Back to Top

Tool - Undertow Album Lyrics



Tool - Undertow Lyrics






Intolerance

I don't want to be hostile
I don't want to be dismal
And I don't want to rot in an apathetic existence
See I want to believe you
And I wanted to trust you
And I want to have faith to put away the dagger

But you lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat and steal
You lie, cheat and steal
And I tolerate you

You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat and steal
You lie, cheat and steal
I cannot tolerate

Veil of virtue hung to hide your method
While I smile and laugh and dance
And sing your praise and glory
Shroud of virtue hung to mask your stigma
As I smile and laugh and dance
And sing your glory

While you lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
How can I tolerate you?

You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
I cannot tolerate

Our guilt, our blame
I've been far too sympathetic
Our blood, our fault
I've been far too sympathetic
I am not innocent
I am not innocent
You are not innocent
No one is innocent

You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
You lie, cheat, and steal
I cannot tolerate

I will not longer tolerate you
I will grow down inside you
I must go down beside you
No one is innocent
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Adam Jones, Daniel Carey, Maynard James Keenan, Paul M. D'Amour
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Prison Sex

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,
my head down, my eyes closed,
and my throat wide open.

Do unto others what has been done to you

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

Do unto you now what has been done to me.

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

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.

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

* Additional lyrics performed live. Sometimes listed as Prison Sex (O.T.R.M.)
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: ADAM JONES, DANIEL CAREY, MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN, PAUL M D'AMOUR
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Sober

There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
Waiting like a stalking butler
Who upon the finger rests
Murder now the path of must we
Just because the son has come

Jesus, won't you f*cking whistle
Something but the past and done?
Jesus, won't you f*cking whistle
Something but the past and done?

Why can't we not be sober?
Just want to start this over
And why can't we drink forever?
I just want to start this over

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

Mother Mary, won't you whisper?
Something but what's past and done
Mother Mary, won't you whisper?
Something but the past and done

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over
And why can't we sleep forever?
I just want to start this over
Why?

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

Trust me
Trust me
Trust me
Trust me
Trust me

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start things over
And why can't we sleep forever?
I just want to start this over
Why?
I want what I want
I want what I want
I want what I want
I want what I want
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Paul M. D'Amour, Maynard James Keenan, Daniel Edwin Carey, Adam Jones
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Bottom

My compassion is broken now
my will is eroded now
desire is broken now
it makes me feel alive
im on my knees and burnin'
my piss and moans are the fuel that sets my head on fire
so smell my soul burn
im broken lookin' up to see the enemy
and i have swallowed the poison you feed me
but i survive on the poison you feed me
guilt fed, hatred fed, weakness fed
and it makes me feel ugly
on my knees and burnin'
my piss and moans are the fuel that sets my head on fire
im dead inside

shit adds up, shit adds up, shit adds up, shit adds up at the bottom

if i let you, you would make me destroy myself
in order to survive you, i must first survive myself
i can sink no further, and i cannot forgive you
there's no choice but to confront you, to engage you, to erase you
ive gone to great lenghts to expand my threshold of pain
i will use my mistakes against you, there's no other choice
im shameless now, im nameless now, im nothing now, im no one now
but my soul must be iron 'cause my fear is naked
im naked and fearless
and my fear is naked

dead inside, dead inside, dead inside
nameless now, shameless now, nothing now, no one now
shit adds up (x4)
and you see me naked now
fearless now, naked now (x2)
shit adds up
it leaves me dead inside (x4)

hatred keeps me alive
angriness keeps me alive
weakness keeps me alive
guilt keeps me alive
at the bottom
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Adam Jones, Daniel Carey, Henry Rollins, Maynard Keenan, Paul D'amour
Copyright: Lyrics © IMAGO MUSIC, BMG Rights Management






Crawl Away

You crawled away from me.
Slipped away from me.
I tried to keep ahold,
but there was nothing I could say.
You slid away from me
Crept away from me
I tried to keep you down
And there was nothing I could say.
So what you're trying to say
is you don't wanna play.
But what you want and what you need
doesn't mean that much to me.
Because I can see your back is turning.
If I could I'd stick the knife in. (x2)

This is love.
This is my love for you.

Get up.

Now.

Say you won't go.
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: ADAM JONES, DANIEL CAREY, MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN, PAUL M D'AMOUR
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Swamp Song

My warning meant nothing
You're dancing in quicksand
Why don't you watch where you're wandering?
Why don't you watch where you're stumbling
You're wading knee deep and going in
You're wading knee deep and going in

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a stupid
Belligerent f*cker

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a dumb-ass
Belligerent f*cker
I hope it sucks you down
Down
Down
Down

My warning meant nothing
You're dancing in quicksand
Why don't you watch where you're wandering?
Why don't you watch where you're wandering?
You're wading knee deep and going in
And you may never come back again

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a stupid
Belligerent f*cker

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a dumb-ass
Belligerent f*cker
I hope it sucks you down

My warning meant nothing
You're dancing in quicksand
Why don't you watch where you're wandering?
Why don't you watch where you're stumbling
You're wading knee deep and going in
And you may never come back again

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a stupid
Belligerent f*cker

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a dumb-ass
Belligerent f*cker

I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks you, f*cker
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks you down

Wandering, wandering
No one even invited you in
Still stumbling
Suffocate, suffocate
Why don't you get away?

Wandering around and wandering
No one even invited you in
You're still stumbling
Suffocate, suffocate
Why don't you get out while you can?

No one told you to come

My warning meant nothing
You're dancing in quicksand
Why don't you watch where you're wandering?
Why don't you watch where you're stumbling?
You're wading knee deep and going in
And you may never come back again

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a stupid
Belligerent f*cker

This bog is thick and
Easy to get lost in
'Cause you're a dumb-ass
Belligerent f*cker

I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks you, f*cker
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks
I hope it sucks you
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: LEE JONES
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.






Undertow

Two times now (times now)
I've been struck down by a voice that
Speaks from deep beneath the endless water

It's twice as clear as Heaven
Twice as lead as reason
Deep and rich like silt on a riverbed
And just as never-ending

The current's mouth below me
Opens up around me
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing
Surrounds and drowns and sweeps me away

But I'm so comfortable
Too comfortable

Shut up
Shut up
Shut up
Shut up
You're saturating me
How could I let this bring me back to my knees?

Third time now (time now)
I've been baptized by a voice that
Screams from deep beneath the cold and black water

It's half as high as Heaven
Half as clear as reason
Clear and black like silt on a riverbed
Just as never-ending

The current's mouth below me
Opens up around me
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing
Surrounds and drowns and wipes me away

But I'm so comfortable
Too comfortable

Shut up
Shut up
Shut up
Shut up
You're saturating me
How could I let this happen?

Why don't you kill me?
I am weak and numb and insignificant
How could I let this bring me back to my knees?

Euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria

I'm back down
In the undertow
I'm helpless and awake
I'm in the undertow
Awake down beneath the undertow
There doesn't seem to be a way out of the undertow

Euphoria
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: ADAM JONES, MAYNARS KEENAN, PAUL D'AMOUR, DANIEL CAREY
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






4 Degrees

Get up
Get up now
Get up
Get up now
Get up
Get up now
Get up
Get up now

Free yourself
From yourself
Free yourself
From yourself

Locked up inside you
Like the calm beneath castles
A cavern of treasures
No one has been to

Let's go digging
Let's go digging
Bring it out and
Take it back in

You won't do what you'd like to do
Lay back and let me show you another way

I'll kill what you want me to
Take what's left and eat it
Take all or nothing
Life's just too short to push it away

Take it all
Take it all in

All the way in
All the way in
Let it go in
Let it go in

You won't feel what you'd like to feel
Lay back and let me show you another way

I'll kill what you want me to
Take what's left and eat it
Take all or nothing
Life's just too short to

Knock me down
I'll just come back running
Knock you down
It won't be long now

All the way in
All the way in
All the way in
All the way in
Way in

I'll kill what you want me to
Take what's left and eat it
I'll take all or nothing
Life's just too short to push it away

Take it all
Take it all higher
Four degrees now
Four degrees warmer

Give in now
Give in now
Let me in

You'll like this
This brings us higher
You'll like this

It brings us closer than
Dying and
Cancer and
Crying

Let's take it
Take it
Take it
Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it
Take it

Take it
Take it

I'll kill what you want me to
Take what's left and eat it
Take all or nothing
Life's just too short to lose it

Just like that
Just like that
Just like...
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Daniel Carey, Maynard James Keenan, Paul M. D'Amour, Adam Jones
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Flood

Here comes the water.

All I knew and all I believed
are crumbling images
that no longer comfort me.
I scramble to reach higher ground,
some order and sanity,
or something to comfort me.

So I take what is mine,and hold what is mine,
suffocate what is mine, and bury what's mine.
Soon the water will come
and claim what is mine.
I must leave it behind,
and climb to a new place now.

This ground is not the rock I thought it to be.

Thought I was high, and free.
I thought I was there
divine destiny.

I was wrong.
This changes everything.

The water is rising up on me.
Thought the sun would come deliver me,
but the truth has come to punish me instead.

The ground is breaking down right under me.
Cleanse and purge me
in the water.
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN, DANIEL CAREY, PAUL M D'AMOUR, ADAM JONES
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management






Disgustipated

And the angel of the lord came unto me
Snatching me up from my place of slumber
And took me on high and higher still
Until we moved to the spaces betwixt the air itself
And he brought me into a vast farmlands of our own Midwest
And as we descended cries of impending doom rose from the soil
One thousand nay a million voices full of fear
And terror possessed me then
And I begged Angel of the Lord what are these tortured screams?
And the angel said unto me
These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard
Tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
Like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared
"Hear me now, I have seen the light!
They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!
Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!
Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? Thank you Jesus

This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on
This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life

This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on
This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life

This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on
This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life

This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on
This is necessary
This is necessary
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life

It was daylight when you woke up in your ditch
You looked up at your sky then
That made blue be your color, you had your knife there with you too
When you stood up there was goo all over your clothes
Your hands were sticky
You wiped them on your grass, so now your color was green
Oh Lord, why did everything always have to keep changing like this
You were already getting nervous again
Your head hurt and it rang when you stood up
Your head was almost empty
It always hurt you when you woke up like this
You crawled up out of your ditch onto your gravel road and began to walk
Waiting for the rest of your mind to come back to you
You can see the car parked far down the road and you walked toward it
If God is our Father, you thought, then Satan must be our cousin
Why didn't anyone else understand these important things?
You got to your car and tried all the doors
They were locked. it was a red car and it was new
There was an expensive leather camera case laying on the seat
Out across your field, you could see two tiny people walking by your woods
You began to walk towards them
Now red was your color and, of course
Those little people out there were yours too
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: ADAM JONES, DANIEL CAREY, MAYNARD KEENAN, PAUL D'AMOUR
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Back to: Tool


Undertow is the debut studio album by the American rock band Tool, released on April 6, 1993, by Zoo Entertainment. Produced by the band and Sylvia Massy, it was recorded from October to December 1992 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys and Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood. The album includes some tracks the band decided to not release on their debut EP Opiate. This is their only album to feature original bassist Paul D'Amour.

According to AllMusic, Undertow helped heavy metal remain prominent as a mainstream musical style, and allowed several later bands to break through to the mainstream. It was released at a time when grunge was at the height of its popularity, and pop punk was slowly beginning to gather mainstream attention. AllMusic saw the album's success in the "striking, haunting visuals that complemented the album's nihilistic yet wistful mood."

As of 2020, Undertow has sold over three million copies in the United States, and is certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Performed By: Tool
Genre(s): Alternative metal, progressive metal
Producer(s): Sylvia Massy, Tool
Length: 68:08
Released: April 6th, 1993
Year: 1993

Tags:
No tags yet