Tool – The Pot

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  General Comment:Is "weeping shades of cozened indigo" similar to "crying me a river"?

  Flag vitaminfon April 30, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:First, I say it’s good poetry, so it’s whatever it means to you. I believe the title is a double entendre which includes both marijuana and the old idiom about The Pot calling The Kettle black, which is generally understood to imply hypocrisy. I believe the line saying “pissed all over my black kettle” is just a cool way of saying “criticized me”. I think the song is about pot, laws, political machinations and the hypocrisy of those in power to judge others. And like the beauty of nuance in other classical music composition, you can infer many other threads of meaning woven in. With all the metaphors we have to imply hypocrisy, Tool chose to highlight the pot and kettle. Now look at the lines in the 1904 book, “Maxwell’s Elementary Grammar”: “Oho!” said the pot to the kettle; You are dirty and ugly and black!” Tool’s lyrics conjure images of racist fingers pointing at all the black men this country jails for marijuana offenses. I picture a fat conservative judge addicted to painkillers sitting up high on his bench and wagging his doughy index finger at an inmate being sentenced to prison for selling ganja. I read a theory about “cozened indigo” I like on this page toolnavy.com/… that links religion and deceit. Psychic aura color interpretation says Indigo “relates to the third eye” and Dark or Muddy blue indicates “fear of future and facing the truth”. Draw your own conclusions. Politicians who rub lemon juice into their eyes to make them water have false, mechanical sympathy . It reminds me of the saying, “spare me your crocodile tears.” Crocodiles cry, not because they feel sorry for their victims, but because their jaw is so close to their eyes that the pressure of chewing makes their eyes water. This song is an amazingly brilliant composition, written by men with brains the size of cauldrons. There are layers I didn’t even notice until just now when I read in Wikipedia that Adam Jones confirmed what the title refers to: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… . It’s sweet poetry because you will see things I didn’t. At first I thought “kangaroo be stoned” meant stoned to death, but now I see that the kangaroo on the judicial bench is “STONED”—wasted—so high on other drugs that the accused screams out to say weed is nothing compared to what he’s on: “Ganga, PLEASE (are you fucking kidding me?) you must have been out your mind!”

  Flag ithacafixron March 15, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:Trying to do this easily. In general, this song is not about a specific topic, however about a specific type of personality, seen on every level of human interaction. Being a phony. Phonies can be practically found everywhere and are especially present in any position of power like for example in politics. Although I think the song refers to that branch, the song is also addressing anybody distorting reality to make himself appear “morally better” at the cost of others. Sometimes, even I catch myself of being a phony. So the song can also address yourself, if you want. you trow everything in the same pot. meaning you generalize and make no distinct but essential differentiations.
  Coming to the lines, the interpretation coming to my mind is as follows:
  
  "Who are you to wave your finger?"
  - Who, the f##k do you think you are? -
  
  “You must have been out your head”
  - Are you f##king crazy? -
  
  “Eye hole deep in muddy waters”
  - You yourself have dirty little secrets -
  
  “You practically raised the dead”
  Being a necromancer is a really bad thing, at least in the fantasy world. If you raised the dead, you have done something really wrong. If you are a necromancer, you are definitely evil.
  
  “Rob the grave to snow the cradle”
  Everybody knows, robbing graves sucks.
  
  -Then burn the evidence down-
  Tell everybody: It wasn't me! :P (troll grin)
  
  “Soapbox, house of cards, and glass
  So don't go tossin' your stones around”
  Referring to a saying: Don't throw with stones when sitting in a glass house. Meaning that you are not in the right position of accusing someone.
  
  “You must have been high
  You must have been high
  You must have been”
  - You are disillusioned -
  
  “Foot in mouth, and head up ass
  So what you talkin' 'bout?”
  Imagine someone being that acrobatic. If you see someone having his foot in his mouth and his head up in his ass, then you know that the person is definitely not able to say anything meaningful.
  
  “Difficult to dance 'round this one
  Till you pull it out, boy”
  When some is standing in your way who could expose you, then you use your position to prevent that very person of doing the right thing to hurt you (in a sense of abusively using power). Boy: well, boys know nothing. We all hate boys, right men?
  
  “You must have been so high
  You must have been so high”
  - … -
  
  “Steal, burrow, reefer
  Save your shady inference
  Kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent”
  Methods of being a successful phony. Tell lies, get credit of things you did not accomplish and shift reality!
  (…)
  I think the song is full of really great metaphors. Highly interpretable material.

  Flag Leegrawon January 13, 2013   Link

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  My Opinion:i think this song is aimed (since maynard's lyrics are frequently created as symbolic weapons) towrds music critics. more specifically, the piece of shit critic that gave lateralus a 1 out of 10 review in pitchfork. the "black kettle" is just the tool maynard uses to cook the magic. these douchebag was probably on a narcissistic high when he thought he could judge lateralus that harshly.

  Flag lebrocason January 04, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:well...i have yet to dive into the meaning of this song...since most of Tool's songs have some kind of complex hidden meaning behind them, i'm not gonna try to decipher it just yet. i'm just gonna say that this song kicks ass. the bass and distorted guitar goes so good with Maynard's seductive tone. it certainly is a song that makes me want to get up and start dancing along with some head banging. this song totally rocks!! 10,000 days overall isn't their best album but this song should definitely NOT be overlooked..Tool has still got it!!

  Flag mybloodyromance17on September 09, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:Muddy Waters....think musician
  Black Kettle....think witchcraft (or the implication of)
  The Pot......think the accusation of or the hypocrisy of (or implication of)
  Snow The Cradle.....think the theatrics of such boastful implications in a Kangaroo Court.
  
  Basically he's telling someone....don't point your finger at me when your inventory has just as much BS in it.
  
  Personally I think it's about someone saying he was trying to grow pot in his vineyard and he told them to go 4 degrees the other direction....ya dig?

  Flag BrianM74on August 23, 2012   Link

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    Or, the Caduceus label and the lawyers that got involved....what is a caduceus and what isn't a caduceus?

    Flag BrianM74on August 24, 2012  

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    Sorry, but I gotta disagree with your Black Kettle response. I think it follows while connected to "The Pot" as in, "The Pot Calling The Kettle Black". So, while your analysis of The Pot is correct (in that it is an accusation of Hypocrisy), I think that The Black Kettle is what he is being labeled, which he is a label he is turning back on the accuser.

    Flag Paran0idAnon October 18, 2012  
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  My Opinion:Listen (read lyrics) to Sober after this song. Maybe these messages could be applied on a much more personal level as with all his songs. A thing I have failed to notice from most people is how they seem unaware how the songs are in unison. You cant ever expect to "understand" one of these songs without listening to the rest. Its incomplete. A good deal of ego and pride may be lost should you take his messages personally. Why should I look up the history of a song when it is speaking to me? What is his purpose or intentions through his music?

  Flag B42Stlouison July 29, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:This song is about the kangaroo court which was a bullshit court and it’s about the judge who is the one calling the kettle black 'cause he's sending pot smokers (meaning small time offenders) to years in prison while he himself is a heroin user.
  
  "Eye hole deep in muddy waters" describes a junkie holding up the spoon he just cocked his heroin on to see if it’s right and ready to shot up.
  
  its about corruption and injustice and how those in a position of power get away with crimes while a small time/first time offender is made an example off and is sent to prison for years.

  Flag muddywateron June 24, 2012   Link

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    +100 points ^^^

    Flag MikeLayneon July 04, 2012  
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  General Comment:The Pot is all about hypocrisy. The "pissed all over my black kettle" is reffering to the treatment of the black society when they are accused of a crime. The "high" term is used as being high off of pot and putting yourself on a pedestal making yourself seem higher than everyone else. And the "stoned" term is used to describe the stoned effect of pot and the stoning of someone who commits a crime.

  Flag bfmvffdpfanon May 29, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:I don't have a hell of a lot more to add, other than maybe there's a hidden meaning in the "liar, Lawyer, mirror" bit. Could be a reference to cocaine and the hypocrisy of anti-marijuana campaigners who aren't bothered at all with the coked-up excesses of business executives etc. I know that in the 80s, the anti-drug rhetoric was focused on crack even though something like 70% of the drug war budget was spent on busting people for weed. The drug issue is a handy lens to view the general schism between what people's stated reasons for doing something are, and what their hidden reasons might be. We can all be very self-serving and vicious but can always justify it to ourselves, part of that is justifying it to others.

  Flag angelbrainon April 28, 2012   Link

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