Mitch_of_course March 12th, 2006 11:17PM  

This is my first interpretation on the site and this is solely my opinion.
ok,

"Choke this infant here before me. What is this but my reflection? Who am I to judge and strike you down?"
The infant (I think) is us, everyone else but him that expects the best from him because that's all we've known to recieve from him. "His Reflection" Is seeing a little bit of himself in all of us. Since he does see Himself in all of us he won't judge or shun us away because (deep down believe it or not) he cares!

"But you're pushing and shoving me... You still love me and you pushit on me..."
Like I said before He feels pressured but He's not going to subside to the pressure simply because he doesn't have to.

"Rest your trigger on my finger, bang my head upon the fault line. (You better) Take care not to make me enter.
'cause if I do we both may disappear."
(I think) He's telling us that he knows we push him and if you push me hard enough ("Take care not to make me enter") I'm going to fucking stop trying for you, then what will become of you? Who you gonna feed off of next?

"Slipping back into the gap again. I'm alive when you're touching me/alive when you're shoving me down. But i'd trade it all - for just a little peace of mind!!!"
He is kinda saying "you keep pressuring me... can't you realize it won't have an effect? Cant I just get a break?"

"You're pushin', shovin', scramblin'... Keep my feet down on the ground..."
Here Maynard says "You've pushed long enough and I'm sick of this shit."

"I am somewhere I don't wanna be. Push me somewhere I don't wanna be. Put me somewhere I don't wanna be. Seeing someplace I don't wanna see. Never wanna see that place again. Saw that gap again today while you were begging me to stay. Managed to push myself away, and you, as well, my dear. If, when I say I might fade like a sigh if I stay,
you minimize my movement anyway. I must persuade you another way."
In other words, Maynard says " you went too far and now you are going to regret it."

"There's no love in fear. Staring down the hole again.
Hands around my back again. Survival is my only friend.
Terrified of what may come. Remember I will always love you, as I tear your fucking throat away. It will end no other way. It will end no other way."
well this verse seems to act as a father-to-son conversation where the father says "I love you son even though I'm pissed as hell and this is just one of those life lessons that sooner or later you would have been exposed to. NOW YOU WONT FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN WILL YOU?!"

thats it. My interpretation of the song. Feel free to tell me what your thoughts are about it.

anonymous September 20th, 2006 12:27PM  

On one of Tool's tours Maynard said before playing "Pushit": "have you ever loved someone so much that you had to kill them?"
pushit is a song about a relationship between two lovers.
"saw that gap again today, while you were beggin me to stay" she is begging him to stay with her, this reveals a very grim gap/empty hole that he returns to when he falls back in love with her. They both slip back into the gap due to the fact that they bolth still love each other, even though thier relationship will never last.
"if, when I say I might fade like a sigh if I stay,
you minimize my movement anyway, i must persaude you another way"
when he tells her he knows she will eventually get bored of him, she brings him even closer. So, he must persuade her another way. That doesn't work, and the pushing and shoving continues. She pushes him, and he shoves her away. "there is no love in fear" he fears that he might fall back into that gap again.
"staring down the hole again.
Hands are on my back again.
Survival is my only friend.
Terrified of what may come.
Yeah. Remember I will always love you,
as I claw your fucking throat away.
It will end no other way.
It will end no other wayyyyy!!!"
he falls back into the gap for the last time, he is fed up with loving her (as odd as that may sound) and brutally kills her because he knows it will end no other way.

anonymous November 23rd, 2006 03:17AM  

I truly believe this is a song about a relationship gone bad. I think Maynard is speaking of a girl that he loves so much he hates her. He says "I'm alive when your touching me, alive when you're shoving me down." that to me means that she makes him feel alive in happiness and in sadness.
he also says, "you still love me, you still love me, pushit on me, pushit on me." To me that means she is forcing the hate love relationship on him no matter what the outcome.
When he says "who am I to judge or strike you down." To me that means he is just as guilty as she is when it comes to difficulty in the relationship.
This song relates to a couple of my very own relationships gone bad so I can definately relate to "I saw the gap again today... while you were begging me to stay."
Great song.

anonymous August 2nd, 2007 09:44PM  

I believe that everyone here basically has the right idea of what this song is about. My interpretation is going to echo what everyone has interpreted about "Push It." This song is absolutely amazing. To me, it means the bitter end of a relationship.

It comes to the phase of a relationship where you love that person so much and you don't want to let them go, but you know that you are at that point to where you are at bitter extremes of emotion for that person. You literally love that person because it is comforting for now, but that person is driving you to a point of resentment and hatred for them. What are you to do! You are confused and that is where the push it comes!! This could be wrong, this is what this song has always meant to me!!

suck_n_suck November 22nd, 2007 03:20AM  

Well I wouldn't say that what I'm saying IS the correct interpretation of the song but this is what I've read in most places...well this song is about parents/elders pushing us to accept or shoving their views onto us..."choke this infant here before me"...when a child is born, he doesn't know jack about this world...Instead of parents letting that child make up his own views through his experiences, he is forced to believe what his parents/elders believe...
"Put me somewhere I don't wanna be.
Seeing someplace I don't wanna see.
Never wanna see that place again."
it wud be wiser for the elders/parents to let the child make his own point of views rather then make him walk on their own paths and shoving their own views and experiences...this way the child's movement is minimized "you minimize my movement anyway"...Maynard wants the child to experience so that he can move around and gain knowledge..but the parents minimize the child's movement by just telling him to LIKE wat they (parents) think is good and dis-like wat they think is bad

I hope I make sense..peace

guitarprodigy September 6th, 2008 02:21AM  

I think this song is written from the point of view of someone abused in a relationship (typically a woman) who eventually goes insane and kills the abuser.
the gap referred to in the opening (and later) refers to the brink of insanity. "take care not to make me enter. If I do we both may disappear". later "slipping back into the gap again. I'm alive when you're touching me, alive when your shoving me down" she slips back into the gap during the abuse. "staring down the hole again. Hands upon my back again. Survival is my only friend. Terrified of what may come" the hole refers to this gap. Hands upon my back again(physical abuse. again) maybe the infant early in the song is a child she is pregnant with. The choking may refer to the effects on the child from the abuse. "who am I to judge or strike you down?" refers to the lowered self-esteem(or "male privelege" as it is referred to in abuse classes) she feels from her tormentor. This is also evident in the later line "but i'd trade it all for just a little piece of mind". "pushing and shoving" refers to abuse. "alive when you're touching me, alive when you're shoving me down" she is trying to voice that she is a human being, though being treated like less than that. "put me somewhere I don't want to be. Seeing some place I don't want to see. never want to see that place again." referring to "the gap" again. going insane briefly and not enjoying it. "if when I say 'i might fade like a sigh if I stay', you minimize my movement, anyway. I must persuade you another way." (if when I say you might kill me if I stay, you abuse me more, then I must change your mind for you.) "there's no love in fear"(self-explanitory)"just remember I'll always love you. even as I tear your fucking throat away. It will end no other way"(love ya', but I gotta kill ya'. This is the only way to make the abuse go away.)

the abused inevitably slipped into the gap, went insane and killed the abuser.

Vll January 17th, 2009 09:16AM  

Guitarprodigy submitted a very interesting interpretation, nicely done mate.

anonymous May 17th, 2009 04:15AM  

I think it's about the stuggle one has with the idiot, monkey mind. The constant chatter. The gap is chaos, the void. An opportunity for silence, and change. Our subconscious mind is quite infantile until one begins working with it. And often times the voices that haunt us are quite childish upon examination. I think this song might even have something to do with the Gnostic idea of Archons, based upon my understanding of it. Inner demons. A mind that may be from outside our own. It never shuts up and can put us in a really bad place when we try and quiet the flow. Stopping the internal dialogue. This is the Artist's declaration to the Little Idiot mind that the time has come, the game is over. The petty voices will be stilled, and left behind - maybe.

anonymous July 26th, 2009 06:51PM  

TO ME... this song is about a personal, internal battle. Maybe that is because this is what I can relate to myself and my personality. But, in the case of bipolar, depression, or even drug addiction, you may like that side of yourself, but if you don't kill it, you will both disappear... The good side, and the bad side. So, you try to push the negative side away, it tries to push the positive side away, and the battle goes on and on in cycle. I don't know, this is what I get from it, especially from the live salival version... when I feel that song, it literally can make me cry. It is amazing and one of my absolute favorites. I can get lost there for awhile. I suppose I could break the song apart piece by piece to better explain myself, but I don't have the time right this moment... perhaps later. Again, that's just my opinion of the song and how I "feel" it.

anonymous August 1st, 2009 01:27AM  

this song is about fighting to achieve a higher consciousness but you yourself keeps pushing you down. "Put me someplace i dont want to be" the sensitive, vulnerable place you must put yourself in order to pull yourself up to the next level. We are all our own enemies when the circle makes a full turn around in every aspect of life. The fight to higher consciousness is a long and hard, battling no one and nothing but yourself. Yes, it can relate to a women and child shoving him down, giving him negative thoughts;feelings to keep him from becoming one. All of us cant relate to the exact experience, but the simple feeling expressed can be felt by all who walk this earth. -scifi.saint-