The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Who are you to wave your finger?
You must have been out your head
Eye hole deep in muddy waters
You practically raised the dead
Rob the grave to snow the cradle
Then burn the evidence down
Soapbox house of cards and glass
So don't go tossin' your stones around
You must have been high
You must have been high
You must have been
Foot in mouth and head up ass
So what you talkin' 'bout?
Difficult to dance 'round this one
Till you pull it out, boy
You must have been so high
You must have been so high
Steal, borrow, refer
Save your shady inference
Kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been high, high
You must have been high, high
Who are you to wave your finger?
So full of it
Eyeballs deep in muddy waters
Fucking hypocrite
Liar, lawyer, mirror show me
What's the difference?
Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been
So who are you to wave your finger?
Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me?
You must have been out your mind
Weeping shades of indigo
Trapped without a reason
Weeping shades of indigo
Liar, lawyer, mirror for you
What's the difference?
Kangaroo be stoned
He's guilty as the government
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been high, high, high, high
Eyeballs deep in bloody waters
You're balls deep in muddy waters
Ganja? Please
You must have been out your mind
You must have been out your head
Eye hole deep in muddy waters
You practically raised the dead
Rob the grave to snow the cradle
Then burn the evidence down
Soapbox house of cards and glass
So don't go tossin' your stones around
You must have been high
You must have been high
You must have been
Foot in mouth and head up ass
So what you talkin' 'bout?
Difficult to dance 'round this one
Till you pull it out, boy
You must have been so high
You must have been so high
Steal, borrow, refer
Save your shady inference
Kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been high, high
You must have been high, high
Who are you to wave your finger?
So full of it
Eyeballs deep in muddy waters
Fucking hypocrite
Liar, lawyer, mirror show me
What's the difference?
Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been
So who are you to wave your finger?
Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me?
You must have been out your mind
Weeping shades of indigo
Trapped without a reason
Weeping shades of indigo
Liar, lawyer, mirror for you
What's the difference?
Kangaroo be stoned
He's guilty as the government
Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo
Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye
When you pissed all over my black kettle
You must have been high, high, high, high
Eyeballs deep in bloody waters
You're balls deep in muddy waters
Ganja? Please
You must have been out your mind
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He's calling out all the hypocrites that criticize stoners, but are just as lazy and worthless. Druggies might be liars, but so are lawyers, there isn't much difference.
People get up on a soapbox and preach about what everyone is doing wrong, but they are standing in a flimsy house of cards. And people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, because eventually they get back what they've dished out.
That's a clear reference when he talks about pissing on the black kettle. Ever hear the phrase, 'calling the kettle black'? You see everyone else's faults but not your own.
i think you nailed it rock hawk
phrased perfectly dude
In the midst of TREXOR and nonetospeakof squabbling like toddlers lies a gem. Good shot, rock hawk.
i had to create an account just to commend you on your flawless explanation lol. Nicely done, I was getting frustrated just reading some of the other comments haha.
damn dude... nice job i got a similar impressin(sp) i lust suck at typing what i think
You hit that so hard on the dot that I do not need to read anyone else's opinion. I, like Samantha, also registered just to leave you a comment.
lol what a moronic post. Just 1 interpretion of this song, the other guy said it best it's multi-layered
Just have to say this... Not all stoners are lazy and worthless. As a matter of fact I'm a stoner, but I'm not lazy because of weed and I have a lot of friends who smoke and aren't lazy. I also don't know what you mean by "Druggies might be liars" that is just ridiculous, drugs and lieling are not intertwined. I can see what you mean by calling out the hypocrites and blaming others but not realizing your own faults. However, I don't think those few things I mentioned earlier are ever represented in this song. I know it wasn't intended by Tool either because they aren't that ignorant.
"Hypocrites that criticise stoners" ---> "Druggies might be liars"<br /> <br /> LOL! He is talking about YOU sir :)
i don't think the song meant "druggies are liars". i see it as: liars and lawyers are one in the same, no difference- they mirror each other.
i don't think the song meant "druggies are liars". i see it as: liars and lawyers are one in the same, no difference- they mirror each other.
@TeriEsoc12 People who drugs, such as the admission that @pmahones said, are often associated with that stereotype. "All druggies are liars and can't be trusted" is thrown around all too much, yet we have lawyers that are paid to lie and protect people that are accused of a crime and still we consider them trustworthy just because they supposedly "uphold" the law. The point of the song, which @rock_hawk stated, is just that. They are hypocrites. It is known that druggies will lie to get drugs, which is a stereotype, meaning it's not the same in every case. Your ignorance to believe that stereotype without actually knowing or being apart of a community of drug users is really prominent in the comment you posted. Just because you are not a drug user (supposedly) doesn't mean you're an upstanding citizen that only upholds the law, never lies and doesn't have anything to hide. You're the very thing the song was talking about. <br /> <br /> I know I'm INSANELY late to this party and that you'll probably never even see this, but I still wanted to throw my two cents in. Don't judge others with you yourself aren't exactly a saint. No one is. Everyone has secrets and everyone lies.
*use drugs
@rock_hawk. Right. Also note that it's "The Pot" that calls the kettle black.