anonymous October 6th, 2006 08:49PM  

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.

anonymous February 1st, 2007 05:20PM  

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.

anonymous February 19th, 2007 06:23AM  

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

anonymous March 10th, 2007 07:13PM  

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.

anonymous April 3rd, 2007 01:39AM  

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!!

anonymous April 3rd, 2007 01:55AM  

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...

SongBird_Singer April 21st, 2007 11:29PM  

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

YourFan July 24th, 2007 09:55PM  

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.

anonymous August 3rd, 2007 12:12AM  

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.

anonymous August 21st, 2007 04:37PM  

To me the song is about christianity. I think they are saying how everything in the bible and religion happened a long time ago. And how Maynard wants people to focus on things now. To me sober is being from christianity

anonymous August 26th, 2007 02:13AM  

To me this song is all about christianity. he's saying how jesus was 2000 years ago. and we need to forget about that and concentrate on the present. quot living in the past. Stop believing things from a long time ago and believe in something now. so to me sober is being free from christianity. maybe I'm way off????

anonymous September 3rd, 2007 08:37PM  

To me this song has nothing to do with drinking or drug addiction. To me he is talking a stab at christianity. He's saying how jesus happened 2000 years ago and we still worship it. He wants something to happen now and believe in the present. I could be wrong, but to me sober is being free from all the christaianity

anonymous October 9th, 2007 08:59PM  

I think that Maynard leaves his songs with no certain interpretation. I think that he lets you interpret in your own way. So there is no right or wrong interpretation.

I honestly think that this song is about a bad acid trip. Because I had a bad trip the other day, and I found myself saying things like, "Dude, I need this to be over" "I need to go to sleep or something" "I want this to be over"

"Theres a shadow just behind me. Shrouding every step I take. Waiting like a stalking butler, who upon the finger rests."
This line reminds me of the the paranoia I had during my bad trip. I always would think that everyone would know that I was tripping.

"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 this over."
During my bad trip, I wanted to be sober. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up sober. I wanted to drink enough that it would put me to sleep.

"I am just a worthless liar. I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you. Trust in me and fall as well."
When I was having the bad trip, I was basically autistic for a couple of hours. I thought stupid thoughts. I started to think that everything was my own imagination.Therefore I was an idiot. I was asking complicated questions. If my friend ,that was also trippin', believed me, then he might have gone into a bad trip.

I didn't say all that stuff during my bad trip just because I like Tool. I said that stuff when I was "autistic." When I was "autistic", I couldnt comprehend anything. I couldnt hear my friends because the walls were louder than them. I couldnt comprehend that. I didn't comprehend what breathing was. All that I could say was, "Am I dead? I want this to be over. I need to sleep and wake up sober. I need alcohol to put me to sleep. Oh my God, is this the end? I want it to be over.

This interpretation doesn't apply to everyone. But it applies to me. There is no right or wrong interpretation.

anonymous November 13th, 2007 12:09PM  

The only reason I submitted this is because I'm making translations of the music of tool so my non-english speaking friends who love Tool should understand the lyrics better..

I agree with the alcoholic/druguser version of interpretation, regardless if it's just about Maynard or the archetype of The Ex-Alcoholist(if you've ever met one, you can tell this song is a perfect definition of the mental-parasyte that leeches off people wanting to help him/her.).On the other hand I'd have to be a total atheist to fully take in the anti-christian message which is there whatsoever.

The only line can't fully translate or don't understand is the: "who upon the finger rests". If somone'd help me by discussing this, i'd be grateful..

anonymous December 12th, 2007 04:44PM  

People calling other people idiots because they haven't got the same opinion as you, you're the idiots, arrogant fucks, your opinion is no more important than anyone elses, are you Adam or Maynard? no...? exactly so shut the fuck up, only they know what the song is about for sure, and that's even if it does has one literal meaning which there's a good chance it doesn't it could mean a number of things.

I think all the people here have come up with good interpretations so stop insulting each other.

anonymous January 3rd, 2008 01:18AM  

I agree with the first interpertation up to this point..
Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over
And why can't we drink forever?
I just want to start this over

After this I believe the song takes on a different speaker. The new speaker in the song would be drugs, and these drugs are giving you the truth to them...

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

... They will definitely raise your spirits but in the end they will bring you down and destroy your mind and body.

T_REV January 16th, 2008 08:25AM  

Haha Maynard isn't even that literal in the most of the song. why can't we not be sober?... most of you are saying it's "yeah lets be drunk." Maynard isn't that literal with the whole drunk thing. yes he may mean drunk but not in the traditional sense. maybe being drunk on something else. like power. He could be saying that why can't we all have this power, this power to go back and right wrongs in the past

anonymous March 24th, 2008 11:51PM  

I think that this album seems like a concept album of someones life; with each song having a deeper meaning.

anonymous April 18th, 2008 04:11PM  

Has anyone else considered the possibility that this song is written through the eyes of a fallen angel? That is what I think of when I hear it... a demon who knows he has no way to redeem himself. He is a slave to his past decisions, and will bring as many souls down with him as he can.

anonymous April 27th, 2008 12:11AM  

Heres an interview with Adam Jones in which he talks about the meaning of the song from his point of view http://toolshed.down.net/articles/text/gsch.mar.94.html

He says "The song and video are based on a guy we know who is at his artistic
best when he's loaded. A lot of people give him shit for that. I don't tell
people to do or not do drugs. You can do what you want, but you have to
take responsibility for what happens. If you become addicted and a junkie,
well, that's your fault."