Personally, I don't this song has anything to do with the military, although I would not be surprised at all if Maynard got the whole "lie, cheat, and steal" part from when he studied at West Point Prep School, as the Cadet Honor Code does state that "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do". Other than that, I see no reference to the military at all throughout the song. Instead I think the song is about people in general and Maynard's inability to tolerate human nature (or his anger at the fact that he DOES tolerate it). It seems that at the beginning of the song, he still has some tolerance, but by the end, it just seems that he's completely fed up with people and their bullshit. Although people may try to hide it behind a "veil of virtue", it's inescapable; not even Maynard is excluded, as he clearly states in the song ("I am not innocent"). I have to say though, I'm sure I can come up with quite a few more flaws in human nature than just lying, cheating, and stealing... haha.
I don't claim that this is the "right answer", as I can't be COMPLETELY sure what point Maynard intended to get across with the song, nor can anybody else. Even if one were able to ask Maynard himself, they'd be lucky to get a straight-answer, as Tool encourages listeners to come up with their own interpretations of the band's songs and hopefully make some kind of personal connections to them. This is in response to a comment that was left almost 5 years ago... so I guess it's somewhat pointless, but I just think it's really arrogant to claim that your interpretation is the one that is right.
Back to the song, I can connect to the it, as I find it extremely difficult to see the best in people (or what little there is of it) and extremely easy to see the worst (of which there is much more). Noone is innocent.
Personally, I don't this song has anything to do with the military, although I would not be surprised at all if Maynard got the whole "lie, cheat, and steal" part from when he studied at West Point Prep School, as the Cadet Honor Code does state that "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do". Other than that, I see no reference to the military at all throughout the song. Instead I think the song is about people in general and Maynard's inability to tolerate human nature (or his anger at the fact that he DOES tolerate it). It seems that at the beginning of the song, he still has some tolerance, but by the end, it just seems that he's completely fed up with people and their bullshit. Although people may try to hide it behind a "veil of virtue", it's inescapable; not even Maynard is excluded, as he clearly states in the song ("I am not innocent"). I have to say though, I'm sure I can come up with quite a few more flaws in human nature than just lying, cheating, and stealing... haha.
I don't claim that this is the "right answer", as I can't be COMPLETELY sure what point Maynard intended to get across with the song, nor can anybody else. Even if one were able to ask Maynard himself, they'd be lucky to get a straight-answer, as Tool encourages listeners to come up with their own interpretations of the band's songs and hopefully make some kind of personal connections to them. This is in response to a comment that was left almost 5 years ago... so I guess it's somewhat pointless, but I just think it's really arrogant to claim that your interpretation is the one that is right.
Back to the song, I can connect to the it, as I find it extremely difficult to see the best in people (or what little there is of it) and extremely easy to see the worst (of which there is much more). Noone is innocent.