I wrote a response to one of the comments here but I figure this will get more attention. Maynard James Keenan said, in his own words, what this song is about on the aMOTION DVD. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT about the government, Bush, the NWO or any of that crap.
This song IS ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION, as is the entire album The Thirteenth Step. I.E. the thirteen steps of addiction.
This song is about being so caught up in an addiction that you feel the world isn't a safe place anymore, that the only thing protecting you from the horrors in the world are the drugs that, in reality, are ruining your life. How drugs protect you from reality. Go back to sleep=get high, your problems will disappear. Maynard even described Richard Prior's freebasing incident as inspiration for this song.
When this song was remade into Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums, it takes on the entire anti-government, anti Bush, NWO meaning that so many people have described here, again as per Maynard. That was the entire reason for the remake of the song. Maynard felt it could have more than one meaning, but didn't want the message of the two songs to be confused. Too bad they obviously are anyway.
Maynard says that he intentionally doesn't tell people why he wrote the songs, he wants the listeners to find their own meaning in his words. When he does state why he wrote it, there is a reason. I figured most of his fans would take that as the word of god basically, since so many look up to him like he is a god. The information is out there in his own words, I don't get how so many of you still screw it up. You can take whatever meaning you want from the lyrics, I'm just providing facts from the writers mouth that say you are wrong.
This song, along with this entire album, have a deep meaning for me. It represents and accurately describes four years of my life, when I fell partly into addiction, but mostly spent those same four years watching my ex fall terribly deep into a terrible heroin addiction where she overdosed twice, her brother overdosed and died, and no matter what I did, I couldn't help her. It's a terrible feeling, and I can see the emotion in every song off this album from multiple views due to my experience. Luckily I woke the fuck up and cleaned up. I had to walk away from my ex, who I loved very much, and that was the hardest thing I've ever done. She was just too far gone. IIRC Maynard was going thru the same thing with a lover when he wrote this album, and that was a major influence behind some of the songs.This album is one of the few things that kept me going.
@si4ws89 It's actually 12 steps of addiction, not 13. But yes the album is about addiction, but I think each person can get still interpret how they will. Personally I have no experience with addiction, but to me I can identify with the government aspect of the song. So for me that is what it means to me, irrelevant of why Maynard wrote it. As an artist you have to accept that people will identify differently with your work.
@si4ws89 It's actually 12 steps of addiction, not 13. But yes the album is about addiction, but I think each person can get still interpret how they will. Personally I have no experience with addiction, but to me I can identify with the government aspect of the song. So for me that is what it means to me, irrelevant of why Maynard wrote it. As an artist you have to accept that people will identify differently with your work.
@si4ws89 I know how you feel. This song/album resonates with me as well. I'm sorry for everything you had to go through but I'm glad you're doing alright.
@si4ws89 I know how you feel. This song/album resonates with me as well. I'm sorry for everything you had to go through but I'm glad you're doing alright.
Anyway, I completely understand where you're coming from. I too have seen aMotion clip you were referring to. The thing is, Maynard is notorious for intentionally misleading fans when explaining the meanings behind his lyrics. His explanations for the meaning behind Judith and 3 Libras respectively are almost comical. It's like he likes loves playing with people's minds. That's what's so captivating about him. He thrives on being very enigmatic. He hates being a celebrity hence the make up, wig, costumes and performing in the back/side of the stage at live shows. I've seen almost all if not all of his interviews and he very rarely gives out serious/sincere answers so I wouldn't necessarily count on his explanations. 13th Step is indeed very well centered on addiction and the failure of 12 step programs (13th step being Relapse. A common joke within AA circles) but not all the songs on it are about addiction. This one being one of them. The line "Swaying to the rhythm of the New World Order" and the reference to sheep and war drums alone are a dead give away, I think. It's the only subject that makes sense to me. Like most art forms, songs/lyrics are open to interpretation. This to me is very straight forward once you get the topic. This song helped wake me up. That's my take on it.
@si4ws89 still listening in 2017! But couldn't agree with you more. It's obviously about the comfort of drugs or even alcohol to me. That escape that you look forward to everyday, the one thing that helps you sleep at night. It's a really sick, yet true meaning of the song
@si4ws89 still listening in 2017! But couldn't agree with you more. It's obviously about the comfort of drugs or even alcohol to me. That escape that you look forward to everyday, the one thing that helps you sleep at night. It's a really sick, yet true meaning of the song
@si4ws89 MJK - "I think that there's many meanings that we really strive for within
the music. There's layers of interpretation." Yeah he might of said this about a Tool song, but he is the same person. There is no single meaning to Maynards lyrics. He makes them to be interpreted in many different way. Get your head outta ya butt and actually learn what MJK is about. He may have said that cuz that is his inspiration, but he has and always will want the individual to think outside the box and make their own views. Dont blaspheme Maynard....
@si4ws89 MJK - "I think that there's many meanings that we really strive for within
the music. There's layers of interpretation." Yeah he might of said this about a Tool song, but he is the same person. There is no single meaning to Maynards lyrics. He makes them to be interpreted in many different way. Get your head outta ya butt and actually learn what MJK is about. He may have said that cuz that is his inspiration, but he has and always will want the individual to think outside the box and make their own views. Dont blaspheme Maynard. He is basically a god at this point.
@si4ws89 Well but the world really isn't a safe place, anything can happen to you, the good and the bad and it may be due to your actions, or incidentally. Sometimes even with the best intentions and the best expectations and all possible knowledge of your situation you just can't predict what will happen and it may take a wrong direction, we are no gods. Suffering is a part of life as well as joy, you just can't avoid it even though the amount of it may differ from one person to another. The thing is that it's not a...
@si4ws89 Well but the world really isn't a safe place, anything can happen to you, the good and the bad and it may be due to your actions, or incidentally. Sometimes even with the best intentions and the best expectations and all possible knowledge of your situation you just can't predict what will happen and it may take a wrong direction, we are no gods. Suffering is a part of life as well as joy, you just can't avoid it even though the amount of it may differ from one person to another. The thing is that it's not a reason to give up and run away by using drugs and killing yourself. Another thing is that there are many other ways of escape, all forms of art may be kind of escape, or just any activity where you get caught up, you basically become the activity itself and lose the world from your sight forgetting who you are, where you are, forgetting how complex you are as a person, forgetting your pain, forgetting everything. It's important to have the gratitute for being alive and having this possibility to enjoy every moment of it from any position, to keep faith, because nothing lasts forever. That being said I think everyone has some kind of relieve and it's not bad thing at all, it's necessity to a certain extend, but too much of anything is harmful. I also think that this world (talking about western lifestyle) could use more kindness and sincerity to lower the ubiquitous pressure.
Sorry for the elaborate, your comment just made me think a lot :)
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone...
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone to meetings would understand. I myself haven’t any personal experience with addiction but spent many years trying so hard to help my sister and mother and went to a lot of NA meetings, unfortunately to no avail. It took me far too long to realize that an addict will only change if they themselves really want to. You can’t save someone else no matter how hard you try. \r\n\r\nThank you so much for this interpretation and sharing your experience. Happy to hear you’ve found recovery.
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone...
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone to meetings would understand. I myself haven’t any personal experience with addiction but spent many years trying so hard to help my sister and mother and went to a lot of NA meetings, unfortunately to no avail. It took me far too long to realize that an addict will only change if they themselves really want to. You can’t save someone else no matter how hard you try. \r\n\r\nThank you so much for this interpretation and sharing your experience. Happy to hear you’ve found recovery.
I wrote a response to one of the comments here but I figure this will get more attention. Maynard James Keenan said, in his own words, what this song is about on the aMOTION DVD. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT about the government, Bush, the NWO or any of that crap.
This song IS ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION, as is the entire album The Thirteenth Step. I.E. the thirteen steps of addiction.
This song is about being so caught up in an addiction that you feel the world isn't a safe place anymore, that the only thing protecting you from the horrors in the world are the drugs that, in reality, are ruining your life. How drugs protect you from reality. Go back to sleep=get high, your problems will disappear. Maynard even described Richard Prior's freebasing incident as inspiration for this song.
When this song was remade into Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums, it takes on the entire anti-government, anti Bush, NWO meaning that so many people have described here, again as per Maynard. That was the entire reason for the remake of the song. Maynard felt it could have more than one meaning, but didn't want the message of the two songs to be confused. Too bad they obviously are anyway.
Maynard says that he intentionally doesn't tell people why he wrote the songs, he wants the listeners to find their own meaning in his words. When he does state why he wrote it, there is a reason. I figured most of his fans would take that as the word of god basically, since so many look up to him like he is a god. The information is out there in his own words, I don't get how so many of you still screw it up. You can take whatever meaning you want from the lyrics, I'm just providing facts from the writers mouth that say you are wrong.
This song, along with this entire album, have a deep meaning for me. It represents and accurately describes four years of my life, when I fell partly into addiction, but mostly spent those same four years watching my ex fall terribly deep into a terrible heroin addiction where she overdosed twice, her brother overdosed and died, and no matter what I did, I couldn't help her. It's a terrible feeling, and I can see the emotion in every song off this album from multiple views due to my experience. Luckily I woke the fuck up and cleaned up. I had to walk away from my ex, who I loved very much, and that was the hardest thing I've ever done. She was just too far gone. IIRC Maynard was going thru the same thing with a lover when he wrote this album, and that was a major influence behind some of the songs.This album is one of the few things that kept me going.
@si4ws89 It's actually 12 steps of addiction, not 13. But yes the album is about addiction, but I think each person can get still interpret how they will. Personally I have no experience with addiction, but to me I can identify with the government aspect of the song. So for me that is what it means to me, irrelevant of why Maynard wrote it. As an artist you have to accept that people will identify differently with your work.
@si4ws89 It's actually 12 steps of addiction, not 13. But yes the album is about addiction, but I think each person can get still interpret how they will. Personally I have no experience with addiction, but to me I can identify with the government aspect of the song. So for me that is what it means to me, irrelevant of why Maynard wrote it. As an artist you have to accept that people will identify differently with your work.
@si4ws89 I know how you feel. This song/album resonates with me as well. I'm sorry for everything you had to go through but I'm glad you're doing alright.
@si4ws89 I know how you feel. This song/album resonates with me as well. I'm sorry for everything you had to go through but I'm glad you're doing alright.
Anyway, I completely understand where you're coming from. I too have seen aMotion clip you were referring to. The thing is, Maynard is notorious for intentionally misleading fans when explaining the meanings behind his lyrics. His explanations for the meaning behind Judith and 3 Libras respectively are almost comical. It's like he likes loves playing with people's minds. That's what's so captivating about him. He thrives on being very enigmatic. He hates being a celebrity hence the make up, wig, costumes and performing in the back/side of the stage at live shows. I've seen almost all if not all of his interviews and he very rarely gives out serious/sincere answers so I wouldn't necessarily count on his explanations. 13th Step is indeed very well centered on addiction and the failure of 12 step programs (13th step being Relapse. A common joke within AA circles) but not all the songs on it are about addiction. This one being one of them. The line "Swaying to the rhythm of the New World Order" and the reference to sheep and war drums alone are a dead give away, I think. It's the only subject that makes sense to me. Like most art forms, songs/lyrics are open to interpretation. This to me is very straight forward once you get the topic. This song helped wake me up. That's my take on it.
@si4ws89 still listening in 2017! But couldn't agree with you more. It's obviously about the comfort of drugs or even alcohol to me. That escape that you look forward to everyday, the one thing that helps you sleep at night. It's a really sick, yet true meaning of the song
@si4ws89 still listening in 2017! But couldn't agree with you more. It's obviously about the comfort of drugs or even alcohol to me. That escape that you look forward to everyday, the one thing that helps you sleep at night. It's a really sick, yet true meaning of the song
@si4ws89 i dont blame any of em Maynard may as well be god at this point
@si4ws89 i dont blame any of em Maynard may as well be god at this point
@si4ws89 MJK - "I think that there's many meanings that we really strive for within the music. There's layers of interpretation." Yeah he might of said this about a Tool song, but he is the same person. There is no single meaning to Maynards lyrics. He makes them to be interpreted in many different way. Get your head outta ya butt and actually learn what MJK is about. He may have said that cuz that is his inspiration, but he has and always will want the individual to think outside the box and make their own views. Dont blaspheme Maynard....
@si4ws89 MJK - "I think that there's many meanings that we really strive for within the music. There's layers of interpretation." Yeah he might of said this about a Tool song, but he is the same person. There is no single meaning to Maynards lyrics. He makes them to be interpreted in many different way. Get your head outta ya butt and actually learn what MJK is about. He may have said that cuz that is his inspiration, but he has and always will want the individual to think outside the box and make their own views. Dont blaspheme Maynard. He is basically a god at this point.
@si4ws89 Well but the world really isn't a safe place, anything can happen to you, the good and the bad and it may be due to your actions, or incidentally. Sometimes even with the best intentions and the best expectations and all possible knowledge of your situation you just can't predict what will happen and it may take a wrong direction, we are no gods. Suffering is a part of life as well as joy, you just can't avoid it even though the amount of it may differ from one person to another. The thing is that it's not a...
@si4ws89 Well but the world really isn't a safe place, anything can happen to you, the good and the bad and it may be due to your actions, or incidentally. Sometimes even with the best intentions and the best expectations and all possible knowledge of your situation you just can't predict what will happen and it may take a wrong direction, we are no gods. Suffering is a part of life as well as joy, you just can't avoid it even though the amount of it may differ from one person to another. The thing is that it's not a reason to give up and run away by using drugs and killing yourself. Another thing is that there are many other ways of escape, all forms of art may be kind of escape, or just any activity where you get caught up, you basically become the activity itself and lose the world from your sight forgetting who you are, where you are, forgetting how complex you are as a person, forgetting your pain, forgetting everything. It's important to have the gratitute for being alive and having this possibility to enjoy every moment of it from any position, to keep faith, because nothing lasts forever. That being said I think everyone has some kind of relieve and it's not bad thing at all, it's necessity to a certain extend, but too much of anything is harmful. I also think that this world (talking about western lifestyle) could use more kindness and sincerity to lower the ubiquitous pressure.
Sorry for the elaborate, your comment just made me think a lot :)
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone...
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone to meetings would understand. I myself haven’t any personal experience with addiction but spent many years trying so hard to help my sister and mother and went to a lot of NA meetings, unfortunately to no avail. It took me far too long to realize that an addict will only change if they themselves really want to. You can’t save someone else no matter how hard you try. \r\n\r\nThank you so much for this interpretation and sharing your experience. Happy to hear you’ve found recovery.
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone...
@si4ws89 People who have spent time in meetings for addiction know about the 13th step. For those who don’t know, a 13th stepper is someone who uses meetings to hook up with others or find romantic partners. For this reason, it’s entirely appropriate for this album to be titled Thirteenth Step to make reference to experiences with romantic partners within recovery, A Perfect Circle wouldn’t be A Perfect Circle without painful, specific and relatable love songs. \r\n\r\nI love that the band added in this lesser known tidbit of information that only addicts and loved ones of addicts who have gone to meetings would understand. I myself haven’t any personal experience with addiction but spent many years trying so hard to help my sister and mother and went to a lot of NA meetings, unfortunately to no avail. It took me far too long to realize that an addict will only change if they themselves really want to. You can’t save someone else no matter how hard you try. \r\n\r\nThank you so much for this interpretation and sharing your experience. Happy to hear you’ve found recovery.
@si4ws89 Justin1039 absolutely nailed it!!!
@si4ws89 Justin1039 absolutely nailed it!!!