greyhuman July 24th, 2009 07:18PM  
To begin I believe this song is sung from the point of view of an abuser and antagonist.For anyone who has been in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship , this could be a spouse,father ,mother,sibling any one abusing in any manner, you will know that they love to be abusive. And taking a look at the song "prison sex" this abuser (not necessarily the same one as in this song) abuses another because it makes them feel better.But in th song "crawl away" gives the image of someone damaged and so in order to save themselves all they can do to get away is crawl. He says "this is love" " this is my love for you " but is really a love of abusing this other person and self love.Abusers try to keep you in a " stranglehold" with supposed love for you .The "love" for this person is contradicted in lines such as "But what you want and what you need
don't mean a fuck to me. " and "I can see your back is turning.
If I could I'd, stick the knife in!"
Once you decide to not play their game anymore they try even harder"which gets scary because they become even more desperate to get at you. But you if decide to leaving they become angry.I say game because it is a game to them, a very enjoyable activity. When someone antagonizes you into reacting negatively this is a form of abuse. They are using you for their own pleasurable game. That's what most alerted me to this meaning is when he used the lines "So what you're trying to say,
is you don't wanna play."
And the hatred this abuser feel for this person trying to "crawl away".
"You crawled away from me,
slipped away from me.
I tried to keep a hold,
but there was nothing I could say.
Slid away from me,
and crept away from me,
tried to keep you down,
and there was nothing I could say"
I most see a person who has had enough and is walking away and not giving in to the antagonist who no longer knows what to say to make this person react whether it is to cower or fight back. Abusers try to make you feel like you are small and try to keep you down.
The abusers starts to feel inferior all over again and so want to react violently ,which they may or may not have been doing the the first place: the later lines of " got you in a stranglehold" and the repeated "get up" as if the other person is being knocked to the ground. And ,naturally, sticking a knife in their back would be a good finish after knocking them around for a while. I am not sure why they can't stick a knife in,perhaps the person in question physically can't? Or maybe they feel a shred of something resembling love and this prevents them (but I doubt it).It could be a situation like in the song " Ruby don't take you love to town"(at least I think that's what it's call).In this sing he says " if I could I'd put her in the ground " but he can't because he is crippled from that "crazy asian war"
The abuse motif is developed in the songs preceding this one on the album "Undertow".I think it fits well, but this is my own interpretation and do with it what you will.

EnigmaMan February 23rd, 2010 08:11PM  
Tool has some incredibly deep songs, but I think this one is very simple. To me this song is about wanting sex. The man and woman are getting close and she changes her mind at the last minute. He's on top of her and he's trying to talk her into it. She "crawled away". "I tried to keep you down, but there was nothing I could say." He wants the sex and he doesn't care how she feels about it, as long as she gives in. "What you're trying to say, is you dont wanna play. What you want and what you need, dont mean that much to me." As she leaves he gets angry. "I can see your back is turn-in...if I could I'd stick a knife in...." To me its simply about a woman that is in the mood and decides not to go all the way. He tried to keep her down..he tried to keep her home...he even declared that it was his love for her...she didnt buy it.