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Tool - Sober Song Meanings

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This song is about him trying to escape his past..

"theres a shadow just behinde me,shrouding every step I take"

he is trying to get away from his bad past, but no matter what it is always right there.

"making every promise empty, pointing every finger at me"

even though he has changed his past always come back to haunt him.

"waiting like a stalking butler"

it is always there no matter what ready to take him down. The past him is the guilty him.

"whom upon the finger rests"

"jesus won't you fucking whistle, something but whats past and done."

hes asking for anything other than to have his past brought up again and again.

"why can't we not be sober,
just want to start this over,
why can't we drink forever
I just want to start this over."

he wants to be drunk all the time so he doesn't have to think about it! Its obvious he wants a second chance.

In the second verse he seems to accept his past.

"I am just a worthless liar,
I am just an imbecile,
I will only complicate you,
trust in me and fall as well"

if anyone choose to believe in him it will ruin their lives as it has done to him.

"I will find a center in you,
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you,
just enough to bring you down"

he will ruin anyone he is involed with.

"Mother Mary won't you whisper,
something but whats past and done"

same as the "jesus whistle." Anything but the past.

"trust me, I want what I want"

and what he really wants is to be this person.

The song does a great job at expressing self-hatred witch turns to acceptance. One of Tool's greatest songs.

Submitted by: Toolio
Added: 2006-09-18 12:11:16     Rating:

The first interpretation of this song I agree with...Although partly. I do think that it could be mainly about Maynard focusing on his past...But I also think that it is about other people in general.

The lyrics say to me "I messed up, and I know that, but I don't want to hear about my mistakes anymore...Let me just drink my problems away..."

i'm sure that it's happened to everyone... We've all done something that we regret and try to put the past behind us...But it sucks when other people bring it up and question you about it to fill their curiousity.

Although I don't know about this lyric: "murder now the path of must we, just before the son has come" ...It left me thinking...

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-10-02 16:14:32     Rating:

This song is about drug addiction, being embarrassed about former actions, but not being able to stop or change, wanting to "drink" them away. People always bring up the past, but there is nothing to do about it or the guilt except get wasted again

Submitted by: creamygoodness
Added: 2006-10-04 00:31:08     Rating:

I think this is one of Tool's most depressing songs. It talks about this person who has all this self hatred and feels like everything they do only ends up shit and they ruin the lives of those they are close to.

This person just wants to start things over, to drink it all away, to sleep forever and forget all about his past and experiences. They are lost and all they want is a sign about what they should do because they don't even know anymore. This is expressed in the lines: "jesus won't you fucking whistle" and "mother mary won't you whisper."

this song shows how at least once in their life people can go through hard times where you feel worthless and nothing matters and that everything we touch immedialty turns to crap. To me it also represents how the easy thing
to do is just to sink farther into depression and cut yourself of from the world (basically sleep for forever) but the hard thing is to come to terms with yourself accept what what you have done and move on. And that is what makes us stronger as human beings

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-10-06 20:49:20     Rating:

I can't believe you morons don't realize that this song, if not fully, is greatly in regards to jesus/religion/christianity - it's so fucking clear it's ridiculous how you pretentious clowns come up with these other interpretations.

"there's a shadow just behind me,
shrouding every step I take,
making every promise empty,
pointing every finger at me."

religion is full of empty promises, pointing fingers, and following your every movement (sins).

"waiting like a stalking butler who upon the finger rests.
Murder now the path called must we
just because the son has come."

just because god's son has come, jesus, we have to follow these ridiculous guidelines, morals, testaments, (path) in order to be righteous and go to heaven when we die.

"jesus, won't you fucking whistle
something but the past and done?"

i'm not sure how to you'd translate this literally, but considering he's basically cursing a demand at jesus, it's again pretty anti-religious.

"why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over.
Why can't we drink forever.
I just want to start things over."

if you don't understand literally what "why can't we not be sober?" means, you're an idiot. Obviously it means, why can't we be drunk? Just like "why can't we drink forever." however you can relate this not only literally, but also relate it to other sinful/improper like things that we're not supposed to do, in order to be holy, righteous, and a law obiding christian.

"I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
i will work to elevate you just enough to bring you down."

obviously speaking in the third person as jesus/a priest/anyone holy. Complete denial of faith and complete mocking of everything to do with christianity.

"trust me. Mother mary
won't you whisper something
but what's past and done.
Trust me. I want what I want."

again not sure about literal translations here other than the repetitive "trust me" parts, again mocking the almost hypnotic chants of a typical christian faith, "trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me" (but why?)

this is one of Tool's most obvious songs, even without readin the lyrics or really trying to anaylze the song, the message should be obvious.

Submitted by: CowboyNinja
Added: 2006-11-09 00:37:21     Rating:

Toolio, I have an enormous amount of respect for your insight into these songs, without even knowing the whole story.

Sober is about a man Maynard knows who believes he can't become artistic or musical without being high.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-12-08 19:29:14     Rating:

This song is so NOT ABOUT FUCKING DRINKING OR DRUGS! It is an anti-religious song speaking against those who are afraid of sin. I am insulted as a huge Maynard fan to see some of you think it is about drinking life away... Since when has Maynard EVER BEEN THAT FUCKING LITERAL. Please, you guys don't understand Maynard and should not be branded Tool fans. Remove the idiot sticks from your ass and march your marry way. (Hint: I don't literally mean having a branch in your ass crack) HA!

Submitted by: zspiderpm5k
Added: 2006-12-09 01:55:06     Rating:

hey 2006-10-06 20:49:20... One word... Imbecile!

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-12-24 21:47:11     Rating:

i think it's about something that happened to him a long time ago and its haunting him. i think that whatever did happen it was because of something he was addicted to not like drugs or something but like a feeling towards somthing or someone. To me the song is just a huge metophor sorta. and when he says "jesus won't you fucking wistle" he just wanting somone or somthing to tell him that what happened was ok or it will be ok and he's looking for that response from anywhere. and the "trust me" is him trying actually convince himself that the feeling or whatever it was from the past won't cause more problems in ythe future if he is to feel them again. He's just trying to find the response he wants from anything.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-01-26 22:37:40     Rating:

for me parts of this song seem to be about love and how it can seem intoxicating, like alcohol
'why can't we not be sober' you don't want to be in love sometimes but it happens
'just want to start this over' if you have a second chance you can work past the pitfalls
'i am just a worthless liar, I am just an imbecile,...' you don't think you are good enough but are willing and wanting to give it a try
just a little thought I had one night while listing to it


and those who say this is only about one thing, sure there was a specific meaning to Maynard but TooL's songs are suppose to be inspiring for the listener and are about whatever you want them to be about

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-01 17:20:40     Rating:

pretty spot on you guys who interpret it as being about religion. I only disagree slightly.
i don't think the chorus is actually about drinking, or literally being under the influence of drugs. The inebriation that Maynard is referring too is that of religion itself.
this is off of the album opiate, remember?
religion is said to be the opiate of the world.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-05 18:48:29     Rating:

There's a shadow just behind me,
shrouding every breath I take,
making every promise empty,
pointing every finger at me.
Waiting like a stalking butler
who upon the finger rests.
Murder now the path called "must we"
just before the son has come.
(I think of this part as past relationships and how they've failed and you just keep in mind that these troubles in the past can happen again and that thought is like a 'shadow' following you everywhere)

Jesus, won't you fucking whistle
something but the past and done? (Jesus is a metaphor for people with power in your life that keep reminding you about 'the past and done' and all the pitfalls of love)

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over.
(love is intoxicating, we do weird things when in it, you don't want to be in love but you still want to have someone to be with, and you think you can do better if you try it over.)

Why can't we drink forever. (we want to still have fun with the opposite gender, and the same for all you homosexuals, but not have to fall in love)


I just want to start things over. (again, you want to start over and give it another shot, because you think you can do better)

I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.(you don't feel good enough for this person but you are willing and kind of want to give it a try)


I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you
just enough to bring you down. (you will find a bad thing in this person and over exaggerate it, just to feel like you have power)

Trust me. (you know its true, and they don't believe you)

Mother Mary won't you whisper
something but what's past and done. (Mary is a metaphor for people with power in your life that keep reminding you about 'the past and done' and all of your past failures of love)


Trust me.



i just got these lyrics from TDN but some parts are left out

and this is what this song reminds me of its not what I think it meant to Maynard,(I think its a waste to try and figure out what the actual meaning is) its what it means to me

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-19 06:23:16     Rating:

i agree with all the people who think this song is talking about religion, any real Tool fan would know that...the song is talking about how religion always make you feel guilty for the so-called sins that people do everyday.(this is the finger that keeps "pointing" at him in the beginning) ... Tool doesn't believe in religions if you read the little except in the booklet on the "Ænima" album it says how religion allows the brain to stop thinking/asking questions making the brain useless "believe in nothing!"...also on the "opiate" album they say religion is the opiate(depressant drug) of the world...so in the song when he ask "why can't we not be sober?" he's saying why can't society/mankind wake-up and realize how ridiculous religion is and how it keeps people from really living there lives and thinking for themselves.

"jesus won't you fucking whistle"..lol that is so funny to me

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-02-21 12:08:01     Rating:

I agree with most of what you guys are saying with the anti-religious feel;
Chew on this, however, say the shadow that he is referring to is in essence the same shadow that Carl Jung spoke of- except in this case the shadow is society's ugly side, or what most people generally accept as being sinful.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-03-10 19:13:09     Rating:

I agree with most religious interpretations or at least that it is about religion. The song is at first from the viewpoint of a christian and then it is him speaking to an atheist which he believes is as empty as the religion which came from his past but is scary so he drinks religion, numbness from questioning, consciousness.

Btw, this song isnt on Opiate it's on Undertow, and the video makes some sense when you watch it knowing it's about religion. I won't lie it toke me ages to figure out but that is what is so great about Tool.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-04-03 01:39:12     Rating:

I have an old "Guitar School" magazine, and in it they interview Adam when Undertow first broke, and they talk to him about the "Sober" video. Adam says, that this song is about someone the band knows who was only at his artistic best when he was drunk. Like ALL Tool songs, the lyrics go with the "Your Own Interpretation" theory. So Adam could've just been saying what HIS interpretation of the song is. But that's my little bit of input into this, and it's from Adam. Personally for me, being someone who was once in a struggling semi-pro band, being drunk a lot, I can relate to this and see how Adam's interpretation could be true. Again, it's only ONE point of view, and so far from what I've read here, all of them could be true!!

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-04-03 01:55:24     Rating:

i agree it's about religion but the second part:
"I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
I will find a center in you.
I will chew it up and leave,
i will work to elevate you just enough to bring you down."
ect.
this part definitely has drug addiction tied into it, and for a reason....i think it's disguised as a drug addiction to expose what christianity most frequently consists of... like a drug addiction, faith can lie, torment, and brain wash people...

Submitted by: SongBird_Singer
Added: 2007-04-21 23:29:06     Rating:

Geez, there are a lot of angry Tool fans....huh....

anyway, I think Tool wants you to interpret the song on your own.
whether it be about drugs, alcohol,religion,sex, love, murder, jesus or mother mary and so on-- it doesnt' matter!! I love the Undertow album, it's just so great.
To me the song personally means that a man has been through such a bad life caused by his own decisions and demons that he just does not want to be sober. He gives into his own evils, and brings down the one's he loves with him.
It's tragic, but brilliant. :D

Submitted by: YourFan
Added: 2007-07-24 21:55:16     Rating:

This is my favorite Tool song
I agree with most of you but I heard on an interview that Adam Jones said it's a song about a friend of the band whose artistic expression only comes out when he is under the influence. I'm pretty sure that's not it, though.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-08-03 00:12:32     Rating:

For anyone on this wall who called everyone else an idiot for their views is the one who is NOT A REAL TOOL FAN. Every member of the band has stated that every song they write is open for interpretation and that no one is wrong because Tool is about showing people how to think for themselves. Adam Jones said in a Guitar World interview upon 10000 Days release that they tell fans their views are right, simply because no one's opinion is wrong.

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