Prison Sex

Prison Sex is about child molestation and cycles of abuse.

The creaking at the beginning of the song is meant to emulate a door being gently pushed open, creaking loud among the silence.

He hadn't picked up the name Maynard yet, that came later. He was James now. Probably was referred to as 'Jimmy' around this time. He was 11. His mom had her fateful aneurysm that left her broken down and paralyzed, forever changed, her faithful devotion intensified and led her to become more and more delusional and willfully ignorant.

Jimmy's stepfather was caring for him at this time, he inspires the content for this song for about two years until Judith finally sends him to his fathers in Michigan.

The part that gets me is that the child molestation is only the first verse, the rest of the song is about him, the victim, becoming the perpetrator. What fucks my mind is that i cant decide whether of not this is a metaphor for him getting into sodomy as a result (4 degrees, stinkfist) or if he for real raped a dude. Or both.

In the live sessions of Prison Sex they add a set of lyrics right before the 'i have found some kind of temporary sanity..' climax, Here they are:

"Show me something (4x) Thought I could make it end Thought I could wash the stains away Thought I could break the circle if I Slipped right into your skin So sweet was your surrender We have become one I have become my terror And you my precious lamb and martyr"

I never quite understood the 'Lamb and Martyr' part until i heard/read this, and even so i hope its only just my interpretation. he's referring to a single person. If you can't see what im getting at maybe its best i don't spell it out..

Before playing 'Jimmy' live once, Maynard addressed the crowd, announcing it as the sequel to Prison sex. Jimmy being a very personal story, the announcement of it as a 'Sequel" to Prison Sex is kind of shocking. That gives it a light of being a personal story, just by that strong association. H is a sister piece to Prison sex, its about him struggling with the abuse he grew up with, in the face of having a child of his own. The snake hissing was his lamb and martyr. That's a beautiful song about him realizing he doesnt have to perpetuate.

I have a deeper respect for Maynard than i ever have ever had for a singular artist, and the reason for that is songs like Prison sex, Jimmy, H, Judith, Passive, Orestes... he just completely opens himself up and turns his personal pain and sorrow into beautiful art as a means to move forward himself and as a tool for others to do so as well. "Turn these leaden grudges into gold"

ok this song is for one about exactly what it sounds like - rape - but more importantly the psychology of a rapist. now take it a step further i beleive he uses this example to get accross a broader point. that point is that when horrible or traumatizing things happen in our past especially childhood it has a certain affect on people. one way some people deal with it is by inflicting pain on others as an outlet. "you are my martyr my lamb" means that you must suufer / be sacrificed for me to feel better or maybe to feel anything at all. hands bound and head down obviously works as a rape visual but also as a symbol that he is a slave bound to repeat these horrors without controlle or so it seems.

From the most superficial standpoint, this is a gross song about being butt-raped in prison...not very appealing, so looking deeper's necessary. The following lines are the most important, I would say:

Do unto others what has been done to you

Do unto you now what has been done to me

I've come round full circle. (quoted from tool's official site's lyrics)

I think it's more about victims turning around and victimizing others. At first they are violated, but with time they "come around" to their predator's ways, and violate others themselves.

This is not confined to sexual predation or just to prison. In fact, it seems more like Maynard means to draw a parallel to other froms...religious "recruiters" seem a good example. preying on the weak and feeble-minded, they convert somebody to their faith, and they cannot defend against these people so because of weak-mindedness they go along, and ignorantly believe what they're told. Now, they become the missionaries, and ignorantly follow orders to find "recruits." They victimize other people based on how they were originally victimized. (I'm not dogging all religious types now, just those who fit this example)

Even a child playing an online computer game can fit it. Someone cheats , and he loses out, so he gets angry and starts cheating, ripping off other people.

The concept of this song relates to many many things, we "come around full circle" a lot, and adopt what is handed to us, whether by a malicious enemy, or by inadvertent ignorance. So keep your third eye open and think about this one...

Okay, I guess the way I see this song is a lot simpler. To me it seems like Maynard is talking about a child who was sexually abused and then growing up and abusing their child in the same way because its all that they really knew of childhood and growing up.
"Do unto you now what has been done to me" In relation to the title of the song, the child's home became a prison because their abuser kept the child there, or if not that it could be seen as emotional imprisonment. For me, seeing the video really made all of this come together, but that's just my interpretation, so who knows what Maynard was really thinking about this song.

The meaning of the song is pretty simple, which makes it all the more horrify. Someone has been raped, and the only way they can find catharsis, the only way they can cope with the trauma, is by raping themselves. Considering this is how the cycle of abuse actually works it's pretty heavy.

Any and all songs, especially by TOOL, can be interpreted in infinite ways based solely on the listener. This song is a prime example of lyrics that initially have a very evident meaning based on what you hear/read and the song title. Taking what we know about TOOL and Maynard's expressive views on organized religion(based on other TOOL/perfect circle songs) we can look at this song in a similar light and find a meaning that has little to do with molestation and rape and much more to do with forced indoctrination especially by Christianity.

Taking the first few lines of this song: "It took so long to remember just what happened I was so young and vestal then You know it hurt me But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive" This opening could draw parallels to the popular Christian practice of Baptism where an infant in bathed with "holy water" to symbolize purification and admission to the Christian Church when they have no say in the matter.

The lyrics: "I've got my hands bound My head down, my eyes closed And my throat wide open" This is a prime example of parallelism between the church and the message trying to be portrayed here. The imagery of these few lines is a perfect picture of someone praying. "hands bound" being a persons hands and fingers laced together. "head down" and "eyes closed" are that of a person in a typical position of one praying with "my throat wide open" being the actual vocalization of praising god.

Look at all the lyrics of this incredible song and find the religious meaning yourself, it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to do so. Once these parallels are made the entire meaning of the song changes from a child that is forced into performing sexual acts to a child that is forced into a life of religious servitude that has been passed down from generations before.

The song starts in the point of view of the newly indoctrinated child to the point of view of presumably that same child, grown and passing their values onto the next generation with this vicious cycle repeating over and over again. This is seen in the lyrics "my hands bound....your hands bound" "I've become my terror" states the point that this indoctrinated being has become that in which harmed it in the beginning, that in which imbued the cycle from the start, that in which they tried so desperately to avoid becoming.

Just my interpretation of this tune. Its one of my favorites and would love to know what people think!

Maynard said in one of the rare interviews he did that it's about how he was raped as a child. End of story.

Also, he states in one interview how it is also about the cucle of abuse, the aspects of the constantly vitimized, and the about the thought of the perpetrator. In another interview, he states how all you people who feel the need to post your own meanings and ideas are bullshit people. The band makes music so you can think about it and analyze it by yourself. They dont even put the lyrics on the album because they aim for you to listen to the music with the creative side of your brain, to express yourself, to build upon yourself. When simply reading his message instead of individually gaining your own understanduing, you do not gain the ability to expand for yourself. Their goal is to create spiritual music that helps people, not bullshit rumors and illogical ideas to misconstrew other people's individual beliefs of the messages directed towards them and only them which they discover in the music. Fuck people. Think for yourselves.

Lastly, this is just a personal note that i believe in. People keep asking bands if they are making new albums, yet they dont give them money, they steal their albums online. Fuck those people. If you people are going to download shit, then be grateful for whats out there, you are miserable fucks anyway.

the first line saying "Won't you come a bit closer," is: "Won't you, won't you come on up closer"

Any ideas on what sort of metaphor could be taken from "only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind"? Thanks..