narduzzi1120 November 19th, 2006 06:08PM  

I think this song is about how some people have taken the idea of peace and anti-violence too seriously. When he says "These are the cries of the carrots," he is showing somebody who has taken it to an extreme.

When he says "This is necissary. Life feeds on life feeds on life," he is saying that what we call murder is what has been happening for millions of years, it is a cycle that some people have randomly decided to think is totally wrong.

By calling himself Reverend Maynard, I think he is showing that anybody can preach and someone will listen. No matter how rediculous your ideas are, if you are willing to preach, someone is willing to listen and follow and that some fool somewhere said that it is completely wrong to kill and a few people followed.

slipknotkid1 February 12th, 2007 03:13PM  

I don't really care about the first part because it's not to be taken seriously, but the final words at the end are..."It was daylight when you woke up in your ditch. You looked up at your sky then. That made blue be your color. You had your knife there with you too. When you stood up there was goo all over your clothes. Your hands were sticky. You wiped them on your grass, so now your color was green. Oh Lord, why did everything always have to keep changing like this. You were already getting nervous again. Your head hurt and it rang when you stood up. Your head was almost empty. It always hurt you when you woke up like this. You crawled up out of your ditch onto your gravel road and began to walk, waiting for the rest of your mind to come back to you. You can see the car parked far down the road and you walked toward it. 'If God is our Father,' you thought, 'then Satan must be our cousin.' Why didn't anyone else understand these important things? You got to your car and tried all the doors. They were locked. It was a red car and it was new. There was an expensive leather camera case laying on the seat. Out across your field, you could see two tiny people walking by your woods. You began to walk towards them. Now red was your color and, of course, those little people out there were yours too."

This section of the song is clearly a reference to the inner workings of a serial killer's mind. Serial killers in general tend to have very possessive characteristics and these feelings tend to cause them to commit the murders. They believe that even human life is their own, so they feel nothing when they take the life of another. It's just like taking something that belonged to him/her in the first place...

anonymous July 6th, 2007 09:07PM  

Yes is a personal look into a serial killer but why would it be included and why would it be deemed worthy to be in a Tool song. The realization the person has of "satan is our cousin" and his comment about "why does everything have to keep changing like this" seem arbitrary. I'm not sure why the entire last part or either of these interesting thoughts would be included in a song about how death feeds life. Death feeds the life of a serial killer, and then what? Why was he waking up in a field anyway. Why the headache. The goo I think is probably blood but what is the reason or history for anything else in this passage. I'm kinda wondering why everyone is transfixed on the life feeds on life part and the intro with the "cries of the carrots" instead of the more cryptic and confusing part of the song, the end.

-The Almighty Bob

anonymous March 6th, 2008 11:23PM  

I don't think its the mind of a serial killer, I think its the mind of a drug addict, I have woken up with with world spinning, not knowing what was what, looking around wondering were I am, how did I get here, this makes no sense etc. Then discover the world stretches beyond the two meters in front of your face. Headache is comedown. when you wake up high its incredibly confusing, but that doesn't explain the thing about the knife, or the goo(blood)..

anonymous June 21st, 2008 11:23PM  

The song is pretty clearly poking fun at animal rights activists who preach that eating animals is bad because they have a consciousness and a soul. The second half deals with a warped sense of reality. It gives you a first person point of view of a man who blacks out and has no idea what happens until he wakes up.Then when he does he's disoriented and confused.Each color becomes his as he interacts with it.Seeing the sky touching the grass touching the red car.The camera is a metaphor for the memory of what happened while he was blacked out. It's in a locked car so he can't get to it or remember what happened.

Tooligan August 28th, 2008 12:10PM  

As far as letting rabbits wear glasses... carotine is supposed to be good for your eyes, at least that's what my great grandma always said at the table "eat your carrots so you don't need glasses" of course rabbits wouldn't need glasses because they eat none other than carrots right?... but in the context of the holocaust of the carrots we should let the rabbits eat glasses to save the carrots, which is seems asinine to think that we should spare carrots because they too have a consciousness. of course this is sarcastic however he is making the point that life feeds on life, we can't go without eating. Would you starve if Carrots had a consciousness?

Vegetarians... get real. This is necessary.

In an interview I read in the All-Tool issue of revolver it Maynard said they wrote this song on-stage at a Vegan Conference in LA while shooting blanks out of a shotgun and smashing cheap souvenir guitars from Tiawana.

anonymous September 3rd, 2008 02:10PM  

I'm not really sure of the ending of the song, but wanted to suggest another possibility.

Many refer to the narration being about a serial killer or a druggie waking up high.

The first time I heard this song, I always felt that it had something to do with the extraterrestrial. Maybe the 'goo' is really referring to goo. The camera could have been stated as out of reach to indicate that the experience couldn't be recorded. Also, I always thought that the two "little people" by the woods referred to aliens, which would also fit the deserted setting and possible abduction by aliens and subsequent goo.

This interpretation could very well be completely off-base (and probably is), but maybe someone could build on this idea and make it seem more legitimate.

anonymous September 30th, 2008 03:36AM  

The alien theory to the second part of Disgustipated could hold some merit, considering the last track on Lateralus is about some freaked out scientist making a phone call about aliens and Area 51, but how about this...

I have recently read that the "Sky is Blue" part is actually a recorded message on Maynard's answering machine that his landlord left him. It does sound like someone talking through a phone, and you hear it faintly hang up at the end. But I personally think that the reason why it is full of holes and things that don't totally make sense is for us to do exactly what we are doing right now, to think about it and interpret it our own way. Maybe it is a psychopathic serial killer, maybe it has a deeper meaning, but it is well written to the point that it leaves many options open all surrounded by something dark and mysterious. It gives you just enough facts for you to visualize something, but you have to fill in the rest of the blanks. I find that pure genius. What a masterpiece.

-Michael J

anonymous October 8th, 2008 11:17PM  

This song is told from the point of view of a killer and is about how he's justifying his actions.

The last section of the song reveals that the narrator is a kiler. As slipknotkid1 said, "Serial killers in general tend to have very possessive characteristics and these feelings tend to cause them to commit the murders. They believe that even human life is their own, so they feel nothing when they take the life of another."

The whole reverend Maynard thing is a metaphor for how humans consider killing wrong, when in reality it is unavoidable, and rather stupid to try to stop it. As someone said previously, "For life to survive, thrive, and evolve, killing and death are necessary. Death is only thought of as evil by humans, and murder is a term restricted to humans. A snake eating a rat cannot be considered murder."

Humans say that murder is wrong. But if murder of another human being is wrong, then wouldn't eating carrots, intentionally killing something alive, be wrong too?

In the killer's mind, since regular people kill other living things (carrots) then killing people shouldn't be bad either.

anonymous October 19th, 2008 10:34PM  

What I wonder is the point of the sounds of the night between the first part and the second part. To me if you look at how both the first part and the 2nd part each person is asleep and the sounds are those of the night which each person could hear while asleep or blacked out. Or with the explanation of the 2nd part narrating the mind of a killer it could be represent the calm their minds may posess even though they would seem to have complete disorientation in their thinking

anonymous February 19th, 2009 03:53PM  

I heard that that last part was a story or something that his former landlord left on his answering machine, but I doubt that's right. If it is, that's real creepy......

anonymous April 17th, 2009 02:27AM  

In my opinion, this song is making fun of the religious. Many people don't know, but Tool was asked to perform at a scientologist convention, and knowing maynard, he accepted. The band got set up and finally started playing for the crowd and maynard "Baaad" like a sheep at the crowd. So in my opinion, they are making fun of the religious by the sheep noises. As for the last part, any person that has ha a fourth grade drug awareness assembly remembers them telling us that sometimes bad trips happen and the users of that drug kill people because they think they are coming after them. And if you've done drugs then you would know that you always wake up in places that you don't recognize. And you also don't think about the fact that somebody's possessions are not yours. So you walk around thinking it's all for you. And as for the Satan part, sometimes when you're on bad trips, you see Satan coaxing you to do something. It's quite scarry.

anonymous May 9th, 2009 11:51PM  

It's difficult the interpret the specific ending part. To be completely honest, I don't believe that it would be of any sense to interpret that part in a way to match and go along with the meaning of the beginning part of Disgustipated, becuase the beginning and the ending are of two completely different things that would not make sense in an attempt to combine to make sense with eachother. That simply cannot be done with logic, becuase of the lack of relevance toawrds each other between the parts.

The song, "Disgustipated" itself as a whole, in my opinion, has many meanings, but the sole message to the beginning being that as the lyrics state, "Life, feeds on life. This, is, nescessary."
It is simply stateing the fact that it is nescessary for humans like all other living things on Earth to feed upon other living things in order to survive. This is nescessary, like the lyrics say it is. It is targeting over obssesive animal rights activists and vegetarians, who believe that it is wrong to eat other animals, becuase they are alive, and have a concienceness and a soul. The song pokes holes in this logic and cause, stateing that everything, (includeing brainless vegetables) in existence is alive in some way if it is in exsistence. It's basicaly saying that everything is just as much alive as everything else even without a concienceness, and vegetarians are hypocrites for saying that only animals shouldn't have to be killed and eaten, for the sole and only purpose that they are aware of it. No matter what, we always eat something that is alive in it's own way, so it goes on to point out that is vegetables had a soul and a brain, would it be wrong to kill them only becuase they are aware of it? Would you starve yourselves so that vegetables such as carrots that are unable to move, (like the preacher in the beginning speech of, "Disgustipated" states) can survive? Like it say's, no matter what, it's all nescessary.

Now, as for the ending message segment. I have heard that this was a phone message that was left on Maynard James Keenan's answering machine by his former landlord. This message can be interpreted to be a scene that takes place through the eye's and perspective of a Serial Killer. Whenever a recent occurence takes place in the scene, the main character changes color to fit that certain aspect. Serial killers have a tendency to kill, due to the fact that they believe life is sacred to them and no one else, so they take life from people to ensure no one else can have it besides them, makeing it to their belonging, whenever this character in the message comes into contact with something such as the grass that is mentioned, they adapt and make it their own, like how he touched the grass and green became his color. The message depicts this as a selfish act of takeing things and makeing it their's instantly upon contact.

At one point they ask themselves why things must always change for him in this way. To make a connection from the phone message to the earlier segment of the Disgustipated, it's as the lyrics state, "This, is, nescessary" for the serial killer to murder, in order for him to stay alive. Later, they then convince themselves that the will of the Devil is to be evil, which killing is an act of, and that the will of God is to be good, wich killing is not an act of. So many people die and kill in the name of God, commiting acts of evil in the name of what is not evil, so they logically say that evil is used for good, so good is not too far from evil, so evil must be related to good, makeing the Devil God's cousin or relative, makeing the murders he has commited alright, as long as he believes it is for the good of things, even if the act itself is evil. At the end of the song the character spots people on his self proclaimed property and land, due to the main character comming in contact with the area and thereby makeing it theirs. They preceed to kill the people they see and make the gift of life they had, their own. The evidence this segment is about a serial killer is overwhelming.

"You had your knife there with you too." - Obvious killing intention and evidence with supporting prop.

"When you stood up there was goo all over your clothes" - Resemblence to blood on clothing after a recent previous killing.

In conclusion, the killer is confused as to why they feel the need to kill to apparently prevent his headaches as the story has given supporting details to, and he battles between his serious need to kill, and their absense of a concience, wich they manipulate and twist to make sense of their need to kill, by saying evil is related to good, if good things come out of evil actions.

The entirety of the phone message segment, may in fact be metaphorically comparing the need to kill, to a serious drug addiction, which is common in Keenan's lyrical writing and a familiar topic to him due to past personal experience. Killing is such a serious topic, but it's a lust and a need, you can't stop after one time, yet it is the same in comparison to a drug addict's lifestyle, the impact of the result of the certain actions, only differ to who it effects, killing effecting many people, but drug addiction effecing mainly the addict the most, but each effect has the same amount of pain in the impact, no matter how it's effect, effects whatever amount of people, it doesn't matter, altough the amount of the impact is the same between both situations.

To make a concluding possible connection between the phone segment and the beggining part of, "Disgustipated", The Serial Killer could be used to say that this specific individual believes it is necessary for life to feed off of life, so he resorts to killing to confirm his need for death of others to stay alive, and his only excuse and logic to go by, is that it's nescessary for life to feed off of life.

zaqman May 11th, 2009 04:06AM  

If you listen to this song I think if you visualize it as a killer going through his thought processes as he's getting ready to kill(the first part), as he's killing and justifying himself(the LIFE FEEDS ON LIFE part) and the silence represents him sleeping or doing something that is erased from memory because when he wakes up he certainly can't remember and possibly the two people could have been some potential people that escaped?

anonymous July 16th, 2009 11:57PM  

To "anonymous" that started out his/her interpretation with:

"It's difficult the interpret the specific ending part. To be completely honest...."

Your thoughts, words and way you appear to think/ thought process intrigue me. I have only read that interpretation of yours, and I have to say that I think if I got to know you more, that I would fall in love with your mind...
You´ll probably never read this anyway.

I completely agree with your interpretation by the way. Could not have said it any better..

Tool is my favorite band...and a truly amazing one at that. Serial killers´ minds are extremely fascinating and intricate, especially if you look into psychology, like I do. And to take an inside look into one though lyrics? Fantastic. Tool, you have stolen my heart yet again with a song I`ve already heard. I see it in a new light.

DISGUSTIPATED.

Anyone interested in e-mailing me, just for fun... (discussions...debating...chatting...ect...)
sethdividedby2@yahoo.com

46and2aheadofme August 8th, 2009 11:48PM  

Anyone care to venture into the song title and how it relates to the song? If I'm not mistaken it is a combination of the words "disgusted" and "dissipated". Interestingly enough, the song seems to have 2 parts with seemingly different meanings.

Perhaps the first part goes with disgusted, since he is hinting at disgust for things like religion, vegetarians, human nature, etc. The second part (phone message) may have something to do with the word dissipated, but I haven't come up with anything profound.

That aside, I think the interpretations of the phone message have been pretty insightful, but the serial killer one has the most merit IMO. It makes sense with the references to the goo in the beginning (blood) and the knife. Perhaps the drifters he sees are "little" because from his perspective they are far off in the distance and meaningless because they are not within his immediate presence like everything else.

Also, how everything he touches or sees becomes his does seem like the psychology of a serial killer. With this interpretation, I don't think the car he sees up the road is actually his either, because the doors are locked and it makes no reference to him being able to get in. In addition, the camera has a serial killer connotation because some have been known to take pictures of their victims.

It ends with the line "you began to walk towards them. now RED was your color. and of course, those little people out there were yours, too." Red is associated with murder (blood, evil, lust), and notice how red didn't immediately become his color when he saw the car like it did when he saw the sky and grass.

I think this monologue, in general, is more about the dark nature within human-kind that is always present no matter how we attempt to hide it (by being vegetarian, religious, etc.). This brings out the significance in "if God is our father, you thought, then Satan must be our cousin." We inherited both good and evil, which is why we are related to both God and Satan. Furthermore, everything in the story belongs to the character, representing how humans are selfish and possessive. Also notice how the character in the story is "you". The speaker is not talking about himself- he is talking about the listener,describing how all of us are (a narrative addressing us, ABOUT us).

Linking the serial killer interpretation with my overall interpretation: What would be a better metaphor for our dark nature than murder? This also connects to the first half of the song which tells us that death (or murder) is necessary for our existence. The world must be complete with yin and yang, light and dark, and Tool would like us not to ignore the presence of the dark.

anonymous September 13th, 2009 12:12AM  

The second part of the song was a message left on Maynard's answering machine by his landlord. I researched it for like four hours.

maxsign24 September 23rd, 2009 03:08AM  

well, in my opinion, the beginning was supposed to be partially sarcastic. but " this is necessary, life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on this is necessary".... in my opinion is about how animals "kill" plants and we kill animals and we kill each-other, but mostly how we kill animals (notice the farm animals in the background) so if your going to take something away from this song, take the fact that we kill animals and they do have a consciousness.

anonymous September 24th, 2009 09:53AM  

This is what I believe: the first part, and the third, are the extremes; -the first part is from the "innocent" point of view, where one shouldn't dare kill such an insignificant being, such as the carrot (yes, thus being sarcastic towards vegans and such overreacting folks). "One must not take life from anyone" -the third part is, as many of you have said, from a killer's point of view; a complete sinner, who seems to have the opposite ideology: "One must take life from everyone" The second part, as I see it, balances the two, explaining how life implies death, and that they are interrelated. Of course, the three parts could show us how the killer becomes a killer, gradually. Or it could simply emphasise the hipocrisy of the human kind, especially of those who claim that they are "sainty", and wouldn't even hurt a carrot (this sounds a bit weird). Like in "Eulogy", one claims one thing and does another...