Anna

Great song, and I'm probably way off base here cause Corey Taylor's a genius and planting ideas in people's minds while VERY rarely being upfront about what he's actually saying, but here's an interpretation I've taken from several individual lines.

I feel like this song is written from the perspective of somebody in a parasitic relationship (which is a fairly common theme) but in this rare case, it's the person who's the parasite.

"Tell me again why you're running away, do you need me?"

• This is a familiar pattern for men who're trying to wedge their way into the lives of a woman they want, always trying to be the one they turn to when they have problems.

"Nobody's home and there's nowhere to stay, do you believe me?"

• Sounds like the "narrator" is trying to convince the other person that he is the only person they can turn to, and the last line suggests he's manipulating them if not outright lying.

"Maybe I can't be the man of your dreams, but I can save you"

• To me this sounds like somebody who's already been told the other person isn't interested, but is still trying to keep themselves open as an option.

"You were never really gone and it seems that you can feel it too"

• Maybe he's talking to an ex or something that left him and he's trying to get back with them by implying they were 'never REALLY gone'.

Then we get the chorus...

"Because it's just another reason why a fool like you Would listen to a fool like me I'll do what all the idiots around you do And show you that you'll never be free You're not supposed to feel this right"

• To me, this is both directed at the other person, but also an interal confession... like writing a letter to somebody you're never going to send, where he's admitting that he's no better than 'all the idiots around you' and taking advantage of her being 'a fool' and listening to him. I also take the "you're not supposed to feel this right" to be his way of saying she's not supposed to be able to live without him, and should be as determined to have him as he is to have her.

The second chorus really hits this home with lines like "You left me once, don't you leave me twice" which just hammers home the idea of it being about an ex.

Then what really hits the nail on the head to me, is the last verse (aside from the repeat of the first)....

"Oh what am I gonna do, you feel so right Nothing is forever if it can't be true Now that I am nothing I have to have you"

• The first part is obvious, but the last part to me explains the lines where he said "one is always better if you can't have two" which, to me, says he's not happy with who HE is ("now that I am nothing")... so if they can't be two whole people, one is better ("one is always better if you can't have two") than none so he needs her to make him feel better.

"You loved me once, you better love me twice 'Cause no one is alone, no one is alone"

• Again, pretty sure this confirms that he's talking to an ex, and the last part seems like he's noticing that everybody else has someone in their lives and he doesn't so he's clinging to the last person he thinks he can keep.

....just my thoughts.