Slipknot: Wait And Bleed Meaning
Song Released: 1999
Wait And Bleed Lyrics
Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves...
I wander out where you can't see...
Inside my shell, i wait and bleed...
I've felt the hate rise up in me...
Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves...
I...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:From what I've read off of other websites, Wait and Bleed is basically about a man bleeding to death from slit wrists. If you pay attention, the song sounds somewhat hypnotic. The person who is bleeding to death is experiencing a hypnotic affect from being isolated. There is a certain type of person who likes to be isolated, because it is relaxing for them. This song portrays that bit of relaxation in a very grim way. Also, there is a lot of fear portrayed in the song, because the person bleeding to death knows that he is leaving everything in his life behind, thus Corey's scream of "goodbye!". The song also leaves a statement about suicide, how instead of bleeding to death you could have spent that time recovering from whatever was getting you down. Now about the lyrics, I think when Corey sings "inside my shell I wait and bleed", the person's shell refers to isolation, because the person bleeding to death is by himself. It could also mean that the person either can't help himself from bleeding to death or doesn't want to, and just watches himself from his "shell", or his mind, bleeding to death. In the first verse after the opening chorus, there is a lot of panic and self loathing. This maybe portrays the feelings of one who is slowly dying. There is panic because the person dying doesn't want to die. Thus, there is a lot of build up as the person starts to die. This can be quite true with most cases of suicide. What usually happens is right before the person dies from committing suicide, he or she thinks "oh god, what have I done", because when they are finally faced with the situation in which they really are going to die, they are suddenly hit with the fact that they are saying goodbye to EVERYTHING. The first verse uses imagery to describe the shock and panic the person feels when he is suddenly faced with the situation in which he is going to die. In the first verse, Corey screams "I wipe it off on tile","My eyes are red and gold", and "How the hell did I get here". The next verse after the second chorus is about how the person dying is being brain washed as he slowly bleeds to death. Corey screams about being a "victim" and a "Manchurian candidate". The third verse is the rush of panic as the person realizes suddenly that he is about to die and says goodbye to everything in his life. Thus, the verse opens up with a new guitar line and Corey's scream of "goodbye!". "You haven't learned a thing, I haven't changed a thing, the flesh was in my bones, the pain was always free" basically means the person dying is acknowledging and feeling an extremely powerful feeling of guilt about the fact that he just watched himself bleed to death, and that any hope he had of stopping the bleeding was gone. Finally, the last chorus is sung with a deep growl in the back of Corey's voice to indicate that the person's life is about to end.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Sweet interpretation dude. I agree... Sort of. but corey's even said himself that his songs are very general and open to interpretation.
to chip in my two cents worth [chrisitian also] I always thought that he was mourning a loved one that was taken from him against their own will. [say a murder or massacre or something terrible like that] and the waiting and bleeding in his shell is referring to his feelings for revenge, but mixed in with his revenge is a deep mourning and sorrow. Hence the 'goodbye' bridge.
i believe the first verse is referring to his murder of a the person responsible for the death of said 'loved one'.
the realisation that he is sadistic and actually enjoyed murdering someone 'something about this, so very wrong. I have to laugh out loud, I wish I didn't like this'. The 'eyes red and gold' could be referring to his loss of control; he's gone insane during the murder. 'i can't control my shakes, how the hell did I get here?'
the second verse is post-murder. He is feeling guilt and pleading with the guilt in him to leave. 'get out of my head I don't need this' he's explaining to his guilt that he had no option because of revenge 'i'm a victim - manchurian candidate' [referring to being controlled by his rage against the taking of his loved one and having to kill someone to counter this]
he then admits to the person he killed that it was a conscience decision 'i have sinned by making my mind up and taking your breath away'
the third 'verse' is referring to himself. 'you' is himself and of course 'I' is himself. He says 'i haven't learned a thing, I haven't changed a thing' [i have only created grief for everyone else, me murdering that person hasn't fixed any problems]
'My flesh was in my bones the pain was always free' [i will always feel the same pain of grief and killing someone has only added to it]
'it waits for you' no matter how much you try to escape the guilt, anguish, grief and pain, it is always there waiting for you -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:DO NOT READ THIS
To start, I would just like to say I can understand most of your interpretations, but just as a little something else consider this (weird and random) interpretation.
It is about a religious person who has lost grip on reality and they are in a powerful dream where they are in the past.
Confusion sets in, as well as memories of bad times:
"I feel the hate rise up in me"
They come across a grave stone that they have long forgotten of someone they cared about:
"Kneel down to clear the stone of leaves"
They panic, and run/stumble away:
"I wander out where you can't see"
They are powerless to do anything, there is fear and confusion running through their veins. The shell being their mind, the waiting being for the shock to pass:
"Inside my shell, I wait and bleed"
They come back, to double check if this is real, and clear more dirt and leaves off the gravestone, it gets brighter:
"I wipe it off the tile, the light is brighter this time"
Things seem to have a fake holiness, such as the light:
"Everything is 3D blasphemy"
As tears of pain, and knowledge of a forgotten death come back, the hair stands up on their body in shock. Red is the colour of their eyes after crying, gold is the colour of wealth(wealthy with new knowledge):
"My eyes are red and gold, the hair is standing straight up"
They didn't think they'd break down like this:
"This is not the way I pictured me"
They are shaking with fear, confusion and disorientation:
"I can't control my shakes, how the hell did I get here?"
They don't think they belong in this place and time, it isn't right:
"Something about this, so very wrong..."
They stop and think to themselves "it must be a dream, this can't be real" even though they are unsure. The laughter is to help reassure themselves, but deep down they like to be scared:
"I have to laugh out loud, I wish I didn't like this"
They start to bring themselves back to reality, and see that it may just be a dream or memory:
"Is this a dream or a memory?"
They struggle to remove the memories/thoughts from their mind:
"Get outta my head coz I don't need this"
They realise it is a halucination/memory/holy vision:
"Why didn't I see this?"
They tell their cult that they had a vision from God, and despite the fact they are unsure if it really was from God, they say it was:
"I'm a victim - Manchurian candidate"
It turns out it wasn't a holy vision, and they regret telling people it was. They have sinned by claiming it as fact when they weren't entirely sure:
"I have sinned by just making my mind up and taking your breath away"
Even after making the false claim, and retracting it, the cult still take it as truth, and he realises how obsessed and blind they are:
"You havn't learned a thing, I havn't changed a thing"
The mistake of falsely claiming a vision was ignored, so they didn't get any punishment (this time), so were saved by being the one who claimed it. Flesh meaning pain, bone meaning protection, the pain was stopped because they weren't harmed:
"The flesh was in my bones"
And usually it is easy to receive pain, but the cult refuse to harm them and reassure them that they are a person of importance. Pain was always free before, but now it isn't:
"The pain was always free"
Even though the pain is avoided this time, it was just luck. Next time false information is claimed as God's word, there will be consequence. "It" refers to consequence:
"And it waits for you!"
The "goodbye" part is about the thought that they think they are in the next life already, because of all of the light and unrealistic surroundings.
DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS 'interpretation'.
I said at the top "DO NOT READ THIS".
I love Slipknot's music and this is not an attack or disrespect to them, I just thought I'd give you some extra reading if you bothered to read this (probably low rated) 'interpretation'. Also, I am going to rate this 1 star if I can rate my own interpretation. -
I absolutely love this song, it doesn't matter what state of mind I am in... Happy, mad, depressed, anxious. ...It always sets my head straight. This was the first time I have read the lyrics; but from listening over and over through many years ; I did have an excellent translation on my own. I think he was in a very bad place in his head and suffering through extremely bad self-hatred yet by the end of the song he has accepted it.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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corey stated the song answers the question of what he would do if he awoke in a room with a dead body.
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its a scream of suicide as he lays and bleeds waiting to die and be something else...........to feel something either then the pain and suffering his life has given him.
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Well, if you listen to the lyrics it sounds like how when Corey met his father again things went wrong.
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They write it. The meaning is what it does to you. Helping you get through life. Or even getting through the day. I was going to attempt suicide. I was listening to them. And one sentence changed my mind. Just one sentence can save a life. If anyone is considering commuting suicide. Before you do it talk to someone. Or listen to slipknot. It could save you.
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The meaning is what it makes you feel inside. The same for every song. It's what you take the lyrics as. It doesn't matter about how they ment it. They wrote it. You take it and help get through life.
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Just guessing from my interpretation, I believe that when Corey screams "AND IT WAIST FOR YOU!" at the end he is signifying that death is always there and it is somehow 'waiting' for you to die. Also when he says "Kneel down and clear the stone of leaves" I feel like he is saying that someone is clearing the leaves off of a tombstone. I say that because he had tried to kill himself and he is saying that the tombstone is his tombstone after he had died. Though luckily he did not die :D
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I agree with Interpretation #3. I am 100% convinced that Corey is singing about a person who is dying from rabies. The descriptions and symptoms given by Corey, and the progressive lack of mental lucidity and increasing insanity, coupled by the the growling, barking delivery of the chorus (which gets worse as the song goes on) leave zero doubt in my mind.
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inside my shell i wait and bleed
(sounds like he says inside michelle) -
This is a about Corey, lying in a bathtub slitting his wrists and waiting to bleed to death, hence the name wait and bleed. Later through the song he realises the insanity of the situation by then its too late as the riff changes and the songs starts getting frantic and aggressive corey screems goodbye. At the very end of the song corey screams AND IT WAITS FOR YOU
Luckily corey was saved in time and escaped the situation with only scars. -
The lyrics greatly describe an event that happened in my past, as well as the feelings I have today about those events.
The chorus is about how I feel whenever I think back to that time. I feel this hatred rising up in me, that clears my mind of any and all other thoughts (clear the stone of leaves). I often stare out into space (I wander out where you can't see), and I just emotionally bleed in the shell of my body.
The first verse is about the shock and confusion I experienced when that event happened. It was all very vivid and frightening (...the light is brighter this time, everything is 3D blasphemy). I was shaking with rage and fury, and I was confused about how I got in that situation (I can't control my shakes, how the hell did I get here). I also couldn't tell if it was a bad dream or reality (Is it a dream or a memory).
The second verse describes me trying to shake it off as a bad dream (Get out of my head 'cuz I don't need this, why didn't I see this?). I felt like I was being controlled by my anger and I became a different person (I'm a victim, a Manchurian candidate). I also hurt somebody then, and I regret it (I have sinned by just making my mind up and taking your breath away).
The third verse flashes back to the present day. While I may seem to have changed on the outside, I'm not so different on the inside (You haven't learned a thing, I haven't changed a thing...). Deep in my heart, there is still a sleeping monster that has been awakened and re-tranquilized from time to time. I also still have pain from the event that happened (The flesh was in my bones, the pain was always free)
The closing is how the pain and hatred is just waiting to be unleashed at the right time, though I don't want it to (And it waits for you).
That is my interpretation of the song. -
It is not about killing youre self but beeng killed from the inside. A mental attack hurts more than a physical, and take longer time to heal.
Thats what wait and bleed is all about -
If yoy never knew these songs express the mask side of slipknot (without mask not screaming or hateful, and with mask screamy and hateful) ergo when he said I felt the hate rise up in me he means he is changing inside and then when he screams thats his alter ego saying that he loves it and at the end when it says and it waits for you that means the mask side is letting him change and not making him. The second to last verse is the normal Corey trying to tell the bad one that he hasn't changed and that he will never learn that,,, there's more but you guys have to find that out
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As well as anakin being a manchurian candidate for palpatine against the Jedi.
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