Tool: Sober Meaning
Song Released: 1993
Sober Lyrics
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I think this song is about god and how he will bring you down.
"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."
I think this part is sapposed to be god. and in the part where he says "why can't we not be sober why can't we drink forever" I don't think he means literally drinking. Because religion is said to be the opiate of the world -
I don't think this song is about drugs at all. It is nothing of physical form. It is about being aware and conscious in your state of reality. Not getting lost in your own made up or conditioned thoughts of what the world is and just letting it be what it is. your mind will only take control and decieve you. People should be aware or "sober" of how the mind can decieve.
Nobody is right or wrong in their interpretations so no one should be calling anyone an idiot or saying the lyrics are obvious. No tool lyrics are obvious, they all have underlying meaning and can be applied to anyone's life. They want you to think for yourself and interpret your own meaning. -
I'd like to present that this is written not from the band's perspective, but from that of a friend who someone mentioned on here was at his artistic best when drunk. This is the band pouring out that man's frustrations with religious PEOPLE, not the religion itself, as I'll show in a moment.
The "shadow" is religious guilt. It constantly nags at him, reminding him at every turn of his failures. It's not loud (whistling and whispering are not loud actions), but the first stanza establishes that it is always there.
"Waiting like a stalking butler
Who upon the finger rests
Murder now the path called "must we"
Just before the son has come"
Take Christianity into context for a second here, even if you disagree with it: the world is Christ's kingdom, and Christians should be its caretakers, or rather "butlers" in this case. Christ is not currently here, and he is "the son". That would imply that the butler is trying to murder this man by way of guilt before the son gets back (presumably so that he wouldn't find out). Murder rests upon his finger, which is pointing at this man.
The stanzas about "Jesus" and "Mother Mary", then, are not criticisms but pleas. He wants to be free of the guilt that their followers are spewing on him, asking for Jesus and Mary to say something OTHER than what the "stalking butler" is saying. He wishes that he could hear it from them directly, but he is losing faith, because he never does.
The part about "Why can't we not be sober" is not so much about not being afraid of sinful things, but rather it's the man wishing that everyone else could forget his past mistakes. It doesn't say "Why can't we get drunk every once in a while", which would, following this interpretation, mean that we only forget about the problems for a little while. This is a call for us to change from sober to drunk, so that we never remember the past.
The self-degrading parts of this song actually digress a bit from the main point, but they essentially embody the way that this man feels as a result of the religious condemnation. He has already stated how he feels about everyone else, so now he is focusing on himself. -
And if it's on Wikipedia it must be true......
Gimme a break...... -
"Why can't we not be sober"
Let's not "overthink," or convict ourselves with "over analyzing" or victimize ourselves by "severing the body from the mind."
Let's take things in literal terms, as intelligent people - objectively disregarding the double-negative and allowing ourselves to recieve the message:
Why can't we not be sober?
To "not be sober" is to be drunk, high, anhebriated - right?
Why can't we be inebriated?
Why can't we start this over?
Why can't we drink forever?
I just want to start this over.
Sacremental wine, anyone?
We've all been told to "forgive and forget" at some point in our lives, right?
If I'm to buy into this religious fanaticism of Jesus and the virgin, and all the other little glimmering trinkets, can't I do it WITHOUT a sound mind? If I'm expected to buy into this train of thought, can't I do it on the messiah's wine?
This song so simply and elegantly demonstrates the inherent duality of the so-called orthodox, and elaborates on the complete hypocrisy of it's teachings (the xian church).
"Sober" suggests that the only way to accept this swill is to be "under the influence" (so to speak) of the sacramental wine itself. I don't think the song explicitly identifies this idea, but I find it highly suggestive.
The band hasn't ever been one to spell things out for people, but to allow those who are exposed to "think for yourself" - in complete contradiction to historical / religious mythology.
Expect to be left to your own devices.
I'm trying to play by your rules, whoever you are... I'm meeting you more than half way - let's turn the other cheek, aye?
Why can't we all be sober?
Must we play a game of hurt? Must we allow ourselves to be victims of ourselves and one another. Aren't we growing? Can't we grow?
Must everything be a pivot-point of revolution? Can't we be dignified as people who learn, grow, and adapt through our own personal evolution?
The past is done, right? Maybe? Please?
I just want to start this over.
Revolutionist thinking, stemming from where?
HMMMMM.....?
Let's not be sober. -
It's about his friend who could only give him good advice about music when he is drunk (it says it on wikipedia you fucking dumbasses)
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Hey Anonymous 2006-10-06 20:49:20, ever heard of these two great songs by Tool, AEnima and Hush? They're both very good, having little to nothing to do with religion, and, get this, are actually very literal in they're lyrics! I know, crazy right?
I'm tired of anti-religion fanatic dickholes like you assuming every word spoken from Maynard's mouth is naysaying religion, looking down on everyone else as those less intelligent. I am ashamed to know that someone of your caliber of stupidity and ignorance has even heard of the great band Tool. -
I read about an interview with Maynard where he talked about the inspiration for sober. He knew a musician that was a drug addict and people always criticized his work because he was an addict. It wasn't about Maynard personally.
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The only one who can interpret the meaning of this song properly is Maynard himself, that's what has fueled my search is Maynard's own description of the song not others opinions.
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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." -
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.
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I think that this album seems like a concept album of someones life; with each song having a deeper meaning.
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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
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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.
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