I've seen the only living traces flicker in the sulfur
And the ones who do believe me, place your favor
Before you lay your question down there's a matter of the payment
To you I slipped on crooked sores in conclaves that you bothered

Let me be your tourniquet man
Let me keep you as a favor
Let me be your tourniquet man
Let me keep you as a favor

When I hear your fingers, they will spell my name
As I trade the faces of the holders

Let me be your tourniquet man
Let me keep you as a favor
Let me be your tourniquet man
Let me keep you as a favor

I can't diminish anymore if I choose to dissolve in you
There's so much we can lose
I can't diminish anymore if I choose to dissolve in you
There's so much we can lose
I can't diminish anymore if I choose to dissolve in you
There's so much we can lose


Lyrics submitted by Rev.Efbug

Tourniquet Man Lyrics as written by Omar Rodriguez Cedric Bixler

Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION

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Tourniquet Man song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    How can you not like this song its soooo creepy.

    I think its about Goliath talking to them. "Before you lay your question down There's a matter of the payment"

    Ez0phon January 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    least fave off this album. neat vocal effects though.

    avengedsurviveon January 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wish he could pronounce tourniquet...

    hitchcockm00on January 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i actually hold this song in pretty high regard, its short and reallly eerie sounding. the vocal effects are maddd cool.

    TomPowers724on January 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is definitely about the contact the band experienced with "Goliath" or "Tourniquet Man" as the board often wrote to them.

    "When I hear your fingers, they will spell my name as I trade the faces of the holders."

    In this lyric I see a mental image of the "Tourniquet Man" communicating with the band, disambiuating amongst them.

    But this song, like many others on all of their albums, reminds me of Christ... who is sometimes referred to as Tourniquet. "Let me keep you as a favor" reminds me of the reaping of souls.

    amnislupuson February 05, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    didn't say i didn't like it it's just my least favorite off of this album

    avengedsurviveon February 05, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    ok hears what i think.... this line goes.

    theres a matter of payment
    to you i slipped on crooked sores
    in conclaves that you bothered

    .it makes more sense read like that and thats how you hear it in the song

    conclaves-1. A secret or confidential meeting.

    1. Roman Catholic Church a. The private rooms in which the cardinals meet to elect a new pope. b. The meeting held to elect a new pope. (i dont think the religious meaning is significant in this specific song but i do know religion is heavily referenced by TMV)

    in case you didnt know this songs is about the oiuji board (obviously. the whole album is!)

    payment obv means theres consequence for using this board

    to you i slipped on crooked sores i think symbolizes that reaching him was not easy

    in conclaves that you bothered means the meeting in which this communication was made i also think

    the changing in vocal effects is significant symbolizing how something that started good has ended evil

    those are my thoughts please criticize

    hustler8955on March 01, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    least favorite mars volta song, but still better than 90 percent of music i listen to, haha. thats why i love this band

    shanevsDCsniperon March 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Easily my least favorite Volta song. Although I enjoyed the album, I find this song too straight forward and almost unnecessary.

    tsnydermtgon March 20, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think they are talking to Goliath. the phrase "I've seen the only living traces flicker in the sulphur" is a reference to this theory that sulphur and this combination created the universe so it could be saying the Goliath has existed since the beginning of time.

    TheFreeshooteron April 03, 2008   Link

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