Holy water clouds my thinking
Sinking low now keep on drinking
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
You control me
Soul you stole mine wishful thinking
Six feet under
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
So feel what were my eyes
Sink into the holes in my eyes
My sins have made me blind
Sink into the holes in my eyes
Dead by dreaming
sleep you steal mine
Pools of cold sweat
hatred burns me
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed you
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed you
That followed you
Sinking low now keep on drinking
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
You control me
Soul you stole mine wishful thinking
Six feet under
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
So feel what were my eyes
Sink into the holes in my eyes
My sins have made me blind
Sink into the holes in my eyes
Dead by dreaming
sleep you steal mine
Pools of cold sweat
hatred burns me
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Down you go, suffer long
Down you go, sin make me strong
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed you
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed
Still shackled to the shadow
Still shackled to the shadow
That followed you
That followed you
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This song is NOT about finding religion as many have stated. This is about the damage that religion can do and compares Holy Water to being an Alcoholic. Holy Water clouds your thinking because of the nonsense that religion can spew. Alcohol physically clouds his thinking the same way.
In this song Religion and Alcohol ARE the Sin. Drinking makes you strong because it dulls your senses so you are unaware of the pain and danger that lurks around and within you. Religion (SIN) makes you strong because you believe someone or some sort of arbitrary righteousness will protect you. Sin make me strong. (religion make me strong, alcohol make me strong).
The rest becomes obvious once you realize he is comparing drinking to Religion as virtually the same sin. You control me (Religion and Alcohol controls you) they both STEAL your sole, that is the irony of this genius song, the religion is stealing his soul and so is alcohol. Sins make him blind, again alcohol does not eliminate or prevent problems or issues it just covers them up hence he is blind, his eyes are just holes now because he can no longer see, same for religion.
Shackled to the shadows is one of the most beautiful lines in any song, ever. How do you shackle yourself to a shadow? Shackled implies permanence, immovable, something very stable and limiting. A shadow is virtually non-existent. He is mentally shackled by the past teachings of religion even as he moves through time and space (that FOLLOWED you). The sins he committed while drinking also followed him mentally, forever (shackled).
Scott has not shown any affinity for religion that I can think of. He rarely wears religious ornaments, is covered with tattoos, drinks, smokes, does drugs and has never mentioned anything about any kind of religious repentance or sudden finding of any god of any type that I can recall or find anywhere on line.
Of course, it is possible that Scott did not intend to write lyrics with such a meaning, but nonetheless, your interpretation is fascinating.
In STILL REMAINS "if you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend". I thought to myself, who could ever think of something like that? That a person could be that in love, that they would join their mate in death is rare these days, but to phrase it the way he does, in an almost joyous, matter of fact, manner, as if it is a foregone conclusion that he will gladly go and make that "final decision" without thinking twice is classic Scott.
I wondered sometimes, if other band members did not assist or if there was another ghost writer as well, because he summarizes a feeling or idea so quickly and so maximally. But in the end, I think he was just a super smart, sensitive and troubled person who did this pretty much by himself.
holy water clouds my thinking: all he can think about is guilt and redemption
sinking low now, keep on drinking: he cant be saved because he still hasnt repented. weiland was an alcoholic long before he did heroin, so the drinking thing makes sense. hes hit rock bottom and he knows its a sin but he still keeps on drinking
down you go, suffer long: this is his conscience telling him hes going to hell for all this and he deserves it
sin make me strong: im not sure about this line. it probably means that even though his sins are evil, theyve made him who he is today
you control me, soul you stole mine: this is kind of obvious. alcohol controls him like any other addiction. he feels like its taken his soul--hes going to hell because of the drinking and he cant even save himself. either that or its stolen his soul as in, its reduced him to a monster that does nothing but get drunk and act like an asshole. hes no longer himself (makes sense with the "sin make me strong" line)
wishful thinking six feet under: he still has hope that he can reform and kick the addiction, but he knows theres no turning back. its almost like hes dead and buried, and still thinking hes got a chance of living
now feel what were my eyes: hes realizing with total horror what hes become and how deluded he is about himself
my sins have made me blind: he can no longer see straight, everythings about sin and addiction
sink into the holes in my eyes: he feels like hes falling or sinking. his loss of sight has caused his downfall
dead by dreaming: hes been living in this dream world and blind to all the reality around him
sleep you steal mine: he cant sleep or feel at peace because he knows hes doomed
pools of cold sweat: scared
hatred burns me: he hates either his addiction or himself for getting addicted, or maybe even God for supposedly not understanding his situation
still shackled to the shadow that followed you: basically restating what he said before--hes stuck to this addiction and itll never end
when you think about it this song is incredibly depressing, especially since things got a whole lot worse for scott with the heroin a few years later. i just hope hes really done with drugs for good now
Sinking low now
Keep on drinking.
To me, this means getting drunk on religion with the sin being addiction to religious dogma. Just like with anything, you get too immersed in it, it becomes an addiction. Here, that addiction is religion.
this is by faaar one of more underated stp songs for sure.... i love this song.