Slipknot: Duality Meaning

Song Released: 2004

Duality Lyrics

I push my fingers into my eyes...
It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache...
What Is made of all the things I have to take...
Jesus, it never ends, it works it's way inside...
If the pain goes on...
Aaaaaaaah!

I have screamed until...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 22nd 2007 !⃝

   I think it is also about making decisions, but when you make them you may not get what you originally wanted. "I found out the hard way, nothing is what it seems."

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Feb 8th 2006 !⃝

   "duality is about standing at the crossroads of your life, looking down both paths, and going, 'now what am I going to do?'"
   -corey

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   skullripper48

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   Jun 17th 2017 !⃝

   This song references a pain, so blindingly agonizing, that only creating a greater pain can you overcome the first, it is a story of having to bear a burden for your whole life.
4. anonymous

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   Jun 21st 2024 !⃝

   personally, i think duality is about the struggles of addiction, talking about something being "the only things that slowly stops the ache" perhaps referring to trying to get away from drugs but taking some more to "stop the ache" of withdrawal. the line after then refers to b eing "made of all the things i have to take" possibly saying that when going through addiction, you feel you have to take the drugs or perhaps you are obliged to. "i have screamed until my veins collapsed" could mean many things. a common reasons veins collapse are by irritation via needles and drugs taken intravenously, or via drugs injected incorrectly. the screaming could also add to the fact that a) if you have incorrectly taken an intravenous drug, you would be in a lot of pain and b) withdrawal would be very painful and very tiring and you would probably feel like screaming throughout the process. and finally, the line "if the pain goes on, i'm not going to make it" could be referring to ,perhaps the suicidal feelings that many people feel when trying to withdraw from drugs. many people feel they are unable to stop using and a lot of people do end up taking their own lives due to this feeling. nothing is impossible, please keep trying, you can do it, never give up <3
5. anonymous

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   Dec 26th 2019 !⃝

   Going through dope sickness? I went into toxic shock and it was terrible. Did not think I was going to make it.....great song.
6. anonymous

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   Apr 5th 2018 !⃝

   Crystal methamphetamine addiction
7. anonymous

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   Oct 5th 2017 !⃝

   None of the interpretations here are wrong, if you think so then look up the word "interpret" and move along.
   
   To me this song is all about my marriage and the promises made in the beginning that are hardly ever kept. The lies about accepting me for the man I am as opposed to what she wanted me to be, more fucked up than that, she didn't even know what she wanted.
   
   I've talked, I've pleaded, I've negotiated and none of it helps. So now I'm telling you how things are, and you're not going to like it.
   
   I'm not leaving, we have children together. I will tough it out until they are out of the house, and you will suffer through it with me, or you can stop the fighting and choose to live in peace.
   
   It's pretty spot on. Hopefully Cory didn't suffer through this kind of relationship...
8. anonymous

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   Apr 27th 2017 !⃝

   I find this song to mean, that there is a struggle between the "Duality" of the expectations of life, and the reality of life, and all the fucked up shit that comes with the "life".
9. kooljohn176

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   Apr 16th 2016 !⃝

   It seems being torn in TWO by our conflicting beliefs and ideas with the words used for choices ''ONE'' has to make living in a World by the words in the language that creates opposites and divides our thinking which many times are both sides of the same coin, sort of speaking that can give us migraine headaches to figure out hitting brick walls, getting stuck and fustraded in the PARADOXES created in our mind, screaming to break through the chaos and insanity towards JESUS to help him understand and become in ONENESS WITH CHRIST 'cause he is afraid he'll go insane and not make it.
10. anonymous

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    Oct 16th 2014 !⃝

    I think this is an anthem for a troubled soul who has unbearable pressure or depression and needs a release. Corey is a troubled soul (his lyrics often reflect his mental suffering). Particularly, the part going "tell me the reality is better than the dream" seems to mean that people always say reality isn't as bad as we make it out to be in our heads. Corey then says "but I found out the hard way nothing is what it seems". This appears to be Corey's counter argument that you can say all you want that it isn't really that bad, but even that perception that everything's okay is of little comfort given "nothing is what it seems". In a way, I see my listening to this song as a way to express how I sometimes feel, but also empathizing with Corey's suffering.
11. mcfer

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    Jul 20th 2013 !⃝

    your all idiots!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Mar 17th 2013 !⃝

    This is actually a representation of one of the bible stories. they crowd alone in a house so full with followers that some even come through the roof. they are likening their words to that of christ's.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. anonymous

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    Jan 7th 2013 !⃝

    This peice is one of the most favorited off the 2004's Vol. 3 Subliminal Verses album. They have always produced some great singles, this among them. Duality is written about the tempers of your life, and how it is really hard to make the right decision at some points in your life. Corey Taylor does not write about uselessness, he actually writes with emotion and meaning, and he will never sell out. A true rock LEGEND. Slipknot forever, MAGGOTS.
14. anonymous

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    Dec 26th 2012 !⃝

    he is uncertain of the path that lies ahead, it scares him to think about an eternal life after death, .
15. music4life

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    Dec 6th 2012 !⃝

    This song is one of the BEST songs ever. I LOVE slipknot. Anway, I've always wondered what this song was really about and after I thought about it I understood. This song is about a person who hurts so bad that the only way to get ride of that hurt is to cause themselves pain. They scream and scream and try to break free but they just can't seem to get away....
16. mgrube1

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    Apr 27th 2012 !⃝

    The song isn't about a migraine headache It how Jesus is in there life. Here's Satin corruption that is driving him crazy that cause to have pain is because corruption of Satin. "Pain goes on I am not going to make it" Satin causing to have kind pain that is him to fail. How about this "All I got is insane" driving him crazy. He's the earth has two sides good and evil. it a fight to stay with the light. The Duality.
17. anonymous

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    Nov 24th 2011 !⃝

    the song Duality by Slipknot is about overcoming a addiction it is proved when they say "slowly stops the ache" it means slowly stops the craving of the addiction that is it Thank You for your time
18. anonymous

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    Sep 8th 2011 !⃝

    For me, the song's about someone who has to make a decision, but cannot make his mind, because every option seems to be bad. This person's life will always be guided by destiny, and destiny is not always the best thing the person wants. When he says that if the pain goes on, he's not gona make it, he means that if his life continues to hurt him, to be bad to him, he won't be able to continue to live, he may not make it.
    
    Basically, in my opinion, the song's about making decisions in life, although they may hurt you, and dealing with the fact that destiny will always rule, in some kind of way, your life.

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