| Līve – The Dam At Otter Creek Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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The first section is saying that once you've done all you can do about a situation, continuing to reflect on it will only bring you sadness. They close it out with a bold statement that this is where all sadness comes from. When all that's left to do Is reflect on what's been done This is where sadness breaths The sadness of everyone The rest of the song is a depiction of a painful or disturbing memory about a death that occurred at a place called Otter Creek, presumably in York Pensylvania where the band is originally from, and perhaps by the fault of the storyteller. Where the singer starts to become the most intense, he inserts the mantra to "Be here now"... In other words, he's reminding himself of the first section and telling himself to "be in the here and now", not to dwell on the past. *It's a very common prescription for people who deal with traumatic experiences. Considering how amped up the song becomes as it progresses, his mantra of "Be Here Now" is not enough to hold back the flood of sadness and anger associated with the memory. |
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| Līve – The Dam At Otter Creek Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[stoolhardy:33015] Thank goodness! Someone with some brains who isn't just projecting their bullshit into everything. Cheers! Case closed. | |
| Tool – Pushit (Live) Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I've been a devout Tool fan just about my entire life. The band name itself is a double entendre. They are also well known to have a very dry sense of humor at times. That said, you can't take anything Tool has to offer at face value. Sure, there may be a more obvious narrative sometimes, a story of sorts to identify and speculate about. But remove that narrative, remove the more easily identifiable "plot", and what you typically find within a Tool song is actually very Jungian (Carl Jung) or a generally inward looking and reflective examination. So, I would say the "meaning" of this song is not exclusively about a battle between lovers, sex, (vaginas?...really?) or anything of the sort. It's a battle between the self and the ego. The man and the child within. Fighting urges to return to a more vulnerable state of being. Wanting to lose one's self, and not be tied down by the pain of the past, or by the urge to fall into old ways, or by fear to continue moving forward. "I saw the gap again today"... the distance that has grown between who I am today, and who I was or could have been before. Perhaps even myself as a child. Or perhaps it's a gap that must be crossed (overcome) in order to grow. One thing is certain (to me), often when one is not satisfied with some aspect of life, or is suffering a feeling of great loss, one will say there is a gap, a void, a hole, something missing. Out of everything to be interpreted in the song, I'd say this is the most objectively clear thing to understand. "While you were begging me to stay"... While the projection of my former self was beckoning me to dwell in a state of dormancy and recollection. Possibly even the "shadow", urging me to hold on, even though it's best if I let go. After overcoming pain or tragedy or grief, we often say things like "I was a different person then." When we go through extreme changes, we often disconnect from our former selves, in essence creating a separate entity in our minds. One that can easily return if we don't fully embrace change, or if we hold on to the past. Some call it a "little voice", others call it a "feeling", and some say it's "going back to your old ways" when that subconscious entity takes over.... it's all the same. It's us. It's our fears and insecurities. A more spiritual person might say their soul wishes for more, but their human nature is a stubborn impediment. Thus the "real you" is fighting with the "physical you". There are plenty of psychological interpretations to choose from for what could be meant by "you" or "I" in any given context. "Take care not to make me enter"... Pleading for strength, if not praying for it. I don't want to go to that place, please don't make me go to that place. I become a different person when I go to that place. If you have ever struggled with depression, anxiety, anger, post traumatic stress, or suffered on the edge of a nervous breakdown, you can develop these third-person mantras to cope. "Relax, calm down, don't do this, don't start thinking like that, hold it together. No, no, no, please don't freak out." The part of us willing to change has to battle with the part that refuses to comply. We can't accept that our "new and willing" self is the same self holding us back, so we personify it as an internal or external force that is working against us. "If I do we both may disappear"... Going back to the first line ("I saw the gap"), and what that could mean; by entering the gap I am no longer who I am today, and it is impossible for me to reclaim what I once was, therefore I will cease to be anything at all if I try to return to the dark space between. So if I am fighting with the projection in my mind, and it is urging me to allow it to take control, neither of us can win that battle. I will lose who I am now, lose control, and that projection is just a memory, If I try to become that I will destroy the memory and become an abomination of it. The memory must remain a memory, and I must continue to live and grow in the present. Skipping ahead... "I will choke until I swallow. Choke this infant here before me"... I will continue to go through this, I will continue to remain frozen by fear, unable to move forward until I cope with this issue. The infant is my construct. It cries and thrashes about in my mind because it wants nurturing, but feeding it is only holding me down, holding me back from shedding my skin and growing stronger. In the most basic terms "I need to get over this shit, and grow the fuck up so I can move on with my life." It's the classic "child within". We all have a child version of ourselves inside of us that we mostly try to ignore. It makes us want things we can't have, it makes us lose control when we know we shouldn't, it makes us crave attention and nurturing from others whether we deserve it or not. So to sum it up: I think this song is about an internal battle. The child within, the ego, the shadow, et all have been personified into a single obstructive entity that is preventing growth, preventing happiness. It's hard to let go, because it has become such an intricately rooted part of the self. In many ways the relationship between the self and this entity is symbiotic or parasitic. Distance is what has kept the peace for so long, but the temptation to reopen those wounds (bridge that gap) is too strong, and the risk in doing so is too great. So The time has come to end it for good, violently and without remorse. No going back. The more I've tried to understand Tool, the more I find to understand. Also, the older I get, and the more I read, I continue to find new ways to interpret what I thought I already understood. They are an incredible band. |
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