Sulfur

"Its kind of a reflection of where I am at the moment, I probably feel the best I have in years, not only health-wise, but as a person. The last 3 years have been an awakening for me. I'm standing up for my morals, standing up for myself, but the flip side to that coin is that there is always something inside of me that's going to make people feel like they're chewing on tin foil. For most of my life, I tended to base my opinion on myself by what people thought of me. As I got stronger, I learned to be happy in my own skin and accept that there are these fucked up things about me."

it seems as though its partially about the same woman hes speaking of in snuff and gehenna,

'And My Face and My Soul always wear me thin - always under control' he seems to be able to control his emotions, at least fairly well enough, that he can blanket his emotions for her

But the longest hours you’ll have in your life Are the ones you sit through to know if you’re right So I’ll wait, but I pray that I’m wrong Because I think I know what’s going on

this seems that hes waiting for her to make up her mind, to believe that what is happening is truly going on, and to succumb to her feelings, but his paranoia shows through and he worries that she could be just using him, even if not for monetary gain, just for her own personal needs, perhaps.

' So Let Me Get This Straight… the only will is my own I do whatever I want and stay alone All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted I’m gonna suffer for the rest of my life'

it seems she has asked him to fight for her, give her some semblance of hope and faith, and he feels that he shouldnt have to give her that, and that her faith should come from inside herself, and not from him.

' STAY - You don’t always know where you stand ‘Til you know that you won’t run away There’s something inside me that feels Like Breathing in Sulfur…' again, it seems that she does not know how to feel, and will back away and hide from him, until she feels so strongly about him that she refuses to hide away anymore, thus in turn giving him false assumptions to her motives, it seems its driving him insane to see her flipflop on her emotions, the same way it seems hes doing.

'My Life is undone - and I’m a sinner to most but a sage to some And my Gods are Untrue - I’m probably wrong, but I’m better than you And the longest hours I’ve had in my life Were the ones I went through to know I was right So I’m safe, but I’m a little outside I’m gonna laugh when I’m buried alive' this verse draws away from that, and moves more into his own self, pretty much to the point, hes had to take a long road to discover himself, it seems slightly to mirror some anger towards her, he seems almost bragging to her that hes above her because of what hes found in himself..

I feel this song is about crap hitting the fan and ppl backstabbing and stuff. Inner struggles are tearing you apart yet u still will fight for what you think is right.

Hm kind of necro'ing this but I just recently found this song and looked up the lyrics. Seems Slipknot has greatly matured over the years... many of their songs have layered meanings to them. That's definitely impressive.

I get the feeling that this song is about someone embracing either Atheism, or just a less mainstream view of religion.

"My Guilt and My Shame always sell me short - always feel the same"

• As stated by some above, at this point in the song the singer seems to have an idea that is causing guilt/shame (two concepts often associated with Christianity...and many religions tbh)

"And My Face and My Soul always wear me thin - always under control"

• Here it seems the singer is keeping his ideas masked away from society at large, he also appears to take a jab at his former viewpoint (likely Christianity, but I could be mistaken..it could easily be something else) that his "Soul is always under control" likely by society at large, or by a "pope"-like figure.

"But the longest hours you�ll have in your life Are the ones you sit through to know if you�re right So I�ll wait, but I pray that I�m wrong Because I think I know what�s going on"

• Here it seems as if some "major" incident happened to the singer...and made him seriously doubt the existence of God (or God as he knew it)... it also sounds like he's not overly thrilled with his gut feelings now... and he'll "pray" (ironic, love the use of it here), that he's wrong.

"So Let Me Get This Straight� the only will is my own I do whatever I want and stay alone All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted I�m gonna suffer for the rest of my life But I will always find a way to survive I�m not a failure, but I know what it�s like I can take it or leave it� or die"

• I won't elaborate as my post is already getting quite long... but essentially he takes a very "Darwinian" approach here... the only will is his own, there is no god, he can do whatever he wants...but life is about "struggling to survive". He states it quite plainly at the end of this statement... he take take "it", leave "it".... or die. Very minimalist (naturalist if you will), and very akin to the themes of Darwin (or at least to the themes attached to Darwin... Evolution itself does not disprove the existence of God, only of Genesis and other creation tales being literal).

"STAY - You don�t always know where you stand �Til you know that you won�t run away There�s something inside me that feels Like Breathing in Sulfur�"

• I agree with what was stated above, he's basically saying that sometimes you don't realize where you stand until enough is enough and you stand your ground. I think the "breathing in sulfur" line refers to his comeback to Christians (or at least Abrahamic faiths) who will shun him... essentially "I'd rather burn in hell than believe something I don't"

"My Life is undone - and I�m a sinner to most but a sage to some And my Gods are Untrue - I�m probably wrong, but I�m better than you And the longest hours I�ve had in my life Were the ones I went through to know I was right So I�m safe, but I�m a little outside I�m gonna laugh when I�m buried alive"

• Clearly states here that he's a "sinner" to most... aka to those who believe in Christianity, but a sage to some.... those who have left Christianity (or such faiths) and embrace a more naturalistic view. He says his "Gods" are untrue, that his views could very well be wrong (and likely are) but he's not causing any damage in this world with his views....unlike some other hardliners. He then throws the question onto others.... telling them that their time will come when they face the sad truths in this world and can not reconcile the complete 1) goodness, 2) power, 3)all-knowing natures of God.

• He says he'll laugh when he's buried alive... I am still not entirely sure what this means.... likely some reference to the "Day of Judgement"... but I'm not entirely certain. Thoughts?

Anwyays... amazing song...with adeptly deep lyrics. Anyone else agree? Or have another take?

Solid track. Probably my favorite on the album, musically and lyrically.

IMHO.....

These lyrics show thematic references to the Christian faith. ("My guilt...my shame...I pray...my will is my own...untouchable...tainted...sinner...my gods are untrue.") These are not uniquely Christian, but they are definitely thematically correlated. And this ties in to what I'm going to say next....

To me, the song is like a middle finger to the christian god. It's like the narrator knows that his way of living is "sinful" and "wrong" in the eyes of god....he knows the gods he serves are probably untrue, but he doesn't give a fuck because "the only will is my own I'll do whatever I want and stay alone." He knows he is wrong and that he is going to hell for it "All my decisions make it untouchable and tainted, I'm gonna suffer for the rest of my life," but he doesn't care. He'd rather burn in hell than change his ways.

Also, (and this part may not be intentional on the part of the writers) but I get meaning out of the last phrase of the verse before the first chorus " I can take it or leave it, or die...." (so here I see an inner struggle - do the narrator change his ways before its too late, or does he keep going the path he's on?) this is then followed by "Stay! You don't always know where you stand..."

To me this song represents the idea of enjoying the evil and almost a part of you craving the fires of hell. (ie- the reference to sulfur. Biblical texts often relate sulfur to hell. So like a symbolic embracing of evil and hellfire. The narrator craves the sulfur of hell and knows that that's what will eventually come and on most days is okay with it, but sometimes he feels the inner struggle to change his ways as represented by these lyrics.

Thoughts?

This kind of reminds me of a mix of Slipknot and Stone Sour. I'm still trying to get what exactly it's about.

Probably my favorite song on the album.

Great song, not really sure of the meaning on this one.

This is a pretty good song. I still haven't figured out how I feel about this album yet but I think this is my favorite song. You just gotta love it when Taylor busts out and sings.

I don't think this song has any real hidden meaning at all, it's pretty much to the point.

i love this song too but i dont really know what its about..well maybe..idk