A Perfect Circle: The Package Meaning

The Package Lyrics

Clever got me this far
Then tricky got me in
Eye on what i'm after
I don't need another friend
Smile and drop the cliche
'Till you think I'm listening
I take just what I came for
Then I'm out the door again

Peripheral on the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 17th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about the feeling a junkie or user gets when waiting for his/her drug (whatever it may be). I think the song best describes an addicts true intentions when around smack - they will do anything including lying to and stealing from people, friends and/or users around them. Best song on the album in my opinion.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   mandicottontail

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   Oct 22nd 2006 !⃝

   Drug addiction? Really? I thought it was about seduction and taking whatever means possible to get sex. "clever got me this far, then tricky got me in," "eye on what I'm after," "smile, drop the chiche if you think I'm listening." the dude's just out to get laid.
3. anonymous

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   Apr 3rd 2022 !⃝

   I think it is about both drugs and sex. He has cleverly intertwined them like he has in other songs. He is using the senario and feeling involved with getting drugs( analogy’s) But applying it to sex. He is very sexual in a lot of his songs.
   Like in Eulogy… he referenced the biblical account of the death of Jesus but in the end was using it as an analogy. Clever.
4. anonymous

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   Jul 4th 2021 !⃝

   Look, anyone who’s been a heroin addict can connect to this song REALQUICK. He is absolutely not talking about sex or anything else but dope.
   The words describe perfectly those feelings right before you are about to score and you are crawling out of your skin and you have no time for friends or conversation you need to feed that monster. Period. There’s really no question about the meaning of this song. But unless you’ve been there you won’t recognize it.
5. anonymous

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   Jul 7th 2018 !⃝

   Not quite as serious as addiction; I always pictured the character smeagol from lord of the rings. The lyrics match his mental struggles exactly.... But I guess that's a story of addiction as well.
   Good luck to all those who fight it.
6. anonymous

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   Jun 14th 2018 !⃝

   it's simply about the shadow self. who all of us really are but what we deny. the duality of human nature. as above so below
7. anonymous

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   Nov 16th 2017 !⃝

   I always envisioned someone sitting in a doctors office trying to get a script...running through the motions to get the fix...lying and pretending to listen..etc etc
   
   Of course as with anything maynard...I also thing the song is meant to have multiple interpretations the other obvious meaning being a sex addict trying to get laid and putting up with the whole talking and getting to know each other yada yada before they get to business.
8. anonymous

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   Nov 10th 2017 !⃝

   .....its called the package! package, like junk in a dude's pants!?
9. anonymous

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   Oct 18th 2017 !⃝

   Heroin its about focus on one thing his fix he is what he is after he don't want to stay at his dealer's house and when he is his eyes are on one thing the package then good by he will lie cheat steal to feed the monster that is in him craving more and more it will never leave
10. anonymous

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    Oct 5th 2017 !⃝

    Sex is an addiction too.
11. anonymous

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    Nov 1st 2015 !⃝

    I think it's about someone whom stumbled upon a group. Then became mesmerized with their black magic. It was as though a whole new reality evolved. He new he didn't belong or fit in but they seemed not to notice but worshiped him as if he was a missing link, "the key" or the devil himself!!! They poured into his mind new beliefs about himself. He found his life to be a living dream but would only ware off causing him to be full of rage and anger. Therefore he would return to this mystical occult for a night. Refrain from being himself, afraid they would discover he is not who they think he is, and then become enlightened again before leaving.
12. anonymous

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    Dec 27th 2014 !⃝

    This song is about the demon "addiction" that tricks the human to surrender to the demons wish, alcohol, drugs, sex or evil. It is sang as a first person view of a demon entering the sub-conscious to manipulate the human. Its a sneaky, dangerous demon, that uses wits and coercion to have you give in to its wills. It bounces thru a first person demon and the human first person struggle to deny and defeat the suggestions being given. A demon cannot take human free will, per the rules of the bet made with God, to both attempt to win humanity over. It is a very sophisticated song writing accomplishment by Maynard, singer of the song. The video also touches on the fact that the demon of addiction is like a machine that does not stop running, its gears are forever turning in an addict. The album 13th Step, which this song is the first track, is a homage to the 12 steps of recovery, hence the 13th step, the battle that continues after the choice of recovery is made by an addict. It is a masterpiece to those that know the demon, "addiction" as i named it. Listen closely, after reading this and put yourself in the place of trying to, accomplishing and being inside the human mind as a demon, and also as the human knowing the demonic presence and attempting to ignore or exorcise its presence thru denying the whispering of encouragement being made by the demons voice. It shows the hunger it craves, the lying it tries, and the cunning mind games it plays against its human host. I strongly say watch his video and pay attention, its about energy, power and continual non stop attempts to get what it craves.
    marioportilla@rocketmail.com
13. anonymous

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    Oct 30th 2014 !⃝

    The argument about whether the song is about sex or drugs misses the point. Its more ambiguous than that, more interpretable. The lyrics work either way and Maynard probably meant it that way.
14. anonymous

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    Jul 24th 2014 !⃝

    To all of the people who think this is not about addiction: why is the album called "The Thirteenth Step"? It's clearly a reference to the twelve step program. Take the noose for instance, it's specifically about him trying to make amends to his mother (one of the steps), but he's lost in how he could go about doing it because she is dead.
    
    That being said, I interpret this song in two different ways. The first of which being how powerless he is to drugs and how he would just pretend he gave a fuck about the people giving the drugs to him until he could get the package. Then he's out the door. He has what he wants.
    
    Personally, I relate to this more in the beginning of my recovery phase. I was forced to join a rehabilitation group, and I knew what the consequences would be if I chose not to go. So I would go to the meetings, get what I needed to remain free, not try to talk to anyone because I didn't feel I needed to be friends with them, and then I was out the door again. I would lie and say I wanted to be sober to get what I came for.
    
    Anyways, it could be easily relatable to any situation in which a person is using another, so I guess none of these interpretations are too far off. I just think anyone who didn't catch the obvious reference in the album title to the Twelve Steps is a fucking idiot.
15. anonymous

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    Jan 9th 2014 !⃝

    Read about psychopaths. Is just one of them talking.
16. anonymous

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    Jan 25th 2013 !⃝

    Clearly the whole album is about the stages of drug addiction and recovery. The Package is about copping dope and the feelings you have as a junkie when you are sitting at a dope hole trying to just get your shit and leave. That simple.
17. anonymous

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    Oct 15th 2012 !⃝

    I can't figure out why/how so many people are so so so far off in interpreting the lyrics on this album. For some reason a lot of people seem to think it's about drug addiction. While I'm sure many of the lyrics are relevant to drug addiction, and it was something that Maynard struggled with himself... the lyrics are not about that.
    
    Maynard's lyrics, whether it be from Tool or APC are about spirituality, about his attempts to find and understand the Truth, and also his failures.
    
    There are a bunch of you out there who are sure it's about drugs. But these songs are about his search for Spirituality, the ups, the downs. etc.
    
    And btw the first verse of this song specifically is talking about sex, and the package is a euphemism to his penis.

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