Prelude 3.0: This song is about regret. As he sings, he regrets that he didn't try. He doesn't know why she doesn't want him, but he never cared to ask, and now he regrets not trying and it's too late.

The Blister Exists: Why was hope lost? It doesn't seem to be anybody's fault, but someone is living in the past and ignoring the present. All that is presented is ignored as they can't see past something that is over and done with. This is a one-way street, someone is "dying to feel this" (this meaning love?) and the other person won't give it a chance, we don't know why. The character of the song claims to be "uneven" - he knows what he wants, he knows what is right, he knows he can't have it.

Musically, this is a hardcore song. It's got triple guitar going and at least double drums, I can't tell if there's 2 or 3 drummers on this track. Corey screams the chorus like he's angry that someone won't understand or see something his way. The words "I am all but what am I?" are ingenius and sung will full emotion. People who don't like metal probably won't like this song very much.

Three Nil: Helplessness and a loss of respect is happening now. With lyrics such as "Maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction", "Every promise I made I'm recinding", and "Cry for help" just shows that somebody is in pain. Lost and helpless, needing to try something new as everything tried in the past hasn't worked. The chorus is great, it's saying it's not yet time for change, and there's no desperation -- there's hope. Near the end of the song, realization sets in that it's time to get help. If the person I'm striving for is lying to themselves just to con their mind into thinking something, I have no hope - that's the only time to give up. Until then, help is needed from others.

Musically this is another hard song. There is some cool sampling and guitar talent in this song. Corey seems to just wail out as helplessness is the worst feeling in the world.

Duality: is, "lyrically, what you might think... we've been through a lot as a band and the lyrics really reflect our maintaining faith and the perseverance of all 9 of us." 'Duality' represents the album well in its unwillingness to compromise the band's rock foundation and its ability to be aurally appealing and melodic at the same time. - Joey Jordison (#1)

I will evaluate this first hand, as if I wrote it and am singing it. The pain has set in so terribly that it'd feel better to shove my fingers deep into my eye sockets than to feel the pain in my heart. I've done everything to try to stop the pain, screaming, crying, hurting, seeking help - nothing helps. I start to beat myself up and tell myself it's my fault, and that helps temporarily. "My future seems like one big past." I don't want to live in the past anymore, I need to stop this pain or the rest of my life is pointless. "Put me back together or separate the skin from bone." Again - amazing lyrics - stop this pain or kill me, I can't live with it. I was lying to myself for awhile, and doing that was my own fault, that's what "hard way" means in the phrase "I found out the hard way nothing is what it seems." This song is great, it helps release the pain, by singing and screaming this song, some of my pain is gone - it helps me to "put me back together" instead of separating the skin from bone.

Musically this is the most mainstream song, which is probably why they chose it as the second single of the album (assuming you classify Pulse as a single?). It has a similar sound as Wait and Bleed (which strangely was also track #4 on their first album, and was their biggest hit to date). Corey sings and screams and deeply raps on this song, it's very cool. They shot the video at an abandoned house in Des Moines using locals as extras in the video,

The Opium Of The People: Don't ever half-assed do anything, go all the way. "Fill your lungs 'till it makes you cough"..it's like saying jump in the water with both feet, love like you've never loved, try harder than you can imagine, or, as the lyrics continue to say, "The only way is all the way". This song has fantastic lyrics, "Take another shot to stay the same." It's like falling off the horse and getting back on again. Since I've obviously been using somebody as an example for this whole album, let's do a thing instead. Let's use snowboarding as an example here. The first few times I tried to ride on a flat rail on my board, I fell flat on my face. Never could make it across one of those damn rails. If you approach a rail on your board slowly, you will not make it across, you have to go hard and fast. Even when you do go hard and fast, you'll fall sometimes. But if you don't, you've got no chance. Ah fuck it, let's use love again. If you don't love someone as hard as you can, you'll never experience the most it has to offer. You'll get hurt, but try again. If you give up, you will never win.

Musically this isn't as heavy as a normal Slipknot song, but it's definatley hard. Corey's doing some sort of scream/rap during the verses, and the chorus is sang wonderfully. "I won't give another soul to you." is just sang in a melochany manner. This is one of those songs that sends a shiver up my back. It's just going and going, then suddenly with about a minute left in the song, the guitar picks up and hits a steady rhythm instead of this "stop and go" style it had been using, and I just smile as a shiver shoots up my back.

The song includes a shredding dual-guitar harmony, a trampling metalcore rhythm and a chorus that could be Fear Factory - MTV!

Circle: Life is a pattern, a circle. I start over and gain ground only to end up back at the beginning again. In this pattern we carry all the past circles with us. We remember our past and learn from our mistakes. I just want to be at the place of my circle when I was happy last time around the loop. I've had things before, but I've never needed them back more than I do now. I have a feeling that I know how things will turn out, but I can't be too sure.

This is a very slow song, it is an acoustic guitar or two accompanied with a cello. It never really picks up. Corey shows you the power and ability his voice has to sing instead of screaming. I hear no drums in this song, I'm pretty sure it's only guitar and cello.

Welcome: My feelings are molded by others. If I hate you, it's because of what you've done. If I love you, it's because of how you are. If I want to kill you, it's because you make me want to kill you. If I want to be with you forever, it's because of what you do and how you come across to me. I can't control any of this. This song focuses on somebody I never want to see again. If I act like I like you even though I can't stand you, I hate myself. I hate it when I cannot act like I feel, but it happens and I cannot control it. Luckily my mind is in check, "I will save you from my sins." I know I can't act on my hatred, because I am smart and think before I act, you will not be hurt, I will just walk away.

This is by far the hardest song on this album. Very heavy guitar, very heavy drumming, screaming hardcore. If you didn't like Slipknot before this album, you will hate this song. If you liked them and are one of the idiots running around right now saying "Slipknot sold out on Vol.3" - you will love this song. If you like this album more than the others, this'll bring back memories of Slipknot's first album.

Vermillion: This is part one of a two part song about losing someone you love and desiring that person so badly. For those of you that don't know (I had to look it up), the word Vermilion means something along the line of "red pigment". Red is often used to show love. "She's the only one that makes me sad." "I get nervous." - he loves her so much he can't talk to her. He doesn't get hurt except when she makes it happen.

While I'm amazingly impressed with the lyrics, the music of this song isn't that impressive. It's like a moderate rock song, guitar and drums are going kinda hard, Corey is singing - but not melodically or in a screaming manner, someplace between.

Vermilion is a stalker's love song, shot thru his eyes. It's kind of a does he or doesn't he type thing - it's left open for you to decide. - Corey Taylor (#8).The song features near-gothic vocals and processed, wobbly guitars. - MTV!

Pulse of the Maggots: Maggot" has always been the term for a fan of Slipknot. Pulse means the life of or the voice. I think this means they make music for their fans, they speak our thoughts. I have thought of this song as a tribute to the fans since day one, but some of the lyrics point back to the overall motif of this entire album. "And if I lose, AT LEAST I TRIED!" Damn right, I'm so happy I tried. Maybe I'll continue to try, who knows. I haven't given up yet and I won't give up hope, but I haven't sat back and said "I should have said this" or "I should have done that." I've done what my heart told me to do since day one. Back to being a fan tribute, "We are the bitter bucolic" - I again didn't know what "bucolic" meant, it's people from the countryside. Sticking to the roots of Iowa, where all the members of Slipknot and I were raised as children.

Early 90's guitar solos, screaming hardcore, hardcore mosh pits - that's the mood this song will embed in your mind.

The song is basicly the music that gets us all going, it's the music that keeps us together, it's the music that brought us all together in the first place. - Corey Taylor.

Before I Forget: I feel alone. "I am a world before I am a man." I care about others more than I care about myself. I am a giver. I feel great about being this way, but as a result of putting others before me, I suffer a lot.

This is atypical of a Slipknot song, it's not overly heavy and it's not very soft. I really don't know how to describe it.
 

The song is about rising above the bullshit and being a person, not a human. It's about saying what you mean and meaning what you say - taking zero bullshit. - Corey Taylor (#8)

Vermillion part 2: The second part of the Vermilion series about losing love. We didn't really know in Part 1 that he lost his love, but it's clear as day now. She is all he thinks of, you don't have to be a genius to figure that out as he says "She is everything to me." Apparently this love is one-sided, as he calls it an "Unrequited dream". For those of you that don't know, "unrequited" means something along the lines of "not given back in the same way". He loves her and dreams of her, but she doesn't know he exists, either that or forgot he existed. Without her, he doesn't know what to do and he hates that it's the one he loves that's making him sad as she used to make him happy, and still does when she doesn't hurt or ignore him. He cries as he hopes, but he knows "I won't let this build up inside me." -- I will try to move on and not let this keep me miserable for too long.

This is another very slow song, with I'm thinking two acoustic guitars and I can't tell if this is a cello or a bass guitar, also there very well may be a violin in this song. Piano finishes the song. Corey sings wonderfully in this song.

The song is about really wanting to kill someone you really love - Corey Taylor.
This song is one of few 'acoustic' Slipknot songs.

The Nameless: The singer is almost schitzophrenic, he says something then screams something else a second later that contradicts himself. Does he hate or love? Does he want to freeze or move on? What the hell is going one? Confusion. Chaos is erupting everywhere on this song, then comes the chorus - "I never wanted anybody more than I wanted you." Imagine that, a girl is causing this confusion. She's causing screaming rage, she's causing confusion, she's causing hope, she's inspiring me to be my best, she's bringing out the best and the worst in me at the same time. As soon as I'm confused, I think of her by singing the chorus and everything seems fine for awhile, as the piano kicks in and Corey sings as if he's in a temple or something, then confusion and reality sets back in with heavy drumming and sheer terror. This song is the best of both worlds.

This song is so powerful. We go from double bass guitar, to triple drums, to piano and singing. This song is incredible.

The Virus of Life: This is a deep and dark song, it reminds me of the song Iowa from the album with that same name. There's almost an obsessive love going on here, which he refers to as a virus. A virus is unwanted but someone has to live with it without having a say in the matter. This is like a silent unharmful virus that has the potential to break out and create horrible results, but something's keeping it under control, barely. He's attached this "virus" to somebody. He's praising this person, calling her "amazing" and "sublime", yet he can't stand the thought of her being with someone else, so he plagues her like a virus. He talks to himself and tells himself it's not right to do.

Pretty hardcore song, you'll have trouble understanding Corey. The full lyrics aren't printed in the album so I took the liberty of listening over and over until I completely heard every word, they're above. Hard yet slow guitar. Screaming with voice-over distortion.

Danger - Keep away: This song is the whole reason I think this cd flows so well together. What a way to end an album than the last stanza of these lyrics. It's the complete opposite from Prelude (track 1). In the first song, the character of the album regretted what he didn't do, what he didn't say. The album is concluded by saying, "I won't let you walk away without hearing what I have to say." Wonderful, amazing, no regrets. The door is open at the end of the album. After all the thoughts and options were weighted through his head throughout the album, he decided to get everything out into the air and let fate take over, just as on duality when he says "Now all I do is live with so much fate." That was almost a foreshadowing of what was going to happen at the end. He put it out of his hands. Possibly not ready to move one, but he tried his hardest. "What if I never saw you again? I'd die right next to you in the end." I'll always be there if you need me.

The album ends on a slow note with no guitar, a little drum, and wonderful singing.

Slipknot originally recorded this track in 8 minutes total, but cut it down to only about 3 minutes before releasing the album. The full version is way different. More guitar,percussion and samples in it. Plus Shawn "Clown" Crahan sings some of the parts in it.The full version is available on the band's Vermilion single.