A Perfect Circle - Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums Song Meanings
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Lyrics:
Don't fret precious I'm here, step away from the window
Go back to sleep
Safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils,
Se...
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Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums Lyrics on KOvideo
 Top Rated Interpretation
13thstepped
January 11th, 2006 04:46AM
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Anyone in a twelve step program knows what the thirteenth step, or thirteenth stepping is. It is when someone with time in the program uses their sobriety time and the program as a way of getting into involved sexually with someone in the program who has very little time (usually less than a year; or a newcomer). The entire album Thirteenth Step is about twelve programs, and addiction in all of its aspects. Addicts have warped minds, and the addiction speeks to them in certain ways. The song takes the stand point of the addiction speaking to the addict in his own head. Addicts use their addiction as a solution to theirreal problems, or as a numbing agent for their real pain. The addiction is telling the addict not to worry and not to look at their real core problems, which are terrifying and painful to the addict. Step four is where addicts must make a searching and fearless moral inventory of themselves. "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions," a book used in the program says that when a newcomer attempts this, "both his pride and his fear beat him back everytime he tries to look within himself. Pride says,"You need not pass this way," and fear says, "you dare not look!" But the testimony of A.A.'s who have really tried a moral inventory is that pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogeymen, nothing else (page 49, step four)." The addiction tries to convince the addict that it will protect them from bogeymen, which are false or irrational fears, and keeps them in their disease, blind, ignorant,oblivious and unable to see the truth or have achoice in the matter. That's exactly where it wants them. Addiction is cunning, baffling, and powerful,and that is expresed here in the song. It is the enemy, and the demon, that it says it is protecting you from, but it wants to trick you, so it tells you that the other voices in your head (consciense and reason)are the evil ones. For your higher power, consciense and reason, are the only ones that save the addict from the deadly problem of addiction. Addicts often refer to having their heads talk to them (the addiction, and a voice of reason) and it gets verydifficult to distinguish between them. Counting bodies like sheep refers to great number of addicts still suffering, and the increasing numbers of those becoming addicted, if not killed by their addictions.
Toolio
January 27th, 2006 12:47PM
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Yeh, I go with what Zaq said..but also what I interpreted from "count bodies like sheep" is that Bush is sending people to war and they are dying one after another...kind of like the cartoons used to show people counting sheep when they went to sleep....or somthing..
magnumchaos
February 1st, 2006 06:22PM
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This song, off of Emotive (an entirely politically motivated album) is bashing Bush for his poor handling in the war, and deceiving the United States citizens.
tinkerhell
February 7th, 2006 12:33PM
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In the begining of the song it sounds like soldiers marching. This will further my interpretation...
The song sounds dark, almost scary. I am not even getting to the words yet.
"Don't fret precious I'm here..." The first part of the song is this, Everyone knows whats going on with the war, and other evil missduings that are controlled by the government. Hey, I didn't want to go to war, but MY say had no outcome of what happened. Everyone knows, and no one wants to admit it. The government wants to pull the wool over our eyes, and make us try to pretend that its not going on. No one cares about you more then your own government, right? Wrong!
Counting bodies can go either way. It can be counting the dead from going to war. It could be counting the bodies of people that follow the government. After all, most the nation did support it. Following like.... Sheep.
Going back to sleep- forget about it all, let the government take care of it. Lead your happy lives while the devistation occurs. Don't try to do anything about it... just sit back and "sleep."
"I’ll be the one to protect you from your enemies and all your demons..." The government is claiming that they are going to war to save us from the Terrorist, to save us from Weapons of Mass Distruction. They are trying to make is a better world for... us?! Right. They want us to stay dumb, stay quiet, and just let them lead the show!
"ISOLATE AND SAVE YOU FROM YOURSELF"
Nobody knows better then our government, right? Wrong!
I personally THANK APC for make this public announcement! I also glad that I get to jam out to MY political views. Put a cap on that Mr. Bush!
Zaq
February 18th, 2006 05:33PM
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I'm usually against political messages in music, but this cd relly opened my eyes to what was going on. But fuck Green Day and their whiny bullshit.
anonymous
August 1st, 2006 04:28AM
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I always had a different interpretation for this song. I am not gonna say any one of these entries is wrong because that's the thing about a good song...5 different people could listen and come up with 5 different meanings...Ok heres mine
i think it's about a sheltering over protective parent. When he says step away from the window go back to sleep what he/she is saying is that don't use your own eyes and judgment on the world but believe what I am telling you. Everything is alright as long as you listen to me.
anonymous
August 31st, 2006 11:37PM
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This is my own personal interpretation.. But it could very easily be a reference to us being the mass media's pets.. We see only what the media wants us to see, only what the media wants us to hear.. Our eyes are shielded from the truth like a parent shielding a child's eyes from a horrific event.
anonymous
September 26th, 2006 10:32PM
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That smrt guy is a real smart guy huh? I love the song, and in my opinion if he doesn't like Maynard, why is he even putting in his two worthless cents?
anonymous
December 17th, 2006 02:16AM
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what is main difference to this song, and Pet?
deadlovelyangel
December 24th, 2006 10:00PM
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the song is about how when war arises people seem to go to there childhood state of mind of just being numb and told what to do when to fight when to close ones eyes and about how control during war. He speaks as if he's talking to children.
anonymous
May 11th, 2007 03:41AM
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Okay, I have a few things to say. First of all, the difference between Count the Bodies and Pet is the arrangement of the lyrics, plus some lines from pet are omitted in CtB. Next, in the words of Maynard, "The title 'Thirteenth Step' is a joke. It's about how when someone goes through a twelve step and gets to the twelfth step they think they're done, but then they fall off the wagon and have to start over at step thirteen." Ctb and Pet, not really sure as to whether they're about actually war or if it's a slight towards the religious community. Either way it depends on what the interpreter wants to believe, Maynard writes in a style that has some similarities to what SOAD often says, "the songs are a little vague so that each person can interpret them and apply them in their own way."
anonymous
June 15th, 2007 11:43PM
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First of all I would like to say that although everyone makes good points, everyone has their own views on the song based seemingly on their personality and personal experiences. As an older sibling this song speaks to me about protecting my loved ones. For instance the lines about "Don't fret precious I'm here step away from the window and go back to sleep. Lay your head down child I won't let the boogie man come." sound like a woman soothing her child in a hostile environment. Because I would say things such as that. Such as in an abusive environment. Something about the way Maynard sings and wrote that song sets off protective overtones to me. I don't think it's about Bush because he never protected us, he seems only to want to cover his own ass.
anonymous
June 22nd, 2007 08:13PM
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I can say that the "go back to sleep" line means "go back to your normal, everyday way of ignoring what is really going on in the world." We don't want to really know whats going on, we are much happier just staying in our little worlds. But the government also wants us to stay introverted, they don't want us to see what is happening, we're easily controlled then.
anonymous
July 2nd, 2007 10:49AM
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Given the context of the album it sits on, a very anti-war minded album, I think it's safe to say this song is generally about George Bush's 'Holy Crusade'. However, I've found APC's songs to be as open as the band's minds :) .
I think though taking the war-context objects in the song can be looked as such:
The window is one's means to see the outside world, or to see what's going on, so stepping away from it would be like blindfolding ourselves.
Pain and truth and choice, runs along the idea that gets repeated through this song of 'rely in me (America) and I (we'll) be alright... a general message frequently promoted by Bush to put his citizens at ease.
I think the rest of the lyrics are fairly easy to identify with given the songs context. To me, the only difference between this song and Pet (oh my favourite song also :) ) is the album it nests in. I think Maynard's perhaps narrowed down the song and reinvented his own creation to suit an anti-war album. I think Pet can be taken with the same meaning, or more loosely than this song.
anonymous
July 10th, 2007 08:54PM
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I'm not 100% sure what the lyrics in this song mean...but I feel that they are the words that a father is saying to his beloved son...trying to explain to him that the world is a very ugly place full of war, but he will always be there to protect him. I got this from the fact that the word 'son' is used in the lyrics, and it sounds very much like a parental type thing because he is reassuring the child and telling him to go back to sleep. Also, just a curious thing that I felt when I was listening to this song though, was that it seemed a lot like a conversation that Nny would have with Squee in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I'm not saying that's what it means, but I just think it's neat to listen to it and think about it that way.
anonymous
February 14th, 2008 05:56AM
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This is a political song. The one about over-protection of loved ones is Pet.
These two songs are not related, it just turned out that some of the lyrics of Pet fit perfectly. The entire album is covers, he just decided to cover and rework one of his own songs. Or two if you count Passive.
anonymous
March 18th, 2008 01:54PM
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If you watch the video it's easy to tell that the song is about Bush keeping us blind and content with the media while he does whatever he wants. If you dont believe me go to youtube and watch the video.
anonymous
June 18th, 2008 03:32PM
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Pet just comes across to me as if he's talking about sheltering a child so it never has to deal with all the bullshit we go through in life. "the lucky son" . I know this is supposed to be about counting bodies but I never really opened myself to that one because I like pet a lot more. And the guy that said you Maynard fans get cooler and cooler is probably listening to phish or some bullshit like that. Tho we may try and look to deeply at these lyrics sometime at least we like artist with substance to their music. So go write a rap song about your t-shirt and sneakers and leave the meaningful thoughts and point of views to people with brains.
Quiranna1986
August 27th, 2008 11:39PM
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K....kinda more inclined to agree with Lazarus here...It is called Pet...and it is found on the Thirteenth Step....But I will agree with the multiple personalities...But I don't believe the dominant is violent....he is using metaphors...he is protecting a fragile "child" from the world....seeing in the surroundings all manner of danger...Multiple personalities are often found in victims of abuse, physical and sexual...the war drums could be the steps of the "boogeyman" he talks of. Bodies like sheep could be referring to the other personalities...viewed as weaker and sheep by the all knowing one...Pay no mind to the rabble, pay no mind what other voices say....The dominant is jealous of the times that the others take over....He fears he will be lost with what the others are saying....If the others help the child, there will be mo use for him...The I'll be the one to protect you is saying that he knows all about the child and he will protect him from everything, never letting the child make a mistake.
anonymous
October 14th, 2008 03:21PM
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Contrary to popular belief, this song is not a remix of the song "Pet". It is a whole different entity in itself highlighted by the entirely electronic/mechanical music.
While "Pet" is a reflection of the current system that we're in (War, Bush, Sheeple) and is basically about "The New World Order" in general (swaying to the rhythm of the new world order and counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums), "War Drums" points more specifically to the fabled war on terror and how the govt and mainstream media can easily fool socially/politically ignorant people into believing everything they say or agree with everything they do.
"Don't fret, precious. I'm here. Step away from the window. Go back to sleep".
*Don't worry, we (Govt and the powers that be) are in control. Don't ask no questions. Don't investigate. Stay ignorant and you'll be safe.
"Counting bodies like sheep"
*Ignorant people are like sheep. Easily manipulable and scared.
The official video couldn't be any more dead-on!
Watch it.
P.s. The very music for this song has a lot to do with delivering the message. It's repetitive, monotonous industrial/mechanical sound gives it somewhat of a robotic, hypnotized, possessed, controlled, Nazi march or what have you, element to it which makes it more appealing, dramatic and powerful.
anonymous
December 20th, 2008 10:44AM
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no no no NO!!!!!!!
people, ugggggghhh
look up new world order, please!
its about controle, almost like there singing in the goverments point of veiw,
"counting bodys like seep to the rythem of the war drum"
we're the sheep, they treat us like were stupid animals, cattle.
they want us to just look the other way, be "ignorant"
and they want us to beleive that being "ignorant" we'll be safe.
"pay no mind to the rable.." pay no mind to whats going on
(turn the other cheek)
"pay no mind to the reble" pay no mind to the one that stands out, the one that speaks out against them.
=|
thats all i got to say
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