Don't fret precious I'm heree
Step away from the window
Go back to sleep

Lay your head down child
I won't let the boogeyman come
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Pay no mind to the rabble
Pay no mind to the rabble
Head down, go to sleep
To the rhythm of the war drums

Pay no mind what other voices say
They don't care about you
Like I do
Like I do
Safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils
See they don't give a fuck about you
Like I do

Just stay with me
Safe and ignorant
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep

Lay your head down child
I won't let the boogeyman come
Count the bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Pay no mind to the rabble
Pay no mind to the rabble
Head down, go to sleep
To the rhythm of the war drums

I'll be the one to protect you from
Your enemies and all your demons
I'll be the one to protect you from
A will to survive and a voice of reason
I'll be the one to protect you from
Your enemies and your choices son
One and the same I must isolate you
Isolate and save you from yourself

Swaying to the rhythm of the new world order and
Count the bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drum
The boogeymen are coming
The boogeymen are coming
Keep your head down go to sleep
To the rhythm of the war drums

Stay with me
Safe and ignorant
Just stay with me
Hold you and protect you from the other ones
The evil ones
Don't love you son
Go back to sleep


Lyrics submitted by OwnPersonalDemon

Pet Lyrics as written by Maynard James Keenan Billy Howerdel

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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  • +9
    General Comment

    I wrote a response to one of the comments here but I figure this will get more attention. Maynard James Keenan said, in his own words, what this song is about on the aMOTION DVD. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT about the government, Bush, the NWO or any of that crap.

    This song IS ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION, as is the entire album The Thirteenth Step. I.E. the thirteen steps of addiction.

    This song is about being so caught up in an addiction that you feel the world isn't a safe place anymore, that the only thing protecting you from the horrors in the world are the drugs that, in reality, are ruining your life. How drugs protect you from reality. Go back to sleep=get high, your problems will disappear. Maynard even described Richard Prior's freebasing incident as inspiration for this song.

    When this song was remade into Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums, it takes on the entire anti-government, anti Bush, NWO meaning that so many people have described here, again as per Maynard. That was the entire reason for the remake of the song. Maynard felt it could have more than one meaning, but didn't want the message of the two songs to be confused. Too bad they obviously are anyway.

    Maynard says that he intentionally doesn't tell people why he wrote the songs, he wants the listeners to find their own meaning in his words. When he does state why he wrote it, there is a reason. I figured most of his fans would take that as the word of god basically, since so many look up to him like he is a god. The information is out there in his own words, I don't get how so many of you still screw it up. You can take whatever meaning you want from the lyrics, I'm just providing facts from the writers mouth that say you are wrong.

    This song, along with this entire album, have a deep meaning for me. It represents and accurately describes four years of my life, when I fell partly into addiction, but mostly spent those same four years watching my ex fall terribly deep into a terrible heroin addiction where she overdosed twice, her brother overdosed and died, and no matter what I did, I couldn't help her. It's a terrible feeling, and I can see the emotion in every song off this album from multiple views due to my experience. Luckily I woke the fuck up and cleaned up. I had to walk away from my ex, who I loved very much, and that was the hardest thing I've ever done. She was just too far gone. IIRC Maynard was going thru the same thing with a lover when he wrote this album, and that was a major influence behind some of the songs.This album is one of the few things that kept me going.

    si4ws89on June 22, 2013   Link

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