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Tool - Prison Sex Song Meanings

When you first listen to this song and read the lyrics, a man being raped by another man is pretty much what this song is saying. But I think that there is a deeper meaning to this song...

What comes around goes around is what I interpret. Whether it's in a good way or a bad way, people tend to become vulnerable to change. "do unto others, what has been done to you" "do unto you now, what has been done to me" and "i've come around, full circle;" these are the most important lyrics of this song in my opinion. Let's say some kid decided to bully around some other kid, and after being a victim of that, the victim comes back and says, "well if you can do that to me, i'll do it to you."
but it could also be about victims of abuse; or people of religions....Or anything else. As my friend told me: Tool makes their songs to be interpreted in your own way.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-22 01:27:22     Rating:

i too agree it's about abuse. but, I believe it's about the abuse among one's self. judging by maynards scrambled voice throughout the song I would have to say the abuse is comming from alcohol.
read the lyrics.
prove me wrong.
u know I'm right :)

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-12-07 13:29:35     Rating:

I have to disagree with the past two interpretations of this song its seems to be a simple song about child abuse. "It took so long to remember just what happened", I mean come on if that doesn't sound like someone suppressing a tramatic experience what else could it be. "I was so young and vestal then, you know it hurt me, but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive even if signs seem to tell me otherwise." It seems to simple of a song to overcomplicate it.

Submitted by: journaltap
Added: 2006-12-07 13:34:05     Rating:

I sorry but I have to disagree with the past two interpretations of this song this seems like a straight forward song about child abuse, and whether it is Maynard himself talking about child abuse on him or onto somebody he knows its pretty straight forward. "It took so long to remember just what happened." A supression of a tramatic experience that you try to forget and then comes back.
"I was so young and vestal then, you know it hurt me, but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive even if signs seem to tell me otherwise" and then finding a way to get over it even though you know its still affecting you. I think the past two interpretations are just over complicating the song. Sorry guys.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-12-13 14:32:20     Rating:

saying it's a reference to child abuse ignores lyrics such as "do unto you now what has been done to me". it seems like the song has to do with a vicious cycle of abuse that we all do to each other.

Submitted by: imbecilebychoice
Added: 2006-12-25 03:23:16     Rating:

I read that someone had an interview with Maynard when his father died, asking him why he didn't attend the funeral and all that, and later he broke down in another interview stating that he was abused physically and sexually by his father, that's where the lyrics came from.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-06 00:48:08     Rating:

after reading what has been posted, the song does seem to be about child abuse and such, but if you have ever seen the video for it, then the theme of what goes around comes around is shown in the video. So it might be about people who get abuse tend to abuse others? which kinda ties that whole circle theme back in.
if you haven't seen the video then it kinda is like this:
theres like this little puppet guy and he's trapped in this box, and there's a bunch of little drawers and all along the walls of the box, and puppet guy opens the drawers and finds little guys inside and he plays with them. Then this giant black thing reaches down and starts playing with the puppet guy, and then puts him back and the puppet guy starts playing with the drawers again, and that repeats, until at the end you see the big black thing put the little puppet guy back in a drawer and he is actually in the same situation as the little puppet guy... I donno its confusing. just watch it.

Submitted by: yomomma
Added: 2007-02-24 10:25:25     Rating:

this song is about a child being raped. if you look at the lryics "Got my hands down, and my head down,
And my eyes closed, my throats wide open" I could be wrong but that's my interpretation.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-26 19:18:25     Rating:

Although all the interpretations I have read seem very reasonable, I will have to disagree. I believe this song has to do with the struggles one has with drug addiction. I believe this song is a dialogue between a drug of choice and the addict. Think about this interpretation while you listen to the song again and tell me what you think in the morning. Peace and be the change you want to see in the world.

-Sureal Jasani

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-03-09 02:32:40     Rating:

"My lamb and martyr, you look so precious"
"I need you to feel this"

what do these lyrics have to do with child abuse?
or drugs?

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-03-24 00:14:46     Rating:

It absolutely is about child abuse. It refers to a man who rapes his own son, the son grows up with the same insatiable hunger for molestation. (It took so long to remember just what happened I was so young and vestal then...I'm breathing so I must be still alive even if signs seem to tell me otherwise... do unto others, what has been done to me...) So the abuse passes to a third generation (the son's son...the one he refers to as a "precious martyr"... "so come on, come closer, close enough so, I can smell you"). He struggles internally with the fact he wants to ass rape his own son ("I'm treading water, I need to sleep awhile"). Also, and the most blunt remark to prove my point, "I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this; shit blood and come on my hands." It's pretty obvious.

Submitted by: SongBird_Singer
Added: 2007-04-21 23:16:52     Rating:

It's not about drug or alcohol abuse.
It's about child abuse. Child rape, as the above says. A man rapes his son, and his son grows up and is trapped in his mind, hence prison, and perhaps wants to have sex with boys or children himself. So this prison sex is his own issues effecting him sexually with children, get it? In coming full circle, he's got back at the man who raped him as he raped the child.
but...

it could really be about prison sex. A young man got thrown into prison, and bubba decided to give it to him. Then later he rapes another man.
But since the main vocalist was (ALLEGEDLY!!!)sexually abused by his father, it is probably about his own abuse, and his struggle against that abuse. I just pray he himself has not indulged in hurting any child. The cycle would just continue then.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-06-04 12:24:38     Rating:

I think the song is entitled prison sex, not to be taken as a literal meaning of having sex in prison, but just to signify that the song refers a lot to anal sex. Because the only sex you can get in prison is anal.

the song at it's whole, in my humble opinion, is about a man who was sexually abused by his father, and is now sexually abusing his son or "lamb" (lamb could signify some other important person in his life)

"It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then"
-to me this is referring to when the man singing the song (maybe maynard, maybe a character he invented)about how he was suppressing a traumatic experience, but has now figured out what happened.

"you know it hurt me,
but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise."
-this is a little more straight forward I believe. "it hurt me, but I guess I should just be thankful that I'm alive, even though I can hardly believe it myself"

"I've got my hands bound,
my head down, my eyes closed,
and my throat wide open. "
-this is how he was positioned during the abuse and also signifies how, now all grown up, he feels mentally trapped in this state.

"Do unto others what has been done to me,
Do unto others what has been done to you."
-His repressed anger from the experience is making him want to perpetuate the cycle. The only way he feels happy is by making others feel what has been done to him.

"I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while."
-he's having a hard time accepting what has happened to him "treading water", and needs some time

"My lamb and martyr, you look so precious."
-i love this part of the song. I think this is him turning into the abuser that his father was. The person is a lamb and martyr because he's sacrificing this person for his own personal feelings. Lamb's get sacrificed, whereas martyr's sacrifice themselves. "you look so precious" is just him lusting after the person (maybe his son).

"Won't you come a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you."
-i think this is obvious, still cool lyrics though

"I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Release inside of me.
For one sweet moment I am whole. "
-in order to help him cope with what has happened to him, his only release is by actually doing the act to someone else. He needs to make them feel what he felt. When he cums into the person it's a release, and it makes him feel whole.

"Do unto you now what has been done to me,
Do unto you now what has been done. "
- I think he may just be talking about the feelings he gets while sodomizing someone are caused by the person he's raping. These feelings are similar to the feelings he experienced while being raped. So by raping someone else, he's actually raping himself emotionally. One of those pleasure from pain things.

"You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise."
-explained this before, except now instead of talking about him he's talking about his "lamb".

"Won't you come on a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you."
-obvious again

"I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
Release inside of me"
-He's sunk into this state of mind now where he needs to rape in order to feel whole. He needs to get feel this release inside of him.

"For I am your witness and
blood and flesh can be trusted.(X2)
And only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind."
-Even though he's raping this person, I think, in his mind, he believes this person is martyring themselves for him. And that's why he's a witness to the martyr. Since he's a witness that implies he needs evidence of the martyrdom, and blood and flesh can be trusted. "And only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind." is obvious I think. This is the only thing that brings him happiness now. The medium is anal raping, and he loves it so much it seems holy to him.

"Got your hands bound, your head down,
your eyes closed.
You look so precious now."
-obvious, talking about the person he's raping now. It's been clear for a few lines now that the man in this song has gone completely insane. Needs to feel power over someone else by raping them in order to feel happy.

"I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
shit, blood, and cum on my hands. "
-he's admitting he's insane, and the only way he feels normal again is by sodomizing someone.

"I've come round full circle.
My lamb and martyr, this will be over soon."
-He's become whoever did this to him. He's come full circle. He's comforting his victim by telling them it'll be over soon. (because he's crazy now and believes that the victim is a martyr and, that even though it pains the victim, the victim is willing to go through this pain for the singer to feel happy. Thus he is comforting him because he actually does feel a sick sort of caring for the person he is raping)

"You look so precious.(X6)"
-complimenting the person he is raping, cause he's insane now


This whole song tells this story about a man who sinks down and perpetuates this cycle of raping and sodomy. It's more about power than just sodomy. Sodomy is just the medium. It's about gaining complete control over someone, so complete that the person feels utterly helpless. How this utterly helpless victim grows up, and is now obsessed with doing the same thing to others. He was victimized and now, in order to gain back (in a small way) what was taken from him, he must now do this to other people.

whether the person being raped at the end of the song could be his, then, future son is up for debate. Personally I don't know. It's actually more of a minor detail in the whole song, and doesn't change the meaning of it really.

i'd like everyone to know that this is just my opinion, I don't claim to be 100% right on all this. But I really do think that this is where Maynard/Tool was trying to go with this song.

Submitted by: Bevik
Added: 2007-06-06 20:23:26     Rating:

The extremely big anonymous post above is me btw... I'd also like to say that the whole song could be a symbol for how we all abuse each other and perpetuate the anger by taking it out on other people... It would be very like MJK/Tool to write a sick twisted story expressed in a song, and still have it applied to the whole of society.

later days compadres!

Submitted by: YesRly
Added: 2007-08-01 09:08:02     Rating:

Pretty sure it was about being raped of who you really are. When your born your told to be this or whatever your parents, teachers or friends see fit. Yes I'm crazy and its way out there. Or is it O_O?

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-11-01 12:14:14     Rating:

It is generally regarded that the song is about child abuse, specifically of a sexual nature, but the song's theme of the cycle of violence can be applied to almost any type of abuse. The abused grows up to become the abuser. The 'prison' in question is clearly metaphorical, as implied in the video when we see the small mannequin's legs hung on the wall, indicating that he is a child and unable to run away.

Considering the artist's well known disdain for religion, and the references in the song such as "I am your witness," "my lamb and martyr," and "only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind," I began to reconsider the song from a religious perspective. From this viewpoint, the lyric "I'm treading water" can be seen as a resistance to baptism and acceptance of religion in general.

The "sodomy" in question is also a metaphor, and refers to how people use their position of authority over young impressionable children to force their religious beliefs on them while they are still too immature to consider all factors and make up their mind for themselves. They, in turn, do the same to their own children - "do unto others, what has been done to me," a reference to Luke 6:31.

The real clincher for me is the verse "I've got my hands bound, my head down, my eyes closed." Try assuming the position; get down on your knees, hold your hands in front of you as if they're bound together, bow your head and close your eyes. Does this seem familiar? The next line, "and my throat wide open" is about the willingness of children to accept as 'gospel' whatever their parents teach them.

You look so precious:
http://www.fumcwaco.org/children/images/CoyPraying9401.jpg

Submitted by: jennybenny923
Added: 2007-12-11 16:30:11     Rating:

While Maynard might or might no have been sexually abused as a child, I think that this song is a metaphor for the vicious cycle that vengeful people endure.

"Got your hands bound, your head down,
your eyes closed.
You look so precious now."
**I don't think that he LITERALLY means that he's raping someone else...I think its a metaphor for how he's getting revenge on someone else. He's explaining the kind of pain he wants to put on this person, and he is FIGURATIVELY bounding and gagging them.

Basically, when this *bad situation* occurred (be it rape or whatever), he probably felt that he was metaphorically being raped, not ACTUALLY being raped. He probably felt that his emotions and mind were being raped. and the part about the blood shit and cum...I think its just part of the whole metaphor that he is creating in this song.

Whether or not he was abused as a child, I don't think that he wrote the song to talk about being raped and how he wants to seek revenge on another by raping them...that would be too obvious for Maynard.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2008-01-18 23:15:15     Rating:

The cycle of child abuse, yes Maynard was abused by his father. In psychology, the theory goes that victims of abuse sometimes have unreleased anger and tend to abuse their own children and become the abuser instead of the victim.

"Do unto others, what has been done to me,
Do unto others, what has been done to you?"

why am I being abused?... why? where you also abused? is that what fate awaits me?

even see some of the interpretations for H. It goes together nicely

Submitted by: ShortMama234
Added: 2008-02-09 12:28:34     Rating:

I think this song is about cycles. As in, the cycle of the abused coming full circle to become the abuser. It could have something to do with sex ... but more metaphorically than the physical side of it. Maybe more like rape ... but metaphorically. Metaphorical rape is overpowerment, taking something sacred from someone. Maybe that's what happened in this song.

Anyway ... long story short, I think that this particular song is about the cycle of child abuse and how the child in turn becomes the abuser later in life.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2008-03-24 23:45:32     Rating:

Definitely a cycle. The beginning interpretation is oral sex, or abuse. "I've got my hands bound,
my head down, my eyes closed,
and my throat wide open."
Then it goes "Do unto others what has been done to you."
People will feel that way sometimes because they are so angered in themselves. So then it says "You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you," COMPLETELY turning everything around. What was previously said about this happening to them is now the actions they are doing. BEING THE ABUSED...THEN BECOMING THE ABUSER.

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