SONG MEANINGS
KORN
LIFE IS PEACHY
FOLLOW THE LEADER
All of these song meanings may not
be completly true.
Most of the song meanings come from magazines
& other web sits,
Not my own head.
KORN
Blind
A reference to Jonathan's drug use during his early years.
"Another place I find to escape the pain inside"
The drugs controlled his life. They provided an escape from the pain he
endured
as a young adult, and he couldn't see any future direction for himself.
"see through the grey that clouds my mind"
He wants to escape the confusion in his mind but his self esteem is so
low that
he is not confident enough to make change for himself. He wants to leave
the
world and start again but he doesn't know how, so he uses drugs to distort
reality.
Ball Tongue
"The meaning of ball tongue is simple. Some thought it had to do with
oral sex, but infact its about a guy we had to work with on a t-shirt.
He
either had a pierced tongue or a wart or something on his tongue and he
was a dick to us" - Jonathan Davis
While the lyrics to Ball Tongue would have you believe otherwise it has
always
been said that the song a guy with a pierced tongue who used to make t-shirts
for the band but ended up screwing them all over.
"There you are alone, with no hope of ever having something to be proud
of,
something earned without begging"
It appears that the person was close to Jonathan but he had doubt that
what he
was doing for the band made any difference, so s/he backstabbed them. S/he
disconnected her/himself from Korn and ended up doing nothing, in the hope
that
they would come running back to save him/her from his own self pity.
"Why are you at home buried in your own self pity? Why do you insist on
living
the life clean out of me? "
The person was one of few who shared time with Jonathan but became obsessed
with him, expecting him to give all his attention.
"Yes, I know you're the person, the person that took time with me. Does
it give
you the right to expect your life revolves around me?"
Need To
Need To is about being in a relationship with someone you love so much
but you
are too scared to get close to them because you're paranoid that they may
stop
loving you.
"You pull me closer, I push you away, You tell me it's okay, I can't help
but feel
the pain"
Jonathan was used to being fucked over by people he loved and any future
relationship was going to feel the same. Every time he thought he was getting
too close he would push her away.
"I hate you .... Fuck you, bitch"
Jonathan already resents tthe girl because he's so confident that she will
end up
breaking his heart. He hates her before she has even done anything.
Clown
"We were playing at this show in San Diego and this skinhead guy came
up and said 'Fuck You! Go back to bakersfield!' I didn't understand that
I
bent down and he took a swing at me. Our road manager Jeff knocked
his ass out" - Jonathan Davis
"A tatooed body to hide who you are, Scared to be honest, be yourself"
It seems that this incident was a breaking point for Jon. As the Clown
video
shows he was a victim of torment from his peers at school because he was
different. He was an individual, and this was hard for others to accept.
Everyone
else hid behind an image that wasn't representative of themselves, but
of what
others wanted them to be.
Divine
Divine is about the sting of revenge. Jonathan wanted someone who didn't
want
him. Then the tables turned and he found that this person wanted him now.
"You're suffering 'cause of me, it's divine"
"Did you really think you'd beat me at my own game"
He wanted to show her how it felt to want someone you can't have, and he
knows
now that since he lost interest in her she realises what she's given up.
Now it's
his turn to have some fun, and he is enjoying it.
"You know what, Fuck you, I'm fed up with you, I'm not as good as you,
Fuck no,
I'm better than you"
Jonathan knows he's a better person than her by showing that he's not a
doll that
can be picked up and put down at will.
Faget
"Everyone thinks I'm bashing gay people in this song, and I'm not. It's
really about me going through highschool being called 'pussy', 'queer',
and all that stuff, about getting picked on by all these jocks." - Jonathan
Davis
Spend any time with Davis and one is likely to be subjected to an endless
barrage of queer references and gay jokes. But what might initially come
across
as small-town homophobia turns out to be something more, a by-product of
a
lifetime of sexual confusion. One Davis-penned song, entitled "Faget,"
reflects on
time spent as a Duran Duran-loving New Romantic, when the singer would
don
makeup and hang out in gay bars. "Everyone thought I was gay my whole life,"
says Davis, "so I have to joke about it just to deal with it." - Spin Magazine
Shoots and Ladders
"It was written because all these little kids sing these nursery rhymes
and
they don't know what they originally meant. Everyone is so happy when
singing but 'London Bridge' is about the Black Plague. All of them have
these evil stories behind them." "The lyrics are all from nursery rhymes,
and a lot of nursery rhymes go back to the Middle Ages. They're actually
pretty twisted if you know the stories behind them, like about Black Death
and stuff." - Jonathan Davis
Predictable
Another relationship cliche that Jon finds so predictable. Every relationship
he
goes into he's going to find himself hurt at the end. He wonders why there
is any
point in it at all because he'd rather die than feel the pain.
"I can in every way, mistake the pain I feel inside. It comes to me, evil
thoughts
is creeping through my mind"
How can he deal with the situations of a failed relationship but to remove
himself from the world, or remove the other person. If he can't have them,
noone can.
Fake
This is another song with a theme similar to Clown. Everyone around him
hides
behind an image of what their peers want them to be.
"I can't stand the sight of you, I can't stand what you put me through.
Your
life's a lie, that you hide. Is it that terrible being you inside?"
Jonathan is persecuted for being himself rather than another person trying
to fit
in with the crowd.
"You try so hard to be wanted. False emotions tells you fronted. I think
being a person relies on one thing. Be yourself, let you come through"
Everyone wants to fit in so badly that they will change their appearance
and
opinions to that of the mainstream crowd.
"Fake, you'll regret it, you'll regret it"
Once they are older they will realise that they've wasted their youth by
trying to
be something they're not.
Lies
Again with the same theme of Clown and Fake, Lies picks on those who are
too afraid to be themselves. People who hide behind a conformed society
"I want you to see the life you have disguised"
"Do you ever see from outside your fears"
He is pointing out those who fear they too will be persecuted if they step
outside the line of individuality.
Helmet in the Bush
"It's about a speed problem that I had. You know, you do a lot of speed
and -- if you're a male -- your penis retracts severly." In the song he
says: 'Please God let me sleep tonight.' Jonathan had trouble sleeping,
becuase that's what it does to you. The guy heard at the beggining of
the song is La Caco, a friend of the band. His real name is Michael and
like taco bell. He's a really Nice Guy and he has been friends with the
band for years." - Jonathan Davis
Daddy
"People think Daddy was written because my dad fucked me up the ass,
but that's not what the song's about. It wasn't about my dad or my mom.
When I was a kid I was being abused by someone else and I went to my
parents and told them about it. They thought I was lying and joking
around, so they never did shit about it. They didn't belive it was
happening to their son." - Jonathan Davis
LIFE
IS PEACHY
Twist
A lot of heavy guitars, bass, drums and skat.
As with Ball Tongue and numerous other songs Jonathan has said there are
no
lyrics. Regardless of this it is hard to deny that words cannot be heard
which
make sense.
Chi
"Chi is about a lot of alcohol and drug abuse. People turn to that when
they have
problems so that they won't have to feel their pain." - Jonathan Davis
The song was named after Chi Cheng from the Deftones. "We named it after
him
because he used to call it reggae, and he loves reggae music." - Jonathan.
Lost
"It's the sterotypical thing about your best friend meeting a chick, and
then you're
nothing." - Jonathan Davis
Swallow
"That's about being paranoid. Drug-induced paranoia." - Jonathan Davis
Porno Creep
The only instrumental Korn song with a few spoken words. It seems that
Porno
Creep represents one or all of the band members, or even someone else.
Notice
how the self titled and Follow the Leader CD covers both feature pornography
magazine covers.
Good God
"It's about a guy I knew in school who I thought was my friend, but who
fucked
me. He came into my life with nothing, hung out at my house, lived off
me, and
made me do shit I didn't really wanna do. I was into new romantic music
and he
was a mod, and he'd tell me if I didn't dress like a mod he wouldn't be
my friend
anymore. Whenever I had plans to go on a date with a chick he'd sabotage
it,
because he didn't have a date or nothing. He was a gutless fucking nothing.
I
haven't talked to him for years." - Jonathan Davis
Mr Rogers
"Back in the day when I was a speed freak, um... even further back when
I was a
little kid watchin' Mr. Rogers, that shit was scary. He was a freaky old
man...
Land of Makebelieve and Mr. FuckinMcFeely and shit... made me sick. So
back
when I was doing speed, like for 5 or 6 days I'd be trippin out and my
brain would
start to get freaky and get schizophrenic and stuff, and I'd tape it and
watch it
everyday over and over... I don't know, I was sick in the head. As a kid
he told
me to be polite and all it did was get me picked on. I fucking hate that
man.
Thanks for making me polite and trusting everyone, and easy to take advantage
of. So I spent 3 months on that one song, just tweakin' on it, and it was
totally
just my Mr. Rogers obsession, about how evil I thought he was. Pretty much
drug induced." - Jonathan Davis
K@#O%!
"People think it's sexist but it isn't. It's more subconcious bitching
at all the
women who've been with me in my life. It's not about women in general,
just
those women who hurt me. Initially, we wrote it to send to American radio
for a
joke, because they always chop up all the other songs. So we were going
to
send a 'real' single seven days later." - Jonathan Davis
No Place to Hide
No Place to Hide appears to have various themes. One could be that while
Jonathan exposes his painful past to the world he has no secrets left,
and no
comfort zones. He feels raped because Korn is becoming the next big thing
and
the media takes advantage of him pouring his soul out. This theme follows
that of
Freak On A Leash where he feels he is just used by the industry to make
money.
Wicked
Wicked, a song originally from Predator by Ice Cube, features guest vocals
by
Chino Moreno from the Deftones.
A.D.I.D.A.S
"It stands for all day I dream about sex. It's about how much of a pervert
my ass
is, and how I daydream about what a stud I am. But when it comes down to
it,
I'm a fucking pussy and I'm in there jacking off" - Jonathan Davis
Low Rider
This song by original artist War was sung by Head on his birthday. The
deep
voice he uses is meant to imitate 80's rap artist Tone Loc.
Ass Itch
"That was the last song I wrote, and I was so burned at writing out lyrics
because
everytime I write I get depressed because I start thinking about things,
you
know? So the whole song is about that. In the chorus it says, 'Before day,
my
sun will be dying'. It's because I put myself on the line all the time
and for what?
Because people aren't going to be listening to it anyway." - Jonathan Davis
Kill You
"It's about a relative I first met when I was 12. I fucking hate that bitch.
She's the
most evil, fucked up person I've met in my whole life. She hated my guts.
She did
everything she could to make my life hell. Like, when I was sick she'd
feed me
tea with Tabasco, which is really hot pepper oil. She'd make me drink it
and say,
'You have to burn that cold out, boy'. Fucked up shit like that. So every
night
when I'd go to sleep, I'd dream of killing that bitch. In some sick way
I had a
sexual fantasy about her, and I don't know what that stems from or why,
but I
always dreamt about fucking her and killing her." - Jonathan Davis
FOLLOW
THE LEADER
It's On
"It's On" is my shit peer pressure song. Me being so stressed out going
out and
partying. Everybody's just going 'Come on dude, it's on.' That's partying,
it's
alcohol, cocaine, women. All that wrapped into one. I wrote a song about
it. And
the chorus I talked about Why am I really doing this? It's all my fault
that I'm
doing this because all the alcohol, the booze an the chicks do is just
make it
worse. They just rearrange all the problems in a different order that I
can deal
with at that moment.
Freak On A Leash
"One of the best titles I've heard ever for a song. That's my song
against the
music industry. Like me feeling like I'm fuckin' a pimp, a prostitute.
Like I'm
paraded around. I'm this freak paraded around but I got corporate
America fuckin'
making all the money while it's taking a part of me. It's like they
stole something
from me, they stole m y innocence and I'm not calm anymore. I worry
constantly."
Got the Life
"That's a song baggin' on myself. How everything's always handed
to me. How I
look up to God and don't want this anymore. Like I want something
more out of
life than all this. And I've got everything I really need but I sometimes
don't like. I
don't know how to explain it. I have to let it sit through the songs
more to
actually get into what I write. I truly know, really, the meanings
of the songs
almost. That's what I'm getting out of it right now."
Dead Bodies Everywhere
"That was the song about my parents trying to keep me out of the music
business. My father was in it and he knew how it was and I totally
understand
now that I have a son. I want Nathan to be a musician but I him don't
want him
to go through the hell I went through. That's the same thing my Dad
was doing.
A lot of people can relate to it, because it's like the Dad's wanting their
sons to
be football players and their sons want to be doctors or something.
That peer
pressure its like trying to make them something they're really not.
And the Dead
Bodies thing is like so I did it and all I got out of it was dead bodies
everywhere
and got all traumatized. Thanks a lot Dad, Mom."
Children of the Korn
"That's the song that Ice Cube is on Cube came up with the title.
I fed off of what
he wrote, he was talking about growing up and puberty. Dictating
what he can
do, like how you gonna tell me how to live and who to fuck? And all
this stuff.
And I took that and in my stuff I was talking about being a kid always
known as
the fuckin' town faggot. It's funny how things change. That
some of these people
picked on me and all of a sudden look who's laughing now. Also in
another of
the verse I talked about all these parents fuckin hating me for what I
do, saying
I'm corrupting their children, but in turn these parents need to step outside
of
themselves and really listen to what I'm talking about. Then I think
they can
understand that they were kids before. They're just really quick
to judge me. All
the Children of The Korn are all our Korn fans. All those kids going
through that
shit and feeling what I feel."
B.B.K
"Big black cock! That's what I call a jack and coke. Those
little glasses they
serve in Europe and everything. That's what I named it, big black
cock. And
that's another song about me dealing with the pressures of this album and
how I,
you know, I'm trying to kill myself, but you know? Do I really want
to kill
myself? Things I'm just questioning myself. Most of this is
self-structured."
Pretty
"It's a story about this little girl that came into the coroner's office
when I was
working there and she was fucked by her dad. She was an 11 month
old little
baby girl. Her legs were broken back behind her and he just fucked
her like a toy
doll and chucked her in the bathroom. It was the most heinous thing
I've ever
seen in my life and I still have nightmares about it."
All in the Family
"Fred was there after Korn TV and we said, 'Let's do a song together,
Hey, man,
let's go back and forth and rip on each other like an old school battle.'
I don't
know who's idea it was, I can't remember if it was mine or Fieldy's or
Fred's but
we came up with the idea and we started writing and we worked on it together.
I
came up with some bags on myself for Fred to say. It was all in good
natured
fun."
Reclaim my Place
"This one is about the whole band and about all my life being called a
homosexual. And then I became this big rock star in a band and I'm
still called a
fag even by my own band. So it's like I was fuckin' pissed off at
them. It's like
erase them all because I'm gonna reclaim my place and say hey, they owe
a lot
to me for what I did, and I owe a lot to them back. But, it still
kinda sucks. I've
never ever gotten away from that fag fuckin' title. Just because
I'm a sensitive
kinda guy. Kinda feminine it really sucks."
Justin
"Justin, that was the kid dying terminally with intestinal cancer.
His last dying
wish was to meet us and it really freaked me out. That threw a whole
bunch of
new kind of pressures on my head. That's really intense. Someone's
gonna die
and his last thing he wants to do is come hang out with us. So I
truly just
freaked out. It's like why would you want to meet me? What
makes me so
special? And in turn I talk about how I admire his strength and his
life. I couldn't
stare at him because he was so content he was gonna die. No one could
look
him in the eyes. And I totally admire his strength. I wish
I had it."
Seed
"Seed. That's all about the same thing again. I, laying in
bed in my hotel room,
thinking about do I really need all this stuff? All this pressure
on me? Because
I'm a stressed out freak. It's about Nathan, it's about every time
that I look into
his eyes, I see myself how I used to be, innocent and stress free.
I'm kind of
jealous of it. It really sucks, I used to be that way. It's
like I have to work so
hard at this thing in my life. I have to become a stressed
out freak. I put food
on the table for my child. Every time I look in his eyes, I just
see myself staring
right back at my ass laughing. I was like care free, innocent as
a child. It's
really weird and I'm really jealous of it."
Cameltosis
"That's a love song. It's about women in general, women who hurt
me. It's Tre's
lyrics. He's going on about chicks and my chorus is like I'm so scared
to love
anyone and really let them in after I got hurt really really bad by a girl.
I've let
Renee in a little bit, to be honest, but I'll never be that in love ever
again. That's
what I'm saying, if you've loved twice, you're gonna get fucked, 'cause
you
usually do."
My Gift to You
"Renee always wanted me to write her a love song and that's why I called
it My
Gift To You. It's my gift to her, you know how I get sick.
I always had a fantasy
of fucking her and choking her to death. I fantasize about what it
would look like
me in her body and watching me do it. So it's like a really sick
fucked up song.
I did it totally like, I love her so much, I want to take her out of this
world. It's
really strange. She used to leave notes on my pillow like 25 ways
she'd like to
kill me. She's got this weird death fetish. We're kinda fuckin'
freaky. She got
it. She's all 'Thank you that's kinda fucked up. I was expecting
a fuckin' I love
you, baby kinda song.' I'm all, 'No, you know me.' I mean I can't do that."
