The Shape
Slipknot Lyrics

Destroy
The singer begins the song with the word 'destroy,' suggesting a desire to leave behind everything that is holding them back.

Too tragic to stay with you
The singer is saying that they are too consumed with sadness to stay with someone else.

Too static to try for you
The singer feels they lack the energy to make an effort on behalf of someone else, they're in a rut.

These scars, they swallow hard
The artist is haunted by reminders of the past, which are painful to revisit.

The part of the past that's hollow and dark
The past is nothing but emptiness and darkness for the artist, a source of trauma and memories too troubling to revisit.

Too horrid to kill for you
The singer feels that they would be too cruel or negative for someone else to be around them.

Too sordid to die with you
The singer can't make suicide a reality, even if there is no appeal in life.

Unstable as always, come down
The artist is unstable and wishes to come back to their senses before they do something that they'll regret.

Everything else is just dust and sound
The artist sees everything else as insignificant and meaningless.

Separate (I've lost my only way)
The artist has lost their way and feels separated from everything they used to know.

See the shape (broken and thrown away)
The singer views the shape of themselves as broken and discarded like trash.

I'd give it all away, come take it all away
The artist wants to give everything away and start over.

You can't resent the fear
The singer acknowledges that fear is a natural response that we can't help, which prevents them from acting recklessly.

Somebody tell me how I got here
The singer is having an existential crisis and is questioning how they ended up where they are now.

The noise is so damn loud, but
The singer is overwhelmed by the 'noise,' a metaphor for everything that is happening around them.

I don't want to do this anymore
The artist has reached their limits and can't continue on this path anymore.

Everything's shit, everything's been taken
The artist feels that everything they once had or loved has been taken away from them.

Forsaken, gotta start it over 'cause I'm hearing it
The singer feels alone and abandoned, and wants to start over since they see no other way out. They cause their own suffering through their negative self-dialogue.

Backwards, don't make sense, don't feel better
The singer is looking at the situation the wrong way and needs to find a new perspective. Their old way of thinking only worsens their situation.

Who's better? It's not that simple
The artist is questioning who is better in this situation, knowing that things are never black and white, and things are not always what they seem.

You gotta figure it out before you make things difficult
The artist advises the listener to figure everything out before making a decision, to avoid making things worse than they already are.

It's not a word, it's a problem, the problem was easy
The problem is not something that can just be put into a small package or viewed simply; it's much more complicated than that.

Draw your conclusions, solutions?
The singer is asking the listener to draw their own conclusions but wonders if there are any solutions to the situation at hand.

Anybody else want to run?
The artist questions if everyone else feels the same way, wanting to run from the problem at hand.

Contorting, distorting, I am undone
The singer is twisting everything and making things worse for themselves, leading to their downfall.

One less propaganda nightmare fixture
The singer wants one less thing to worry about and is going to remove the propaganda from their life.

Are you getting the picture?
The singer is asking the listener if they understand and how they can fix it.

Broken and thrown away
The artist feels broken and like they have been thrown away, no longer seen as valuable.