Churchill July 12th, 2007 12:59AM  

I wanted to share how I interpret this song. To me, Passive reminds me of a failed relationship where I put every last ounce of effort to make things work and the woman I broke up with just acted dead and didn't wake up to what was happening...

"Dead as dead can be the doctor tells me but I just can't believe him, never the optimistic one"

This is how I felt right before things ended. I couldn't believe the girl I love acted so dead towards me and the doctor (my family) was all knowing and knew the truth.

"Wake up and face me don't play dead"

I wanted to scream this when I heard these words in this song. The woman I loved would not wake up to the problems in our relationship, she wouldn't face me.

"Some day I will walk away and say you disappoint me"

When I realized my significant other didn't care like I did I kept telling myself this but she still had control over me and she still used me and leeched off me to feel better about our breakup.

"go ahead and play dead, I know that you can hear this, you fucking disappoint me"

Two months later I can finally distance myself from this woman and not care. She fucking hates it and she's pissed that I finally moved on. I love this song because it made me realize how fucking disappointed I was and how I knew she could hear me and she was playing dead and now I'm gone.

This is an extremely personal song to me and this interpretation might not be what Maynard was writing about but that's what I hear and this song means a lot to me

anonymous July 29th, 2007 12:10AM  

Well the guy above pretty much said it all and I agree with most of it

but I also think that this song is about an ex whom you haven't talked to in long time......AND I MEAN A LONG TIME
when they see each other she or he doesn't even look at them let alone talk to them (as said in "Some day I will walk away and say you disappoint me")


"go ahead and play dead, I know that you can hear this, you fucking disappoint me" probably means that his or her ex knows that they arent talking to each other (even if they're right next to each other)but they won't do anything about it


at the end of the song it repeats "passive aggressive bullshit" which is describing the ex once again
the ex must be passive (she/he plays dead and/or pretends not to let their current situations such as not talking or facing each other bother them even though deep inside it does and they're not admitting it or are in denial)

but the ex is also aggressive because in the end of being so "passive" they end up hurting themselves or being angered by what is happening now for it is too late and they have finally noticed it yet regretting the past

purplesarah October 10th, 2007 12:33PM  

I think the two above me are right, but it can also be looked at another way. This song was written by Maynard and trent reznor and is actually a cover of their own song written a long time ago. This would have been before maynard's mother passed away, and it could possibly be about maynard's upbringing.

Various APC and tool songs point towards that Maynard was abused by his step father. His mother was paralyzed since Maynard was 11 "Dead as dead can be, the doctor tells me... Leaning over you here, cold and catatonic I catch a brief reflection of what you could and might have been" and therefore could not physically help him, but may have been in denial about the situation altogether and he wants her to acknowledge this and wants to know why it happened "Wake up and face me, don't play dead" and when he doesn't get an answer his resentment gets the better of him. "You fucking disappoint me! Maybe you're better off this way".

Just a thought.

anonymous January 10th, 2008 02:28PM  

This song could be about a relationship but you have to ask yourself when does Maynard ever sing about relationships?

i think this song is about two people that don get along but should and are trying like a father and his son or something. one of them is disappointed in the other for not trying and believes that the other can be is perfect enemy.

ShortMama234 February 5th, 2008 06:23PM  

My interpretation might be a bit different than others. But here goes ...

It's about alienation. I think that this song is about the singer standing over someone that they once knew. The person lying in front of them is now a stranger to them, despite the fact that the speaker has known this person his entire life.

He knows that this person was one never to give up and is asking what happened to make this person dead to the world. The lyric 'but I just can't believe him, ever the optimistic one ... I'm sure of your ability to become my perfect enemy,' is saying that the speaker once knew this person to be very competitive with him. He is asking this person to come back and face him, otherwise he will walk away very disappointed in the descent of this person's spirit.

He knows that the person is still in there and is trying to tell him/her. (As in, 'I catch a brief reflection what you could and might have been ... It's your right and your ability to become my perfect enemy.') He is telling the person that he is there and that if the person would stop being 'catatonic' and lifeless, he would help them. But you can't help the helpless ... So 'maybe you're better off this way.'

anonymous April 22nd, 2008 11:06AM  

ShortMama234 is absolutely completely correct. Bravo.

anonymous December 21st, 2008 06:15PM  

This song is about religion and Maynard is trying to open people eyes. Overall he is saying that there is no God. Maynard is an obvi atheist from his involvement with tool and I think it is again reflected here. Like someone above said that this is a rewrite to a tool song it shows the reflection. God doesn't exist he doesn't respond to our calls and he acts as he is dead. This just shows how Maynard feels about the beliefs in God... Its passive aggresive bullshit... He says that the idea of god is a passive aggresive being that people believe in but in reality is bullshit

pete1986 June 24th, 2009 06:55PM  

Its quite clear what this song is about.

its about a relationship with a girl that is failing.
the line "as dead as dead can be, the doctor tells me, but I just can't believe him, never the optimistic" is a metaphor with his internal struggle and is failure to come to terms with the fact that the girl doesn't seemed to bothered. The doctor is himself, his internal feelings, he knows deep down that its over but he is still in love so trys to kid himself.
the ability to become his perfect enemy means that he will end up loathing her yet he will still love her and will be reeling over what could have been, the romantic that cannot let go.
playing dead and not waking up to face him is him trying to say that the girl won't talk to him about the situation, it sounds desperate and frustrated which ultimately leads to the threat that he will walk away someday, but the threat appears to be hollow or else he would of done that by now. Its a song about desperately loving someone who doesn't love you back.
leaning over her cold and catatonic and catching a brief reflection of what their relationship could have been, he sees the person he fell in love with. The implication that the girl is asleep adds a certain feeling of loneliness to the song, the feeling of being awake and so close to someone yet them being so far away. maybe also cold means coldhearted, the feeling that she doesn't really care.
he knows deep down that there is no hope left, but yet clings to the false dream that she might care, he knows he should walk away but can't but threatens to, but then he knows he has lost. The disappointment he talks of is his disappointment in the fact that all the promises and words she must have said to him have now been broken as she is no longer in love with him, being the romantic that the guy is in this song he painted an ideal picture of their future together which has now been destroyed and he is disappointed, both him her for lying to him and in himself for letting it go this far.
its a heartbreaking situation and although the song musically is powerful, the sadness and loneliness in the lyrics overpower the hardness of the piece. at first glance this song sounds like it's about hate, but if you listen a little closer it's about lost love and heartbreak. one of my favourite songs.

anonymous June 28th, 2009 12:19PM  

idk, maybe im not looking at it from a symbolic or poetic stand point, but to me, it just seems like someone he knew died. it sounds like this person killed themselves, and he is "disapointed" that they were so selfish to leave him like this. thats why he says "turn and face me". it also sounds like he is in denial that this person did this. so while the person really is dead, he refers to it as "dont play dead". then the line that says "someday i will walk away and say you disappoint me" means that someday he will come to grips with what happened and he will walk away from it. "i know that you can hear me" is just the religious thought that the dead can hear the living. "leaning over you here, cold and catatonic" maybe he is looking at this person at a wake or in the morgue... so thats how i took it. no hidden meaning, just right out in the open.

anonymous July 11th, 2009 06:32AM  

I think it's about a girl in a coma, and he's in deep denial. He's telling her to wake up, but the doctor knows she wont. Again, he's in denial about the whole thing. When he says, "You fucking disappoint me" he's saying she should be able to fight this. To me, it seems like he thinks she's faking it. That's just me

anonymous August 3rd, 2009 06:06PM  

The words are literally about his mother being paralysed and unable to help him, but it also ties into dating someone who really doesn't care about you, or notice anything that goes on.

anonymous August 29th, 2009 03:35AM  

This song can evoke many emotions in a person and therefore can be interpreted to mean what you need it to mean. In my eyes it is about a broken relationship, for me I saw it as parents. Those that get put down a lot and made to feel like disappointments, would love to say it back to their parents I'm sure. It's about the stubbornness of some people and how they won't let their emotions show. Too many people are shut in and turned off and don't know how to express their emotions. To me it feels like the song is shaking somebody and telling them to face the facts.....and wake the fuck up......WHAT AN AWESOME SONG! I could go on but I digress.

anonymous October 14th, 2009 07:05PM  

What do you mean when has Maynard ever sung about relationships? ever heard Stinkfist or 3 Libras?