Tool Prison Sex

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Written by
Kevin Richards

Grammar edited by
Kara Loofborough

          
One of the most amazing things about listening to music is our mind's ability to interpret the song as it sees fit.  Your brain seeks logic and truth, ultimately shaping what you believe is the meaning. Sadly, we live in a society whose music industry is more concerned about telling you how much bigger their dick is then yours and maximizing the amount of alcohol they can pass around (seriously you can only get so drunk I don’t care how much money you shove up your ass) and I’m not just talking about rap. Rock bands seem to think every lot lizard they pick up at a bar that doesn’t call them back justifies a song about bleeding hearts and 12 shades of absolute suck. However, it's important to remember that there are still thoughtful, metaphoric lyrics out there. People might say “its too vague", "I don’t know what he’s trying to say", "I just like the beat”, but I think it is that very vagueness that makes them amazing. They're not trying to spoon-feed you an idea, but rather trying to get your pathetic, public school brain to reach out and find an original thought. With that said, this show is about thought-provoking songs and what I think their meanings are. I'm not just picking my favorite songs but the songs I personally have contemplated and found thought-provoking.

Episode intro:

For the very first episode I thought I'd cover a song by a band which might possibly be the first band I heard where I can distinctly remember thinking “I got to know THEM lyrics”:  "Prison Sex" by Tool. On the surface you might think this is a fairly straight-forward song. It's all in the title. But if we think of prison as a metaphor for inescapable fate, such as the abused becoming the abusive, the song takes on a much more philosophical meaning than its raw, raunchy lyrics may portray. Class is out and as adults we should be able to hear taboo words without looking like we just received a colonoscopy. Fair warning though, you will need your big boy eyes for this one.

Disclaimer:

Obviously I’m making some conclusions on the meaning of the song in comparison with today’s analyses that are speculative at best. My intentions are not to arrogantly assume to know the exact meaning or intention of the band, but to simply explain what I PERSONALLY infer from the lyrics themselves and open up the conversation to other people’s experiences and takes on it. None of this is in stone. Call it an excuse to step out of the tiny box we live in to stretch my legs. Indulge me.

Lyrics & Analysis :

 lyrics are in black .

analysis in blu.

Fever tangent in red

“Prison Sex”, Tool

It took so long to remember just what happened.
I was so young and vestal then,
you know it hurt me,
but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
I've got my hands bound and
my head down and my eyes closed,
half-closed, wide open.

The first stanza represents the initial abusive trauma to the victim. It’s such a traumatic event that the victim's own consciousness has completely buried the memory.  However, the memory is not gone, but merely given to the subconscious. He thinks to himself, "I’m alive, so I survived," unaware of the seedling implanted in is subconscious.

Do unto others, what has been done to me,
Do unto others, what has been done to you?

This is obviously the golden rule, but in reverse. The idea of "treat others how you want to be treated" has been perverted into a self-justifying hatred for anything that reminds the victim of who he was. Therefore, this reminds him of the abuse and accesses the same visceral area of the mind. He then projects the abusive treatment he received onto others. The fact this is stated as a question is the denial that the action is even negative. 

Fever Tangent: This seemingly positive rule is easily turned from virtue to destruction. I find that this can be done with many principles like

 charity = taxes

murder = military orders

theft = banking fees.

But I diiiIIIIIGGGGGREEEESSSSSSSS!!!!1! (off Subject)

I'm treading water,
I need to sleep a while.
My lamb and martyr, you look so precious.
Won't you come on up closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this,
I can't stand to burn too long.
Release in sodomy.
Oh, for one sweet moment I am whole.

           

Self control breaks down to the point of unrest. The seedling grows from victim to abuser. In using the terms lamb and martyr, he sees the new victim as a salvation, but only on an animalistic level,  as apparent by him expressing the need to smell his victim. There is no rational response, only an irrational misfire in the mind. The need is on the same level as eating and just as impossible to control. Burning not only suggests a fiery desire, but also a sense of living hell. That might be a stretch though, even salmon would face palm.

In accessing the same visceral area of the mind, there is now a strong connection between abuse and emotion. Regardless if the emotion is healthy or self-destructive, he's glad just to feel anything because at least he feels alive, rather than contained by bottling up his painful memory, or at this point, hard-wired instinct on a basic level.

Do unto you now, what has been done to me,
Do unto you now, what has been done?

You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come on a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
Release in sodomy.
For I am your witness and
blood and flesh can be trusted.(X2)
And only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind.

The victim finds his own victim almost identical to his former, undamaged innocence. He does not understand the reason behind this animalistic behavior to abuse, because there is no rational one to be found. The reason is purely emotional and out of his control since it was left to the subconscious.

Got your hands bound, your head down,
your eyes closed.
You look so precious now.

( Show me something
Thought I could make it end
Thought I could wash the stains away
Thought I could break the circle if I
Slipped right into your skin
So sweet was your surrender
We have become one
I have become my terror
And you my precious lamb and martyr.) *

I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this
shit, blood, and cum on my hands.

Get past the ignorant stigma about taboo words. There are letters that form words that all adults should be able to hear without their brains exploding. They are there for shock value, or a better term would be pathos, invoking an emotional response to remind the listener of the song of their own futile attempts at correcting negative behavior that has been linked in the brain since early development. This song is not just about rape, but about nurtured negative behaviors in general. Its superficial subject of rape is to provoke a raw, sickening response from the listener. It's there to make you uncomfortable about your own hard-wired LEARNED negative behaviors. Rape is a horrific act and a universally despised behavior. I can only attempt to contemplate its true impact on a person. It's the most definitive unacceptable behavior.

There is another interesting side to this. The original victim becomes fully aware of his completely destructive behavior. There’s even a sense of desperation in curing himself, but a cellmate in a prison cannot escape own mind. Same as an addict whose behavior defies all reasonable logic. While you look on the outside with bewilderment, he is just as confused about it as you are. 

I've...come...round...full circle.
My lamb and martyr, this will be over, soon.
You look so precious.(X4)
You look so precious, now,
You look so precious...

Manor was quoted in 1993 before performing prison sex in Canada
"This song is about recognizing, identifying, the cycle of abuse within yourself. That's the first step of the process: realization; identifying. The next step is to work through it. But this song is about the first step in the process, which is recognizing."

It is also interesting to note that the music video caused some controversy being removed from MTVs music video library due to “suggestive child abuse”. Now I know what your thinking…. MTV played music! Yeah weird huh

This song not only speaks on the cycle of abuse in aggressive “in your face” reality, but also puts the singer in the shoes of the victim-turned-abuser in a horrifyingly explicit way, as a lot of Tool's music does (Sober, Stink Fist, Opiate, etc.) Prison Sex can be found on Undertow,  Tool's debut album, which I highly recommend.  Fuck cherry-pickin songs from itunes.  Be a real man and get the album. I hope you found this interesting.

Personal note: Please accept my humble attempt at writing my first script. I realize I’m about as rusty a writer as "Bird-demic" is considered “Ernest”. It's something I’ve been procrastinating and spewing cliché pathetic phrases like “I should write", "I used to write you know” to whoever wants to know aka no-fucking-buddy. I’m hoping to get better with practice. Let me know what you think. Suggestions and criticism welcome.