The Pot

He's calling out all the hypocrites that criticize stoners, but are just as lazy and worthless. Druggies might be liars, but so are lawyers, there isn't much difference.

People get up on a soapbox and preach about what everyone is doing wrong, but they are standing in a flimsy house of cards. And people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, because eventually they get back what they've dished out.

That's a clear reference when he talks about pissing on the black kettle. Ever hear the phrase, 'calling the kettle black'? You see everyone else's faults but not your own.

This song is about the kangaroo court which was a bullshit court and it’s about the judge who is the one calling the kettle black 'cause he's sending pot smokers (meaning small time offenders) to years in prison while he himself is a heroin user.

"Eye hole deep in muddy waters" describes a junkie holding up the spoon he just cocked his heroin on to see if it’s right and ready to shot up.

its about corruption and injustice and how those in a position of power get away with crimes while a small time/first time offender is made an example off and is sent to prison for years.

I really don't think Keenan intended for this to be about any one, specific issue. I see this as a general middle finger to hypocritical demagogues, who do wrong to others for their own gain by hiding behind their perceived authority. That's self-evident to anyone who's heard the saying "that's the pot calling the kettle black," if you add that with a few other references in the song.

Specifically, Keenan did mention marijuana prohibition as inspiring the lyrics, but he did say it's about hypocrisy in general but could apply to many things. In any interview I've heard with him, he seems to play his cards pretty close in revealing meanings of his songs. He's not the type to get on his "soap box" to ram something down people's throats, and wants people to think for themselves instead.

Keenan has reportedly spoken publicly that he thinks the U.S. government was involved in 9/11. At a concert, which had been scheduled the day of 9/11 and rescheduled a few days after, the crowd was chanting "USA, USA!" when he said a few words about the victims. When they chanted, he reportedly said something like "You all are going to really be bummed out when you find out we did this to ourselves."

If you apply the lyrics to that situation, they fit as well as marijuana prohibition. "Who are you to point your finger" (Patriot Act, Real ID, TSA screenings, domestic spying, police state), as an example. "Kangaroo done hung the jury" (like a rigged "kangaroo court," the Patriot Act didn't examine all evidence purposely and many feel it let the guilty go. "He's as guilty as the government" (many people realize bin Laden was formerly funded by the CIA, and see more evidence of complicity in 9/11 when they look at the government than they do bin Laden) The examples can go on.

So, I decided to avoid doing a paper on Tim O'Brien and instead wanted to try my hands at cracking this one. Though not one of Maynord's deepest recordings, it contains some pretty interesting symbolism, along with a convoluted meaning, and no I didn't edit this or make all fluid and "smart" like- I just took it line by line and study the etymology behind this, which should still be pretty decent. If you don't care to see the break up, just skip to the last paragraph.

So first verse... This verse is extremely accusatory. He says who are you to judge me when you don't see what's going on "eye hole deep in muddy water". You talk so highly about yourself, that you assume a Godly status "raise the dead". "Rob the grave to snow the cradle then burn the evidence down" These lines boldly describe a desperate and loathsome individual, but who? To Snow actually refers to over compliment someone and over flattery in order to take advantage of them, it can also refer to cocaine, but you wouldn't coke a cradle, unless you are creating an environment of delusion.So taking this into consideration, you steal from the dead, and lie to the innocent to get what you want, and then you hide your actions. The rest is a given a "House of Cards", a House of "Glass"..these things are fragile, this is in reference to New Testament ideology, he who lives without sin... I bring this up because the album as a whole has a very religious awakening theme throughout.

Second V: The speaker accuses the recipient of being delusional and so full of shit, he then makes fun of them. In this line there also seems to be a change in direction towards the audience. "It must be difficult to dance this one, til you pull it out." This statement, says you, the listener can't fully understand the meaning of this song, til you get your head out of your ass. "Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference" You are relentless in your actions in order to support your belief. "kangaroo done hung the jury with the innocent" A kangaroo court doesn't always refer to an actual jury. It also applies to legal matters in general, such as legal misleading, it carries the theme of the dishonest individual. When we take the two lines as a whole we see a legal authority who is hell bent on getting there way.

"now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo. (musta) got lemon juice up in your eye when you pissed all over my black kettle." Cozened, to win over someone by ways of deceit. Indigo- Historically one of the most important colors. Indigo was mandated to be worn only by authoritative figures. It also has another meaning in classic literature it often refers to the deepest sorrow, or an overwhelming depression. The Black kettle, ques into the Title, The pot calling the kettle black. Meaning: Your criticism of me and my belief, are blinding you and causing you harm."You musta been high"- Delusional.

"who are you to wave your finger? so full of it". How dare you judge me, us! "Eye balls deep in muddy waters. fuckin hypocrite". You actions disallow you from judgment "liar, lawyer, mirror show me. what's the difference?" Our political system is full of lies, and lawyers are liars. "Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent." Our judicial system is corrupted and malfunctioning. "Kangaroo be stoned. he's guilty as the government." now we get the juxtaposing kangaroo, Kangaroo meaning someone dumb... it was first believed that Kangaroo meant "I don't know". So kangaroo be stoned either this idiot is high, or this idiot is being judged. He's as guilty as the government meaning that he is to blame for his actions as much as the government who created the laws against him.

Ganja, please. Ganja, only means pot, it has no other meaning. Ganja, please.. please as in whatever, you must have been outta of your mind. The juxtaposition again either, it is the you, the listener, are crazy to think that this song is about pot. Or it is How dare you think that it is correct to destroy someone's life over something so dumb.

I think this a criticism towards the current judicial persecution with the example of marijuana users persecution. It's main message though is to the listener that this is not a Pro-Pot song, it is a pro-activism song, because he is saying that the reasons that our government is so out of control, is because "we" the listeners are high, and we have allowed them to get this power. We have allowed them to blind us. Eye ball deep in muddy war in this context is us the listener, the baby in the cradle, the innocent. He is trying to get us accept responsibility, get our heads out of our ass and to actually do something.

Wow, some of the interpretations are quite... interesting.

A couple of things to note... this song is multi-layered, but the most obvious theme here is satire. Tool is playing on words right from the title!

The song is called The Pot, referring both to marijuana and the dirty pot looking at its own reflection.

People seem to be really confused by robbing a grave to snow the cradle, the muddy waters, lemon juice and weeping shades of indigo.

Robbing a grave to snow the cradle: Drug meaning: Doing DMT. Hypocrisy meaning: Possibly using the deceased to pad election votes into a win.

Eye ball deep in Muddy Waters + Lemon juice in your eye: Drug meaning: An alcoholic drink containing lemon juice. Hypocrisy meaning: Being blinded by drunkenness and making a poor decision making the decision maker as guilty as whomever he is accusing of wrong-doing.

Weeping shades of indigo: Drug meaning: Having purple tears is an idiom for someone who is high. Hypocrisy meaning: Shakespeare referenced "purple tears" in more than one of his plays, which was actually not talking about crying at all, but rather bleeding and dying, and in all the times I'm aware of, the protagonist had slain an enemy and referred to his blood-loss leading to death as crying/shedding purple tears. Cozened basically means "coaxed by deceit". Of course, this blood would not be literal, so the bleeding hypocrite is up for interpretation.

Trexor,

If you go back and read my post, you might get some insight as to what we are talking about here. The song is about hypocrisy, not marijuana. Marijuana was just a vehicle or literary device for Maynard to talk about people committing atrocities and hiding behind laws or positions of power. Diverting our attention from their wrong doings by waving fingers and keeping the looking glass pointed the other way, and policing us. Do yourself a favor and read up Kangaroo courts and what is happening in Guantanamo Bay, or find out who Black Kettle is and what happened to him. Why was he killed? Think about how that might relate to what is happening right now in the world. How that might relate to the US war in Iraq.

I know this stuff is tough for a 19 year old such as yourself to digest, and may include a sort of textual analysis you are not familiar with, but please stop spamming the TooL boards. Maynard has been writing theses types of songs long before you were aware TooL existed.

First off, these are the correct lyrics

"Eye hole deep in muddy waters" - basically an allusion to the entire swamp song, rash decisions lead to too deep a hole to crawl out of

"Rob the grave to snow the cradle Then burn the evidence down" - The countless pointless deaths of those protecting our 'freedoms' when it turns out that from the start commercialism, and nationalistic belligerence is poured into our heads. Conditioning almost, for the innumerable times the government has tried, and will try, to lie and hide what it has done to protect those who have committed said atrocities.

"Soapbox house of cards and glass so Don't go tossin' your stones around" - 'He had a voice that was strong and loud' Eulogy. A proud and seemingly unshakeable foundation to preach what is right and wrong. When in fact, everything hinges on a cornerstone, deceit, as long as the general public is fed with distractions, the need to to speedy remedies to government loopholes and general stupidity will be almost non-existent. Don't go tossin' your stones around is simply a warning, to the government to tread softly.

"You must have been high" - No relation to actual drug doing, it's saying that what you're doing is so crazy, outlandish, and/or stupid that you must be under the influence. Like Trexor, saying Tool sucks.

"Foot in mouth and head up ass So whatcha talkin' 'bout? Difficult to dance 'round this one 'til you pull it out. boy," - snowball effect. Nothing will truly be gained or accomplished until the trend of sweeping it under the carpet, the lies and evasions are stopped.

"Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference Kangaroo done hung the jury with the innocent" - I do not know much on the Guantanimo or Gitmo cases, but it seems very apparent that the ability to adjudicate someone without the evidence is the subject. Corruption follows the trickle-down principle to, it fits, the broader subject of government taking away mans 'unalienable' rights may not hurt him physically, or immediately, but good men do suffer seems to be the best fit.

"Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo (Musta) got lemon juice up in your eye When you pissed all over my black kettle." - Cozen: verb, to trick or deceive. I Interpret this as the government is trying to cover up itself by lying, and destroying the evidence, but now we've caught on. We see through the shroud. Apparently Black Kettle is a specific person or case. The entire song has wording which has a 'We're on to you' voice to it. Almost like Fight Club, more specifically, Brad Pitt's lines "We've grown up being told we're going to be famous movie stars, Astronauts, and rock stars; but we're not, and we're slowly learning that right boys, and we are pissed."

"Kangaroo be stoned. He's guilty as the government." - Those who would allow this to continue, deserve the harshest punishment available.

Apologies for the very long comment, but this is what I was looking to find here, but instead I found a lot of stupid people. Saying Tool sucks, those rat-bastards

Who are you to wave your finger? You must have been outta your head Eye hole deep in muddy waters You practically raised the dead

Rob the grave to snow the cradle Then burn the evidence down Soapbox house of cards and glass so Don't go tossin' your stones around

You must have been high

Foot in mouth and head up ass So whatcha talkin' 'bout? Difficult to dance 'round this one 'til you pull it out. boy,

You must have been so high

Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference Kangaroo done hung the jury with the innocent

Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo (Musta) got lemon juice up in your eye When you pissed all over my black kettle.

You must have been high!

Who are you to wave your finger? So full of it Eye balls deep in muddy waters Fuckin' hypocrite

Liar, lawyer, mirror, show me. What's the difference? Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent.

Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo (Musta) got lemon juice up in your eye When you pissed all over my black kettle.

You must've been...

So who are you to wave your finger? Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me? You must have been out your mind

Weepin' shades of indigo Shed without a reason * Weepin' shades of indigo

Liar, lawyer - mirror, for you what's the difference? Kangaroo be stoned. He's guilty as the government.

Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo (Musta) got lemon juice up in your eye Now when you pissed all over my black kettle.

You must've been high!

Eyeballs deep in muddy waters Eyeballs deep in muddy waters Ganja? P-lease! You must have been out your mind

Some politicians, lawyers and prosecutors who drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol are quick to

point their fingers at non-violent pot "offenders", refusing to give them a fair trial (kangaroo

courts). Any defense of these people are quickly dismissed because they are just thought of as

being "potheads" or "being high". During Prohibition people who drank alcohol, whether they were

addicted to it or not, I shit you not, were called "juiceheads" who were "always drunk".

Basically, as others have mentioned: the pot calling the kettle back. And those who still think

that "the pot" is a mere analogy for "stupid" may proceed and continue to polish their

government's knob. Afterwards you can go to your local Christian drug den (bar) - A great way to

unwind and involve yourself in some politically correct rowdiness and stupidity. The Maynard

Worshippers in their Maynard is God shirts, drooped eyes and raised hands, as if, ironically

enough, are under the influence of opium. Tool fans who smoked large quantities of pot, getting

into the band through bands such as Korn, Limp Bizkit and the "STICK IT TO THE MAN ON THE

CORPORATE LABEL YO" band Rage Against the Machine. Pothead Tool fans who laughed after one of

their friends got their future destroyed by a pot conviction. Laughing even harder when one of

their other friends snitched on their parents. Working as police informants with smug smiles on

their faces after getting busted themselves. Today, all grown up, off the blind Maynard worship,

off the pot, chickenshit conformists (like their parents)... but still Tool fans. High on their

own overinflated egos, claiming: Tool is too much of an intellectual band to write a song about

something as stupid as marijuana. The song the Pot must have some deeper, subtle meaning. You see

the beyond stupid war on drugs is not a trendy thing to criticise. It used to be trendy to

blindly jump on the anti-Bush bandwagon and criticise the equally stupid war on terror instead.

Voting the Celebrity Rockstar President O'Bomba into power (mostly due to political correctness,

white guilt, and in fear of being labelled a racist) who recently laughed off a marijuana

legalization question, even though there's no way he would be president today if he got busted

during his drug-taking days (especially since he's black). For this, his sheep-like liberal

followers applauded - All grown up and high on prescription meds 1000 times more dangerous and

addictive than pot, eager to pour themselves a double when they get home and risk possible damage

to their livers (and their brains, though not much damage is needed there). Tool fans who listen

to a band who despises hypocrites and blind followers. Tool fans who listen to a band who quoted

Bill Hicks in their song Third Eye: "It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom."

So yeah that video is not the ACTUAL official one, but buggers to that!

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!

I didn't read all 18 pages of comments, but here's my interpretation:

The song, starting with the title, is a big double entendre for both drugs (marijuana) and hypocrisy in government.

"Who are you to wave your finger? You must have been outta your head" -> Refers to the "pot calling the kettle black", but also to being stoned, "outta your head".

"Eye hole deep in muddy waters You practically raised the dead" -> Not too sure, but seems to be an allusion to war, oil, disaster, etc.

"Rob the grave to snow the cradle Then burn the evidence down" -> Do something illegal/morally questionable, but then hide all the evidence (common in corrupt governments). Also, "burn the evidence", though I've never heard it used as such, could also be taken to mean smoking marijuana.

"Soapbox house of cards and glass so Don't go tossin' your stones around" -> Refers both to a "house of cards", a fragile structure that can come tumbling down in a moments notice, and the addige "those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". Again, also a reference to "stoned", or being stoned, which turns up a lot.

"You must have been high You must have been high You must have been..." -> Obvious reference to marijuana intoxication, but also to "being on one's high horse".

"Foot in mouth and head up ass-hole Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" -> "Foot in mouth" means to shut up.

"Difficult to dance 'round this one 'til you pull it out, boy" -> Prosecution of marijuana is a difficult dance because so many damn people use it, also corruption is hard to dance around.

"Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference" -> Talking about corruption again, refers to "refer", i.e. marijuana again, and "shady inference" means "shady implications", akin to lying about a political opponent or simply scare-tactics.

"Kangaroo done hung the juror with the innocent" -> Kangaroo referring of course to a "kangaroo court", "hung the juror with the innocent" i.e. blamed him for doing what's right, not what the party line is, because he defended the "innocent" (i.e. drug users, who hurt no one but themselves).

"Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo Got lemon juice up in your eye When you pissed all over my black kettle" -> I heard someone say "weeping indigo" could mean blood, i.e. deaths from the hypocricy and war, "lemon juice in the eye" refers to kicking dirt or lies at someone, while "black kettle" again references "the pot calling the kettle black".

"Who are you to wave your finger? So full of it Eye balls deep in muddy waters Fuckin' hypocrite" -> A variation on the first stanza, only more angry and outright. Last line sums it up.

"Liar, lawyer; mirror show me, what's the difference?" -> Lawyers are usually thought to be lying fraudsters.

"Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent" -> Almost the same as above, only I don't know what implications changing "innocent" to "guilty" has to the meaning.

"Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye When you pissed all over my black kettle You must've been..." -> Repeat of above.

"So who are you to wave your finger? Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me? You must have been out your mind" -> Starts off the same as the first stanza again, only "fatty fingers" refers to politicians, the "grubby little piggies" with their hands in everything!

"Liar, lawyer; mirror for ya', what's the difference?" -> Same line of as above.

"Kangaroo be stoned. He's guilty as the government" -> A command to fight the kangaroo courts who are as guilty of hypocrisy and corruption as the government proper.

"Eyeballs deep in muddy waters Your balls deep in muddy waters Ganja POLICE* You must have been out your mind" -> First things first, I'm 95% sure it should be "Ganja police" not "Ganja please". Ganja police referring to those who wish to keep marijuana down and illegal, i.e. War on Drugs. Also "your balls deep in muddy waters" could be a reference to being "in over your head", only since it's talking about the "old white men's club" (government), balls is an appropriate substitution.

Well, that's my take.