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To remove the foul language is to gut the lyrics. Obscene ranting, misery, angst and a will to die are all common themes. Lead screamer Corey Taylor envisions the suffering of his enemies (“Spit It Out,” “Surfacing,” “Sic”), takes someone captive (“Prosthetics”) and claims, “Every reason is a right to hate . . . Only one of us walks away” (“Only One”). Taylor’s despondency and anger turn inward on “Tattered & Torn” as he considers “opening [his] wrists.” “Eyeless” poses the disturbing question, “How many times have you wanted to kill everything and everyone/Say you’ll do it but never will?” (Pray some disenfranchised fan doesn’t take that as a dare.) A tortured soul finds no solace on the frantic “Me Inside.” With gruesome imagery, “Scissors” implies that Taylor is giving himself over to the elements, having lost all hope (“Just let the blood run red ‘cause I can’t feel”).
Nine guys. Nine masked, demented guys. The members of Slipknot have developed a cult following even more for their gross-out stage antics than for their hateful lyrics. In concert they’ve been known to masturbate, defecate, vomit, urinate on one another and light each other on fire. Sick and twisted. It’s safe to say that young fans of this band have far deeper problems than a simple lack of media discernment.
