Introduction | Background | Album Covers and The Guy | The Sickness | Believe | Ten Thousand Fists | Indestructible |
The Sickness |
Lyrical Interpretation |
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Down with the Sickness - The video for this song contains live concert footage where the lead singer is wheeled on stage wearing a straight jacket. The lyrics of the song pertain to society as an abusive mother that wants people to conform to one standard rather than seeking individual identity. Whether this metaphor exists because of Draiman’s relationship to his actual family is speculation but seems probable based on the content in his section of thanks. One portion of the song was cut for radio play and features a section that directly deals with this issue, as Draiman reenacts a fight between parent and child where the cry to stop the abuse is vocalized.
The first verse has Draiman singing two roles. The first is a person that is breaking down under the crushing weight of societal expectations and the other, which is sung in a different tone, is society asking him to give in. After a second request to give in, the first voice becomes much more emphatic and angry. He indicates he would be much happier to be an individual with the sickness than to become another nameless figure.
Stupify - This song’s lyrics deal with racial issues in society, viewed through a relationship that Draiman was forced to end because he and his partner were of different racial origins. The chorus deals with the idea that racial tensions are meaningless - “don’t you think it can take control when I don’t let it?”. It is from this idea that the title of the song is obtained - “Stupified.”
Another interesting aspect of the song is Draiman’s use of vocal inflections. Each sung line, in every verse, ends in a burst of rage. While lyric sites online fill in a word that fits the end of each line, the official album jacket does not contain a lyric for any of these lines. The only exception is the second last line in verse two, which has “rock” in brackets. Eliminating these words does not seem to be a case of simply leaving out profanity or sense of rage, as the lyrics of the song “Voices” on the same album has all of the inflections noted. Likewise, the jacket appears to have no issue with censorship as “Down With the Sickness” still has its profanity included. Therefore it could be reasonably argued that the missing “lyric” is not a word but rather a venting. The phrase “I’ve been waiting my whole life for just one” could be used to express dismay and anguish for opportunity lost.
Fear - The lyrics to the song “Fear” discuss the interaction between “the tortured and their torturers.”[13] The song seems to have the message of the torturer, society in general, as the verses. The rest of the song is the response of the “abused”- those members of society who do not fit in or conform. In the verses the abuser is clearly attacking those who are outcasts of society, and predominant members of society are referred to as fortunate ones. Lines such as “I bet you think you have a good reason to be living” and “so you will never forget that you’re a reject and you’re no one, and you’re nothing” reenforce this point. The abused “victim,” however, does not want to submit, reflected in the section after the second chorus, which is the realization and awakening. The section which is spoken reads as a plea. It asks for acceptance and to stop the abuse, begging “take your hand back.”
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