lyric style change

[chinomoreno876]

So that's one of the things that initially stuck out to me when diamond eyes was released.  Chino almost seemed to have a departure from his usual cryptic lyrics and came with what seemed to be a far more straight forward approach to his expression and I've always wondered why that is??  That's one of the first question I'm asking if I ever bump into him outside a show or something.... I'm just curious as to why and even if it was a cnscious thing for him, maybe he ran out things to say, I could see if maybe u become jaded after a while of alwys morphing things into a more cryptic sense , and if after all this time he feels it unnecessary to hide behind words like that so to speak, or maybe the fact that he has a lot he wants to say and since they never really broke into mainstream other than white pony , that the forward approach is a means to appeal to a wider audience since he knows along with everyone in this forum that EVERYONE should be listening to the deftones!!!!!  Any thoughts??

[DeftonesNZ]

Drugs ,Chino was so fucked when he wrote digital bath he doesn't remember doing it.

[TheShade1989]

Maybe some of that is down to the lack of drugs now, but I dont think all of it is. Drugs may create certain images, feelings or thoughts, but I dont think it creates the writing style, that was his interpretation of whatever was in his head. I dont think it's a conscious decision, he always says how he writes how the music makes him feel, and how he doesnt usually have a set meaning behind it, he just likes to paint pictures with words and whatever, so I guess it's generally just time. Who knows how many different things influence his writing? Could be a combination of many different things.

[E-Money]

Drugs ,Chino was so fucked when he wrote digital bath he doesn't remember doing it.

[Slacker]

i agree, drugs.

i enjoyed cryptic, it feels fresh to get the more straight forward stuff though, and not become snobbish about it.

[Starz]

Hate to say it, but it was definitely the drugs/alcohol. The lyrics to Leathers are pretty average compared to some of the White Pony and S/T lyrics. I too miss the abstract style Chino used to convey in his older lyrics...

[chinomoreno876]

Yeah I miss it too, I've always been into the more abstract writing because the songs have more meaning to me and its easy to have it relate to my own life since it can so easily be interpreted in a million different ways, so the more cryptic can envoke so much more for me while the straightforward can still strike a chord I def don't feel as connected the raw emotion and get those chills down my spine, it may grow on me but as of now the older stuff I def have a deep connection with.... Still deftones all day everyday and I like that have grown and evolved and enjoy the progression

[Vesanic]

Yup, drugs. Chino doesn't remember how he wrote the lyrics to Battle-Axe or what they mean.

[alio die]

This town don't feel mine... I'm fast to get away...

[alio die]

genius

[chinomoreno876]

Totally agree that drug use contributed to the way he wrote, but I think that only made it that much more obscure and everything, but that was his inclination from the very beginning, look at 7 words for instance , those lyrics were vauge and figurative , and poetic , and he wrote that when he was 15... Only drugs involved them unless he was trying shit at a real young age would be some pot and maybe some alcohol .... Obviously only chino would know why his lyrical approach went from really poetic to what it is now .... I write poetry myself and have since my early teens and coincidentally find it harder and harder to remain in that same area , whereas when I was younger I felt the need to express myself in words that almost only I can understand, and while the raw emotion and feeling is obvious to the reader the exact circumstance that brings forth those feelings and emotions is impossible to pinpoint, but as I grow older I'm not a confused kid anymore and not going through all those things we all went through in living our lives . And now I know what I want to say and would rather be heard and understood , and so I find myself being straight forward.... So maybe its something like that, maybe I'm just ranting, or maybe I'm just loving the fact that music can touch people in this way. Anyway , deftones are the shit!!! Straight forward!!!

[DeftonesNZ]

See what your'e saying but around i've heard Chino was doing hard drugs real young as well as the other guys. Also around the vague lyrics i saw an interview where Chino said he was making an effort to make them vague and not about him self he said he was having fun imagining other realities like Knife Party apparently the story behind it was that the guys were fucking round with knives and Chino accidentally cut Abe which make him think of some underground society where everyone had knifes.

[xToxin]

Diamond eyes has some abstract lyrics as well.

[Penicks]

Diamond eyes has some abstract lyrics as well.

what do u think king kong get sum means xtoixins i think its about da politicial situation in uganda

[TheShade1989]

Wasnt he doing drugs during SNW? I dont know if you guys agree, but to me, that's the first album that marks a more simple lyrical style. Not the same as with DE, but not exactly the same as White Pony. In fact, to me, White Pony has the best lyrics. So I'd like to think there's more to it than drugs, since I dont think that drugs force creativity, only that they alter the direction, so to speak. But maybe I'm just saying that because I'd love for Chino to create those kind of lyrics again while still being happy and healthy.

[DeftonesNZ]

Wasnt he doing drugs during SNW? I dont know if you guys agree, but to me, that's the first album that marks a more simple lyrical style. Not the same as with DE, but not exactly the same as White Pony. In fact, to me, White Pony has the best lyrics. So I'd like to think there's more to it than drugs, since I dont think that drugs force creativity, only that they alter the direction, so to speak. But maybe I'm just saying that because I'd love for Chino to create those kind of lyrics again while still being happy and healthy.

I think at that stage the guys were trying to give up so on and off i guess.I wouldn't call SNW stuff simpler because they started using other stuff like the Greek gods and goddesses in their lyrics I would say they were more personal if that's what you mean most lyrics seem to be from Chinos perspective.

[Sett]

See what your'e saying but around i've heard Chino was doing hard drugs real young as well as the other guys. Also around the vague lyrics i saw an interview where Chino said he was making an effort to make them vague and not about him self he said he was having fun imagining other realities like Knife Party apparently the story behind it was that the guys were fucking round with knives and Chino accidentally cut Abe which make him think of some underground society where everyone had knifes.

Really ? I always thought that "knife" was just a metaphor for injection and the whole song is about a drug hangout or something...
But yeah, have to agree that the recent lyrics are much shallower then back in the days...

[DeftonesNZ]

See what your'e saying but around i've heard Chino was doing hard drugs real young as well as the other guys. Also around the vague lyrics i saw an interview where Chino said he was making an effort to make them vague and not about him self he said he was having fun imagining other realities like Knife Party apparently the story behind it was that the guys were fucking round with knives and Chino accidentally cut Abe which make him think of some underground society where everyone had knifes.

Really ? I always thought that "knife" was just a metaphor for injection and the whole song is about a drug hangout or something...
But yeah, have to agree that the recent lyrics are much shallower then back in the days...

Yea cant remember interview but he said they were just around and he came up with the of a society that revolves around knives could what they whole be what the new king part means like hes the best knife fighter i dont know could more than one idea

[xToxin]

I've always loved the lyrics to Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event.