For you whats the meaning of Hexagram lyrics?

[Teknoman]

This song is one of my all time favorite songs... i've been listening to it for years and i just cant get enough of it.

However i think this song is kind of cryptic, i mean the lyrics talk about streets crowded with people running and screaming and apparently pale of fear, people looking for help from strangers, a loud sound, cameras, car bombs. The scenario seems to be very chaotic.

I remember reading some reviews about this song and there were 2 main hypothesis:

1. Its about terrorist attacks on Israel/Palestine.
2. Its about performing a live show.

Personally, i think that the first one seems to be the best option.

But what do you think?

And just in case you forgot the lyrics:

Paint the streets in white!
Death is the standard
Breach for a complex prize!

I think it's sweet of you
And your parents are proud...
But I would expect it from anyone
Now to protect life's indigenous sound!

Worship! Play, Play x 3
Worship! Play! Worship! Play
Worship! Worship!
Worship! Play, Play x 3
Worship! Play! Worship! Worship!

How the streets they swell!
While the animals make their way through the crowds!

If you keep listening you can hear it for miles...
God, I trust everyone quicker with every faint smile!

Worship! Play, Play x 4
Worship! Worship!
Worship! Play, Play
Worship! Worship!
Worship! Play, Play x 4
Worship! Worship!
Worship! Play, Play
Worship! Worship! Worship!

And the crowd goes wild!
And the camera makes you seasick!
God it's so sweet of you and I know you're proud
And the car bomb hits quick click, faint smile!
It's the same sound... it's the same, same... sound....
And the crowd goes wild!
And the camera makes you seasick!
God it's so sweet of you and you know I'm proud
And the car bomb tick ticks with the same sound!
Its the same sound! With the same sound...
Hexagram...

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

Does anyone hear "Hexagram" at the end? But I have always thought it was more personal to Chino or the band as a whole in a metaphorical way. Probably bc it has really been known that way or talked about that way before I could put my finger on it. Best thing to do, at least for me and this ain't my first rodeo w Deftones (been 14 plus yrs for me as a fan) is to not look into it too much. A. u won't get an answer most of the time and B. it's better that way! For me it's what I like and have left of their songs I've heard a million times over. It's why I can still listen to them. My reasoning for telling u I'm a long time fan is to support my point and or opinion on this. It's been that long and only has bc they weren't a straight fwd band to me lyrically until DE. Even some of that is cryptic still and that's my fav element.

[Teknoman]

Does anyone hear "Hexagram" at the end?

Yes, listen carefully, Chino whisper hexagram 4 times at the end of the song. Its more like a breathing sound but he says "hex" "ah" "gram".

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

wow. I'm going to catch this for the first time I guess. Ive seen it in the lyrics but haven't payed enough I guess.... thanks

[Vesanic]

Yeah, he does say Hexagram. I've always thought it was about terrorist attacks.

[pinkmaggit69]

When I hear:
"And the crowd goes wild!
And the camera makes you seasick!"
I always picture Chino standing on the security barrier with hundreds of kids shooting camera flash at him.......but then again, Chino's lyrics are hardly ever literal.

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

well i hear him doing his regular breathing effect at the end and If u say it's "hex,hex....ah, ah.....gram, gram" I can see that now. It def isn't clear to me though. Cool, learn something all the time w these guys and it really supports my argument abt this record and this band. It's what I love abt em! Thank yall

[rock_n_frost]

I bet Chino and others have no idea where Palestine/Israel is.
Its just lyrics.
It may has completely different meaning to Chino.

I did a painting when i was in university
Then class needed to criticize it.
Everyone said ''the arter tells us bla bla here, and those brush strokes means bla bla bla, and figure has naked foot, that means he tell us bla bla blaaaa''

Actually i didnt mean anything..and same goes here

[Shadow46/2]

I always thought the song was about his divorce and how it has affected himself and the band's success and trajectory.

"How the streets they swell."
At first he's singing about the experience and joy of performing in front of a huge audience.

"The animals make their way through the crowd." "And the camera makes you seasick."
Here I see it as him talking about the excitement as well as the fear in making so many new fans and reaching this increased level of fame (after white pony).

"Then the car bomb hits quick, same sound."
-Here he's talking about his personal problems and how they have been destroying all the progress he's made as a musician. (there was a lot of talk from chino around this time about how the band didn't consider the album to be a worthy follow up to WP, and a lot of that was caused by Chino's relationship problems/erratic behavior/drug use). The car bomb represents all the problems coming to a head, and just blowing up and wrecking all their previous success. The "same sound" is Chino saying how he is reverting back to his old ways of thinking/ lyrical style, and how the band is kind of lost in the haze at this point. They're stuck in the sand, not moving forward, relying instead on the "old sound" of their older music.

The whole Hexagram motif I saw as Chino believing the band is cursed because just as soon as they reach mainstream success, personal issues are suddenly keeping the band down in a depressed state.

Basically it' just Chino being Chino circa 2003. Still, great, deep stuff.

And this is all just my interpretation of course.


And I'm ridiculously high so, ya know. This might make less sense later.

[deftoolsys07]

I bet Chino and others have no idea where Palestine/Israel is.
Its just lyrics.
It may has completely different meaning to Chino.

I did a painting when i was in university
Then class needed to criticize it.
Everyone said ''the arter tells us bla bla here, and those brush strokes means bla bla bla, and figure has naked foot, that means he tell us bla bla blaaaa''

Actually i didnt mean anything..and same goes here

i wrote a song, it's actually on my soundcloud...
and when i wrote the lyrics, i wrote them very straight forward, but then after listening to it for a while i was able to see them in a new light and all of a sudden the song had this way different and deeper meaning about life etc etc... but when i wrote it i wasn't intentionally aiming for that. i think that's what most artists do. and that IS THE REASON that ALL bands always say "take it however you interpret it"... because they have their own straight to the point meaning, but they know damn well you can come up with a more sophisticated one that makes it sound like they're fucking geniouses... haha

[deftones86]

I always thought that opening verse had to be about his divorce. "Death is the standard breach for a complex prize" Till death do us part. and most of the album sounds like its about a couples relationship gone bad. which is why i think they wanted to call it Lovers.

[976-EVIL]

Yeah, he does say Hexagram. I've always thought it was about terrorist attacks.

Agreed, also I have noticed that the printed "lyrics" often differ from what Chino actually sings at times, an example in Hexagram "death is the standard breach (fee) for a complex prize" IMO. Either way I am with you Teknoman I love the track.

In fact I think it is easily the best opening track for any Deftones record to date. Welcome to the board dude!

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

I always thought the song was about his divorce and how it has affected himself and the band's success and trajectory.

"How the streets they swell."
At first he's singing about the experience and joy of performing in front of a huge audience.

"The animals make their way through the crowd." "And the camera makes you seasick."
Here I see it as him talking about the excitement as well as the fear in making so many new fans and reaching this increased level of fame (after white pony).

"Then the car bomb hits quick, same sound."
-Here he's talking about his personal problems and how they have been destroying all the progress he's made as a musician. (there was a lot of talk from chino around this time about how the band didn't consider the album to be a worthy follow up to WP, and a lot of that was caused by Chino's relationship problems/erratic behavior/drug use). The car bomb represents all the problems coming to a head, and just blowing up and wrecking all their previous success. The "same sound" is Chino saying how he is reverting back to his old ways of thinking/ lyrical style, and how the band is kind of lost in the haze at this point. They're stuck in the sand, not moving forward, relying instead on the "old sound" of their older music.

The whole Hexagram motif I saw as Chino believing the band is cursed because just as soon as they reach mainstream success, personal issues are suddenly keeping the band down in a depressed state.

Basically it' just Chino being Chino circa 2003. Still, great, deep stuff.

And this is all just my interpretation of course.


And I'm ridiculously high so, ya know. This might make less sense later.

very nice. I get it. And best part is to me that we r back on point here with people conveying their thoughts with all u guys since my post. All intrigue me and that's the point of the thread i do believe.... I appreciate it fsho. INTERESTING

[deftoolsys07]

I think i've said this before, deftones86, but I like your sig...

you in Arlington? I'm in Mansfield myself...

sorry to be offtopic, ban me if you want

[deftones86]

I had to take down the Mavs championship one so, why not the best player in baseball? I'm in Ft. Worth.

[deftoolsys07]

Oh ok I remember your sig now... Is that Hamilton?? We had a rough couple weeks apparently.. I went to a game a couple months ago but haven't really watched any I can only watch them on 21 on Fridays but it's rare if I'm home to catch it... and there's always next year for the Mavs. And honestly I do believe we will get the Championship next year if we get D Howard and everyone else we were talking about.. maybe Chandler back???

dude you should pm me your "name" for facebook or your # or some shit. Local Deftones fans UNITE!!!! hahaha

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

lol, wld b a shame man. I see wt you're saying last post.... but I don't believe it's all artists do - in this case, Chino. Especially Hexagram. It's not that song if there is one and i believe there is like u say......that is up there for fan's imagination' sake per say. It to me anyways was written for some reasoning/meaning. That song is no filler or accident as far as a song that became what it is with no pretensions or idea. Maybe it is up for our interpretation,( idk if anyone does) but it has substance to it and this IS where I think we see some of Chino's genius and witness some good songwriting. I don't think we have to "get it" to know it's one of them tracks w this band, I think it means one thing for him and wtvr u want for u. He didn't make this track and laugh later at us for jamming to it watching us sing to it w him and know it means feces man. Damn, here i am getting way deeper than my comfort allows for, lol. I love this board.  haha my friend. U took a better shot than i did though...

[deftones86]

Yea it is. and yes we have lost two pitcher Ogando and Holland. Hamilton's bat cooled off. but they are still better than the Angels. And the Mav's they are going after Deron Williams of the Nets. They can probably get Howard to sign then. But thats going to be hard. personally i think they should stay away from Howard. Dont get me wrong hes great but Roy Hibbert from the pacers is a cheaper option and brings alot to the table without the Diva attitude.

I better get on topic or Ves is going to move this to the sports section.
Hexagram to me means a six pointed geometric star figure.

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

  fukkk u guys, I'm winded now u dicks! haha

[Teknoman]

I think that good lyrics talks about interesting stories or something that you can relate to... but great lyrics are the ones that lets you create your own story and that's the case with Chino's lyrics and that's one more reason to love Deftones' art. IHMO.

Yeah, the selftitled album is one of their best "work of art" IMHO. I think like that because a few years ago i was obsessed with that album and i tried to analyze it as some sort of painting or something like that... and the album has a very aggressive and dark message if you analyze it... for instance.

If look at the cover art it has skull and roses... and then you see the track list: battle-axe, deathblow, bloody cape, needles and pins, minerva. if i wouldnt know Deftones i would think that its a death metal band with songs that talk about war and death.

On top of that i also found out that Minerva was the etruscan/roman goddess of war (among other talents) and that the working title for Minerva was "The late great planet earth" which is a 70's movie/novel about the apocalypse and the end of the world.... there is a movie trailer somewhere o the internet.

I didnt look at the lyrics too much at that time but im doing it now and from what i can see there were a lot of bad things going on while they were making this record and i think that they put all that anger and dark feelings on their music.

Ps. @976-EVIL: thanks ^_^