anonymous 2007-10-26 15:06:42    

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Generally speaking it is about hypocrisy.
"Pissed all over my black kettle" and "The Pot" Referring to the saying; "pot calling the kettle black".

More specifically it's about the hypocrisy of patronizing of marijuana users in the media leading towards unfair prosecution and misconceptions.

"Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent," refers to to a 'Kangaroo Court'.

"Now you're weeping shades of cozened indigo,
Got lemon juice up in your...EYE!" Might mean falsely criticizing and getting away with by "hiding" behind some sort of moral symbolism (e.g.; The Bible, religion, etc).

The Pot might also be a play-on-words, also meaning pot or marijuana

anonymous 2007-10-27 11:01:36    

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I vehemently reject the interpretation of this song being about Maynard's mother in any aspect. Some people like to think that there is a screwed up rocker behind every song with a turbulent and disturbing past involving their mother or father. Did it ever occur to you that some people are brilliantly gifted and and take real issues such as that of corrupt government and paint a vivid, brutally honest picture through the medium of lyrics and music?

The song is obviously political, like many of Tool's songs. This is why I like them so much. Nearly every lyric in this song is related to politics, albeit some references are more obscure and require some study and previous knowledge of politics. Maynard's brilliant imagery and metaphors, and Tool's amazing rhythms and overall musical ability definitely set Tool apart from the rest of modern, mainstream rock bands.

anonymous 2007-10-28 21:40:24    

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Ok here is the end of it all
maynard is or was a drug addict of sorts.
he had always thought his mother threw her life away with religion. but this is from his mothers point of view. this is his mother yelling at him over his addiction. he starts off saying he is eye high in unclear waters or the truth is being hidden. Its a very good piece of writing.

anonymous 2007-11-10 00:43:53    

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This is not at all about smoking pot or if pot is bad or good. The Pot part is a joke. This is explicitly about George Bush. Explicitly.


Who are you to wave your finger?
You must have been out your head.
Eye hole deep in muddy waters,
You practically raise the dead.

Bush should not point his finger he does the same thing
Muddy water is oil That is all Bush sees.
He brought old information back. Nothing was going on

Rob the grave to snow the cradle,
And burn the evidence down.
Soapbox house of cards and glass,
So don't go tossin' your stones around.

Rob the grave. Talking about the the dead
To snow=bomb
The cradle Iraq or Baghad is thought of as Eden by some.
The evidence was not real
?
probably bombs?

You must have been high.
You must have been high.
You must have been...

Who is "Higher," more power, than the president.

Foot in mouth and head up ass so/asshole,
Whatcha talkin� bout?
Difficult to dance �round this one,
Til you pull it out, boy.

Bush talks a lot of shit
can't pretend this was a bad Idea bring the troops back

You must have been so high.
You must have been so high.

ditto

Steal, borrow refer save your shady inference.
Kangaroo done hung the juror, with the innocent.

bush inferred weapons of mass destruction it was shady
He hopes around to different country kills everyone

Now you weep in shades of chosen indigo,
Got lemon juice up in your eye.
When you pissed all over my black kettle,
You must have been high, high,
You must have been high, high.

You think Tool is a witch

Who are you to wave your finger?
So full of it.
Eyeballs deep in muddy waters,
Fuckin� hypocrite.

Fuckin hypocrite

Liar, lawyer, mirror, show me, what�s the difference?
Kangaroo done hung the guilty, with the innocent.

My favorite line Bush is a liar even with politics


NOOOOOW!
You weep in shades of chosen indigo,
Got lemon juice up in your, eye, eye.
When you pissed all over my black kettle,
You must have been�

Who are you to wave your finger?
Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me?
You must have been out your mind�

Weep in shades of indigo,
Trapped without a reason.
Weep in shades of indigo.

trapped in Iraq without a reason

Liar, lawyer, mirror, for ya, what's the difference?
Kangaroo be stoned, he's guilty as the government.

Bush also lies just like the Iraq government

Nooow you weep in shades of chosen indigo,
Got lemon juice up in your eye, eye.
When you pissed all over my black kettle,
You must have been high, high, high, high.

Eyeballs deep in muddy waters.
Eyeballs deep in muddy waters,
GANJA? PLEASE!
You must have been out your mind.

Ginja is in the middle east
who would have did this but a crazy man

anonymous 2007-11-10 00:44:10    

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When you pissed all over my black kettle,
You must have been high, high, high, high.

Eyeballs deep in muddy waters.
Eyeballs deep in muddy waters,
GANJA? PLEASE!
You must have been out your mind.

Ginja is in the middle east
who would have did this but a crazy man

anonymous 2007-11-12 19:55:53    

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Whoever posted on 8/14, I think you must've been high when you made that post (pun intended). Judging from your post you have some serious issues with your own mother and should seek professional help. I don't pretend to know what this song is about and most Tool songs probably don't make any sense using just one interpretation. I think the song definitely has SOMETHING to do with the Cheyenne tribe as suggested in another post, especially since Tool enjoys making references to native peoples and their traditions (read The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda and listen to Third Eye to see what I mean). That being said, I think it is an insult to the intelligence of the band to point to one specific interpretation and say, "this is what they are saying." Tool often brings together different themes from different cultures, schools of thought, etc. Into a single song. What is more important to consider is that music is art and can mean infinitely different things to different people, so just enjoy the music. The fact that we are here debating this topic is a testament to Tool's lyrical and musical ability. Its just another classic album from the last good band left on earth.

anonymous 2007-11-17 02:48:44    

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The song talks about the people that got hung for dealing with weed. Not only the guilty but also the innocent, which is usually called a "kangaroo court".

-"kangaroo done hung the jury with the innocent"

it talks about how innocent people got hung for nothing..and that the lawyers lied

-"Liar, lawyer, mirror, show me. What's the difference?
Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent"

the phrase " you must have been high" means that the lawyers were probably high when they sentenced the innocent people, and is supposed to be ironic

this is the ACTUAL song meaning... I saw it on some interview somewhere I swear

hempchild413 2007-11-24 12:44:23    

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First of all this song has nothing to do with Marijuana at all. This song is about crack heads saying Maynard is wrong for doing heroine. I don't know if most of you know but he did or still does heroine.

"Who are you to wave your finger?
Ya' must have been out your head.
Eye hole deep in muddy waters.
You practically raised the dead."

He is saying why is a crack head criticizing me. "Muddy waters" is when you cook your crack on a spoon it turns into a brown liquid.


Rob the grave, to snow the cradle.
Then burn the evidence down.
Soapbox, house of cards, and glass,
So don't go tossin' your stones around.."

I don't exactly know what some of that verse says. But when he is saying Soapbox, house of cards, and glass,
So don't go tossin' your stones around. He is saying that you will throw your life away at it and that you will even sell your house for it. and the stones part are crack rocks.

"You must have been high.
You must have been high.
You must have been."

of course he is saying that they must have been high for saying that.

"Steal, borrow, refer, save your shady inference."

you will steal, borrow, and refer items other people to the drug.

"When you pissed all over my black kettle"

a black kettle is something you cook heroine in.

"Liar, lawyer, mirror, show me.
What's the difference?

what the difference between a liar, a lawyer, and the other person.

I think I got the basic concept down

anonymous 2007-11-27 16:31:27    

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Hey, just don't take the pot too personal...

purplesarah 2007-12-09 00:23:42    

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I would like to look at the line 'weeping shades of cozened indigo'. An earlier post suggested that 'indigo' refers to the third eye chakra, but I also think it refers to Indigo Children. The concept of Indigo Children has been warped by some people who believe themselves Indigo and wear it as a badge of honour (not all, but some individuals receive and ego boost from this belief and see themselves as more important and righteous than other people - which also ties in with the themes of hypocrisy in the song).

Various websites about Indigo children suggest that behavioural deviances or conditions such as ADHD are a result of being Indigo. This could lead those who have ADHD or those who behave in socially unacceptable ways to wrongfully label themselves as Indigo.

Cozened means to obtain or mislead via deception. If you were to 'weep shades of cozened indigo' you might be crying out innocence due to your wrongfully obtained 'indigo' status, using it as an excuse for your behaviour.

I'm probably completely wrong, seeing as this interpretation has nothing to do with the rest of this song apart from the hypocrisy theme, so any feedback/elaborations would be greatly welcomed. So far I have not found another interpretation of this line anywhere.

anonymous 2007-12-29 07:21:11    

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Just a little to add to the brilliant post on 10/11/07 above.
the

"Soapbox house of cards and glass,
So don't go tossin' your stones around."

i think refers to the evidence that was built like a fragile house up to 'rightfully' attack the middle east. Evidence that is so fake that a few stones would bring the whole thing crashing down

anonymous 2008-01-07 13:22:04    

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Sorry to break up this nice little political debate, but if you just glance over the lyrics it's obvious that it's about weed. Not glorifying it like bob marley and shit like that, but merely explaining what it does in the end. Lines like 'weeping shades of cozened indigo' are obvious references to the way that heavy stoners get dark circles under their eyes, 'lemon juice caught in your eye' is almost definitely referring to the way that potheads get bloodshot eyes and end up looking like Darth Vader. Further on in the song, 'steal borrow reefer', which evidently refers to the way that people become dishonest as the drug takes over their lives. It is a known fact that at one time Tool were major stoners (just listen to their early work) and having been there, done that myself, and been wanting to forget I even touched the stuff in the first place, I can more than see where they're coming from.

anonymous 2008-01-10 19:33:38    

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I hope you readers actually get to this post, even though its so far down the list.

I think if you put a few of these interpretations together it makes sense. First of all, I, like all of you, thought the song title was reference to weed, but in light of the kettle reference, it's quite clearly about hypocrisy "the pot calling the kettle black"

Added to this, the Kangaroo part does in fact refer to Kangaroo court where a judgment is almost handed down before the trial. This ties into the hypocrisy theme by pointing out that the jury themselves are being judged as fools by the courts and lawyers, hence their preconceived notion about the verdict is in fact hurting them (the lemon in the eye part)
But hey, all in all its a great song.
Justin.

anonymous 2008-02-20 23:17:12    

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After reading all the other interpretations I think I like mine best.
It may be a little far fletched, but I thought the song The Pot was about how the government let the people of New Orleans down.
I now that Trent Reznor lived down there & at one point so did Maynard James Keenan.
The "eye ball deep in muddy waters" the the streets after the levees broke. "you practically raised the dead" it is the city of Voo Doo & there are ancient cemetaries there.
"Liar, Lawyer" sounds like a politian to me.
Not really sure about the other lyrics but Maynard has been known to change the lyrics while he's singing them live.
Love You Dude!! No disrespect.

anonymous 2008-03-05 21:17:56    

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The song is actually about hypocrisy and the name actually is no reference to drug use whatsoever, but to an idiomatic term (pot calling the kettle black.)

anonymous 2008-03-08 05:33:44    

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It's about weed, nuff said...

anonymous 2008-04-17 14:58:06    

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Kangaroo refers to kangaroo court. The specific one he's talkin about is when people where tried for petty drug crimes and senteced to unfair punishments

anonymous 2008-04-22 21:57:27    

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Adding to this little political debate

Ganja comes from the Arabic word ganj, which also mean treasure or treasury
this could be a reference to Bush going to the middle east just for the oil etc.

anonymous 2008-04-23 16:13:37    

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Hey guys, it's really nice how you've been arguing here about the lyrics.
But I think it's best that we have so many different interpretations. Almost everyone can find the one that fits best for him.

When I first heard the song, I immediately thought about weed, because I had some experience just at that time and it may be the aim of the author, that you can take the meaning and shape it with your imagination.
And btw, great music too ;)

anonymous 2008-05-06 23:09:27    

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I think the best part about this song lies within its vague words; it could have been about any of the things mentioned, from marijuana to opiates to politics. That is a true sign of a good artist is that he gives the audience enough to get their head around it and interpret it in their own way. Phenomenal stuff.