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Needles Lyrics

I cannot disguise,
All the stomach pains,
And the walking of the canes,
When you, do come out,
And you whisper up to me
In your life of tragedy,

But I cannot grow,
Till you eat the last of me,
Oh when will I be free,
And you, a parasite,
Just find another host,
Just another fool to roast,

Cause you,
My tapeworm tells me what to do,
You,
My tapeworm tells me where to go,
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey

I cannot deny,
All the evil traits,
And the filling of the crates,
When you, do come out,
And you slither up to me
In your pimpin majesty,

But I cannot grow,
Till you eat the last of me,
Oh when will I be free,
And you, a parasite,
Just find another host,
Just another stool to post,

Cause you,
My tapeworm tells me what to do,
You,
My tapeworm tells me where to go,
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of me?

I'm just sitting in my room,
With a needle in my hand,
Just waiting for the tomb,
Of some old dying man,
Sitting in my room,
With a needle in my hand,
Just waiting for the tomb,
Of some old dying man?.

Cause you,
My tapeworm tells me what to do,
You,
My tapeworm tells me where to go,
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, Hey
Hey,Hey,Hey,Hey.
Song Info
Submitted by
f4rid On Nov 22, 2001
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122 Meanings

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Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

This has been a long-debated song for me, and I feel as though I've finally figured it out (mostly, maybe). Lots and lots of people have argued this song is about drugs (heroin in particular, since it is usually injected with a needle), and it very well could be. Or at least, SOAD may have written this song purposefully ambiguous, which would support the notion that they are musical geniuses.

I, however, argue that this song is about Euthanasia. I will explain why:

"...the stomach pains and walking of the canes..." ---This is obviously referring to GETTING OLD. Stomach pains (digestive issues) and canes (arthritis, cripple, etc.) are symbolic to OLD PEOPLE in our culture. Just Google them, and see what you get.

"And you whisper up to me, in your life of tragedy; But I cannot grow 'til you eat the last of me..." ---The tapeworm (you) is a metaphor for IMMORALITY. It is a symbol of pain, of an unavoidable, parasitic condition (aka DEATH). Tapeworms eat up their hosts ("til you eat the last of me"), and it refers to a desperation from the inevitable nature of death.

"My tapeworm tells me what to do/My tapeworm tells me where to go." ---We are controlled by the ever-present idea of our IMMORALITY. Especially in old age. As the body decays around you, you feel more and more as if you're being controlled, oppressed, or burdened by it.

"Pull the tapeworm out of your ass/ I'm sitting in my room..." ---Here's the meat of the song. Pulling the tapeworm out of your ass is a good, rebellious way to REBUKE death, to REBEL against it. Then, "sitting in [his] room, with a needle in [his] hand", he contemplates suicide. He contemplates killing himself to end the pain of existence, and to bring on the consequences of IMMORTALITY by himself. The "tomb of an old man" is referred to, which only furthers support of this idea, methinks.

So, I believe this song is about Euthanasia, and perhaps Suicide in general. I believe SOAD would APPROVE of Euthanasia, as do I. This is indeed one of my favs.

Wow--deep sh*t indeed!! You've def put major thought n2 it. I always thought it was about H, but u have opened my eyes (& mind) to another very real possibility. Good job.

Pull the tapeworm = pull the plug

@KosmicStorm This is more centered around a drug addiction. I'm sorry, but you could also commit suicide by drug overdose.... and he's not only possibly thinking about suicide, he could also have "slurred" thoughts as to what he should do with the needle in his hand. And the tapeworm would be the addiction. If you note how some people smoke, you can tell they have an addiction. Usually people's addiction's control them. There are very few people who can control an addiction, thus the lines "My tapeworm tells me what to do..." and "My tapeworm tells me where to...

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

In my view, drugs are shown as tapeworms in this song - when Serj sings "My tapeworm tells me what to do", hes singing about how drugs control lives.

"And you, a parasite, Just find another host" This is againg comparing drugs to tapeworms and the way that drugs 'infect' people (if u see what i mean).

@thev I can see where this insight makes sense... but have you considered this to apply to addictions overall?

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

thats all well and good, all this actually makes alot of sense with drugs and stuff, it goes perfect wit the lyrics, unfortunatly u are all wrong except for someone up there. SERJ HIMSELF PLAINLY STATED IN AN INTERVIVIEW - this song is about the human race bieng a parasite to the earth. let me elaborate

the planet was very healthy and animals and everything lived on it nad it was all good. then the human race came. we tore it up, made buildings tore trees down, took every animal and claimed it as our own and killed, ate, wore, caged, sucked the life out of the planet. we are destroying the planet, the human race is a diesease.

now about the song, the song is in the viewpoint of the earth. we are the tapeworm, we control the earth, we tell it wat to do, we dominated it. we wisper up to it in our life of tragedy. we cant live naturally, we need technology and wat not so we take the earh apart and suit to our own needs. then we slither up to it in our pimping majesty, meaning the human race is also spoiled. like cavemen we could have lived one with the earth like every other species, btu we became spoiled and the result is todays modern world. we took it apart. and that is exactly wat the song is about, out of SOAD's mouth, not about drugs or anything. i am not sure wat darons part means but i know wat the song in general means. also it is saying that teh human race should be ridden from the earth so it can be free, no more depleting natural resources

your right....all weve done as a race is kill the only life supporting plenet in the universe......and shit our pants

Not Valid

your right....all weve done as a race is kill the only life supporting plenet in the universe......and shit our pants

Not Valid

@Im Iranian I can see where you are coming from ... however people are not "wrong" per se, as all songs are interpretative so therefore everyone will take a different meaning out of it. Unless the song is explicit in it's message the lyrics are deliberately made ambiguous to ensure different people can take different messages from it.

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

i reckon this song is about drug addiction, but using the metaphor of a tapeworm. the part where he says pull the tapeworm out of your ass is saying to get off drugs and leave the addictions. the bit that daron sings by himself is about how his using of drugs is accelarating his journey to old age and death - the drugs are killing you, so you should pull the tapeworm out of your ass. Hey!

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

I think it's both about drugs and about negative influences like the media. People let the press tell them what to do and how to act, and people follow them like sheep. It's sad and pathetic but it's how we live life.

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

I belive that this song refers to how the government tries to control people. the tapeworm being the government. it's essencially saying that the government is a parasite living off the common people. it tells us what we can and can't do, where we can and can't go, and, being a parasite, it devised a system where we pay taxes to keep them rich and they don't have to do shit! ... i also like some of the interperatations of it being about life or drugs. . . Ive found a lot of System songs to have multiple meanings or even no meanings at all and people all have their own interperatations. eather way it's a kick ass song!!!

Song Meaning

@Systemfreak can definitely see this angle in the song too. Could be an addiction, could be government control (is it implying that the tapeworm is the media ... used to control us?)

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

I just read an interesting article about Dimitri Tsafendas who killed South Africa's Prime Minister and father of the apartheid conception Hendrik Verwoerd. In the articles end lines it is stated that "Although there were attempts by police, during interrogation, to suggest to him that he believed a tapeworm had "ordered" him to carry out the killing, he never seems to have made the claim himself."http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/oct/11/guardianobituaries.davidberesford?commentpage=1 So upon reading those lines, tapework remided me of Niddles' lyrics. I dοn't search if the was a connection. I don't even know if tapeworm is used figuratively, or as some kind of bodily dysfunction that drove him nuts. I'll just lay this out here and wait for opinions.

@dean130772 I'd say in the song's context the term tapeworm is used a metaphor for something (the something is debatable). Lines such as the stomach pains play on this metaphor in my opinion.

I like your comment ... interesting to see what triggers there are out there for people to connect with songs! (I do it frequently)

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

no dewds he's an addict, fighting drugs 'n stuff

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

Alright -serj is an amazing artist on youtube he says this song is about your subconscious and along the lines of tapeworms being the dark side of our consciousness.

This is the correct meaning. It IS to do with Filth. At the end of the book Bruce (the anti-Hero) becomes over-whelmed by the Tapeworm who represents the evil within Bruce's concious. Though-out the book it pushes Bruce to commit horrible deeds. It is hard to tell but through the book Bruce has become accustomed to cocaine use and though it is never a major issue, I belive that at the end being drug deprived his tapeworm can take over.

Cover art for Needles lyrics by System of a Down

To me, this song is about mediocrity. The tape worm represents garbage that some people take in and believe from what other people tell them is the "right" way to live. It's like the Status quo. And the old man represents feeling emptiness from living like you're dying. Not living a purposeful life.

My Interpretation