H. Lyrics - Tool

Tool is my favorite band, but no matter how much I listen, I'm not sure if I'm getting the lyrics... but that's the point right?
Best band ever imho, please listen to them.. and take your time.

What's coming through is alive.
What's holding up is a mirror.
But what's singing songs is a snake
Looking to turn my piss to wine.
-Maynard's son is born, and he sees his own ego clearly. The snake is his son's mother, when they pro-create, his piss (semen) turns into a child (wine).

The snake behind me hisses
What my damage could have done
My blood before me begs me
Open up my heart again.

-I don't know if him and this women are on good terms, but it sounds like he's admitting she's keeping him out of trouble in a way. His blood before him, is his son, showing him to open his heart and transform.

And I feel this coming over like a storm again.
Considerately.

-His birth is completely overwhelming, but in a beautiful way.

Venomous voice, tempts me,
Drains me, bleeds me,
Leaves me cracked and empty.
Drags me down like some sweet gravity.

-I'm not sure about any of this, but I think this part is just about suppressing MJK's own impulses, for his son's future, but doing what he considers bad feels great (drags him down like sweet gravity).

I am too connected to you
To slip away, fade away.
Days away I still feel you
Touching me, changing me,

When he's on tour or whatever and away from his son, he still feels his son's impact on his life.

Considerately killing me.
His son's life is such an intense impact on him (of course), and it changes him totally.

And as the walls come down
And as I look in your eyes
My fear begins to fade
Recalling all of the times
I have died
and will die.
It's all right.
(I don't mind)

-His "walls" are his old, tougher self, being shattered in a good way. I think he his old self "dies" when he looks at his son, that's very much a good thing I believe, and he doesn't mind at all.

I'm not sure of anything, ever really... except that this band has totally changed my life. Thank you Danny, Adam, Justin and Maynard. Please listen to Tool, it takes patience, but it's so worth it.

First of all, great song. One of their best, in my opinion. I believe this song's about having to choose what to do but having second thoughts about it, or really thinking about what the choices consequences will be. By the way...to the guy who made the post about it somehow being about rape, & basically making that a joke or trying to make it funny, grow up, & don't make light of such things.
Your comment reads like you're a degenerate. That's just gross & in bad taste.

“So, any of you ever watched those Warner Bros. cartoons? Sometimes there’s that one where that guy is having a tough time trying to make a decision. He’s got an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Seems pretty obvious, right? Usually it's the angel is kind of the one trying to give him the good advice while the devil is trying to get him to do what’s bad for him. It’s not always that simple though. Most times they’re not really angels or devils, they're just friends giving you advice, looking out for your best interest but not really understanding what’s going to be best for you. So it kind of comes down to you. You have to make the decision yourself… This song is called H.”

- Maynard James Keenan

Of course, as many are people, thus many will be understandings of the same song. I might as well share my view

It's all about the emotions of the singer. I will only talk about part of the song. "The snake behind me hisses, what my damage COULD have been" I guess it's what he could have done, whom he could have hurt, but didn't. The snake may be refering to the devil, or in general: evil. It's as he has been taken by it, but he cares yet too much to be dragged and actually go out with his hatred and pain. The sucumbing to evil only left him somewhat emotionless. "My blood before me begs to open my heart", that too refers to what I just wrote.
And as the snake is drowned And as I look in his eyes, My fear begins to fade Recalling all of those times.

I could have cried then.
I should have cried then.

It's like the moment of freeing himself from the evil that kept him. He then remembers moments of pain, sadness he didn't react too, as if being emotionless. Dead inside

And as the walls come down
And as I look in your eyes
My fear begins to fade
Recalling all of the times
I have died
and will die.
It's all right.
(I don't mind)
I don't mind.
I don't mind.
I don't mind.

The "Walls" are, what I think a metaphor of boundries, set by his own mind. As the snake drowned, the walls went down, and could look in HER eyes. Then recalling the times of his own iternal death. Maybe, it's just my view. Still, he says he has died, and will die, but is ok with it.

All that it's about is acceptance, he accepted the damage done, what happened to him, and who he become, so he doesn't mind his future "deaths". As for the chorus, it's more like: Somebody that means a lot to you, but maybe you don't mean the same for them, or lost that importance for them. So "days away, I still feel you, touching me, changing me" It's just the influence of that person on his own life.

Why bother what the songs means,i was always thinking a excellent song can have more meanings then one?
JAMBI for example can be a very sad song and a very happy "im in love"Song depending on the mood.

I agree with theory about his son. I mean he admitted it himself.. People that don't get it probably don't have kids. Think about the fear of being a parent.. Think about fighting selfish choices and doubt, especially being a father when its so easy to run, especially while touring with a band. Selfish desires aside, you'd miss your child so much that it would kill you and when you looked in their eyes all your parental doubts would be gone because thats what being a parent does to you. It changes you, its just a scary process and you open yourself emotionally to your child like you do to no one else. I don't know, just my understanding of it.

Maybe this song is what somebody saw or maybe heard from one person to another. The eye hears the same thing regardless whomever's eye it maybe. Maybe someone held a compact disc in their hand and looked at objects from it from the mirror side and someone maybe wrote a song about it lyrically speaking.

My interpretation of this song has always been one that was deeply motivating for me. I always got alot out of this song because of the subjective way in which i interpreted it.

I always heard "whats coming though is a lie, whats holing up is a mirror." And then when he says whats singing songs is a snake looking to turn my pistol wide (making a choice to be selfish or selfless) . they are both totally void of hate but killing me just the same. the snake behind me hisses what my damage could have been my blood before me begs me to open up my heart again.

It painted a picture to me of some fundamental way that I perceive the world. That part of me that perceives my experiences is "whats coming through is a lie" and is because what I see and understand about what is going on is (whats holding up is a mirror) all a reflection of my own self and my subjective experiences. Then my ego or that part of me that is selfish or that desires (whats singing songs is a snake) is always there to give me a justifiable reason to act selfishly, should i choose to listen to it. And the point is furthered by, "they are both totally void of hate but killing me just the same" because if I choose to live selfless then it I will suffer for others, but if i choose to act according to my own personal interest then I may do something foolish (my blood before me begs me to open up my heart again) and then (considerately killing me) when you sacrifice for others this is what is happening is it not? and i would some times hear (consider that your killing me) because of the thought that when you do something for another person you do it because you wanted too and they may or may not understand the cost of your sacrifice and you cannot tell them or show them.

So this song helps me subjectively understand the dynamics of the ego and its relationship with reality. The me, myself, and the eye are all addressed and clearly visualized when i hear this song. Knowing the lyrics is cool but I like what my mind does with it and the things i figure out way more than knowing the real lyrics.

The meaning of the lyrics are not very relevant, although to me it's obvious they are about Heroin. The only really important thing is the quality of the song, and that quality is simply amazing.

As with every Tool song i think it has the ability to mean something different to each of us.For artists to write such music is a wonder in itself.For me it relates to my own issues i have had with drugs but now i have moved on from that i find it more about my negativity towards myself and others while on the inside its not the person i am so its a conflict of inner emotions versus outward projections of my ego.Thats just my take on it anyway.I doubt MJK expects us to look at it from his point of view but rather interperet the music in our own ways.

I don't claim that I know the meaning of the song,but I think that is about bad decisions, I mean, many people have reached to the bottom and they don't care to drag other people just because they are living too down, maybe (thats my intepretation) some of those so-called friends have dragged Maynard into all that mess that he has went trough

this song his about heroin heroin heroin, where u read about child here? where? wtf???
this is song about been a father? "Leaves me cracked and empty"
that what his child make him feel?? I really don't get it..

I have heard somewhere that Meynard's father was abusive. I have also heard his son's middle name is "H".Here's my take: "singing songs is a snake" (Memories of his father's voice in his head" . The "blood before me" is his son. "What's holding up is a mirror" is that all three share the same traits. "Both totally void of hate" (Child and his childs mother) looking to "change my piss to wine" (trying to make Meynard a better person.) "Killing me just the same" (Meynard feeling they may be opressing him as his father did) "Snake behind me hisses" (memories of his fathers abuse)"Blood before me begs me." (His son's existance is making him not want to end up like his father.) "coming over like a storm again" (memories of his father and the fear he might be the same way.) "Venomous voice" (memories of his father and how they still effect him.) "Too connected to you to slip away" (again about his father) "days away I still feel you" (what his father did in the past still effecting him. "without the skin" (without the "thick skin" and "wall" he's put up regarding his feelings about his father)"beneath the storm, under these tears, the walls came down" (a calming sense that he's coming to grips with his past by opening up about it) "The snake is drowned, as I look in his eyes, my fear begins to fade, recalling all of those times, i could have cried then, I should have cried then" (when he looks at his son he realizes that he's not like his father and is relieved) "I have died"(His father killed part of him inside) "I will die, I don't mind"(again him coming to terms with his past)

It's possible that the snake could be a few other things (e.g. addiction) but this is how I see it,and I think it makes sense. What's cool is you can interpret it in numerous ways. Gotta love Tool!

Maynard himself told that this song's about having children,be4 the band plays it at a live concert,
"what's comin' through is alive...turn my piss 2 wine.."this part is the experience of giving birth!Maynard always looks at stuff from the women's point of view 2!(like pushit)
"my fear begins 2 fade" mentions the fear of him becomin' a father!"i could have cried"those are tears of joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(if u didn't know:he has a sun!)
but jus like any other tool song,the lyrics have the ability 2 have multiple meanings,so don't feel sad if u think ur meaning isn't right,because it could B.

The meaning that my subjective mind finds in this song has to do with "spiritual" transformation, or whatever one might call it. "what's holding up is a mirror" could be referring to the baseline consciousness that permeates everything and gives rise to awareness while the snake could be seen as the baseline materiality that permeates everything... In Hindu tantra, consciousness and materiality are seen as the inseparable and all pervading components of the universe, and the material or energetic aspect is symbolized as a snake that moves throughout ones body to purify it before ultimately joining with contentless conscious and allowing one to be divinely transformed. Ayahuasqueros in south America also see visions of a snake goddess when they are in the midst of their healing rituals, a spirit-like creature who grants them knowledge on the specific ailment their patient has and how to heal them. In both traditions the transformation process is not entirely pleasant (which is what I see as much of the lyrics describing), and up until recently psychologists viewed experiences of kundalini (when the "snake" purifies you in tantra) as nothing more than a psychotic episode. "considerately killing me" could be seen as the snake killing off the maladaptive parts of oneself, for every rebirth implies the death of something else. Likewise, "remembering all the times I have died, I will die" could also be seen as describing the symbolic and literal deaths one faces in their lifetime. "I am too connected to you, to slip away, fade away" seems hopeful, like the transformative potential we have is always in the background whether or not we are aware of it. Anyways, that's how my brain views it, I'll leave it at that bc I don't want to ramble too much longer, lol. It's so interesting to see all the different interpretations. I think they would be happy that we are using their art to find our own meanings and important messages so that our own little trips through life can be filled with keys to help us along the way. Tool is fucking AMAZING!!!