Run desire, run, sexual being
Run him like a blade to and through the heart
No conscience, one motive
To cater to the hollow

Screaming feed me here
Fill me up again
And temporarily pacify this hungering

So grow, libido, throw
Dominoes of indiscretions down
Falling all around, in cycles, in circles
Constantly consuming
Conquer and devour

'Cause it's time to bring the fire down
Bridle all this indiscretion
Long enough to edify
And permanently fill this hollow

Screaming feed me here
Fill me up again
Temporarily pacifying

Feed me here
Fill me up again
Temporarily pacifying


Lyrics submitted by Terminal

The Hollow Lyrics as written by Maynard James Keenan Billy Howerdel

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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The Hollow song meanings
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  • +4
    General Comment

    This is my own interpretation: To me this song is about the way mankind has raped the world. Our conquer and devour attitude. Cater to the hollow could refer to the fact people are generally confused about the meaning life; they feel hollow and purposeless, so they are forever looking for a way to fill this hollow. Mostly mankind does this through consumption. The repeated use of the word indiscretion (means lack of prudence, lack of good judgment and foresight) suggests to me that humankind is not using their power of reason to realise that this over-consumption is destroying us, it is not sating us. There are other words that seem significant, they are: edify (to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge. It sort of means to enlighten.) To me this suggests that to edify is the only pure and permanent way to fill the hollow. The verse in which it is used might mean: it is time to start being prudent and take responsibly, the only way we can truly fill the hollow is through edification. Pacify: to mean to restore to a tranquil state, but the word invokes feelings of being controlled and manipulated. A pacified state will not remain so for long. Temporary: this is important to a few APC & Tool songs, since a large problem of mankind is a lack of acceptance in the temporary state of life. Also, the over-consumption and pacification are all temporary, pointless and ever-repeating false solutions. Libido: (instinctual psychic energy that in psychoanalytic theory is derived from primitive biological urges and that is expressed in conscious activity.) To me this means that even though we have the power of reasoning, we still lack discretion, so instead of limiting our libido in order to sustain and preserve our symbiotic relationship with the planet, we chose to go for the quick, temporary fix: we give in and reify libido. So our indiscretion is leading to misuse of the earth and could lead to self-destruction. Things happen in cycles and circles. We never learn from past mistakes, we just repeat them. Throttle: (means to choke/kill, but also means to decrease the flow of, or to regulate) this means that in order to fill the hollow we need to destroy indiscretion and regulate and decrease the flow of libido. This will allow us to edify, and permanently fill the hollow.

    This song is really wordy, a lot of the words relate & have double meanings. Eg: indiscretion also means imprudent, which could be related to the way that sex is another commodity in the modern world; we have lost prudence. The word prudent is related to the word prude, to mean sexual discretion. The lack of sexual discretion in the world is leading to overpopulation, which is in turn destroying the planet.

    This is probably just all a coincidence. But to me this song is the key to many of MJKs other songs. This is just my own personal take on the lyrics; what this song means to me.

    zomzaraon July 05, 2008   Link

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