
The Term ''This holy medium"" means that in this sadists mind,he's bringing himself closer to his deity
But personally i don't see child molestation in this song ( dont get why people do as it never references a child ) you can have something done to you well after childhood that effects your life,i believe its about the overall way life does you,you have something done to you, you want to do it to others,that simple,and what symbolizes that more than being sodomized against your will ? Thanks for reading :)