The Noose Lyrics & Song Meaning (A Perfect Circle)

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This article discusses my interpretation of the meaning behind the lyrics of The Noose by A Perfect Circle.

The Noose is about a man who committed an act which caused several people to die (whether it was murder or not was unspecified, so it is possible that it could have been manslaughter, or just a freak accident).

The song uses the Metaphor of a Halo to describe the mans new found peace in his consciousness, but the Metaphor Doubles as the Halo falls around the mans neck, and becomes his noose.

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Lyric Interpretation

So glad to see you well, overcome them
Completely silent now
With heaven’s help
You’ve cast your demons out
And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you off your cloud
But I’m more than just a little curious
How you’re planning to go about making your amends
To the dead

When Maynard says “with Heaven’s help” he is alluding that the man who killed the people is finding rest by using religion to atone for his sins.

It is likely that he is referring to Christianity, where if the person believes that Jesus Christ died for their sins, they are absolved of any sins.

The Halo in this case is representative of the man’s New Found forgiveness, and is using the idea that a Halo is “holy” or “righteous”.

Maynard then says “And not to pull your halo down”. He says this in a way that is similar to “Not to burst your bubble but…”.

With this line, and the few that follow, he is saying “Not to Burst your Bubble but, how are you planning on fixing what you have done. Are you going to bring all the people that you killed back to life?”.

Full ‘The Noose’ Lyrics

That is the meaning of the entire song. Everything else in the song is a variation of these two metaphors (the halo and the noose).

I think this is what A Perfect Circle does best. They take just 1 idea, and make an incredibly powerful song in order to get that idea across as well as possible.

Take a look at the rest of the lyrics if you feel you don’t quite get the song yet.

Recall the deeds as if they’re all
Someone else’s
Atrocious stories
Now you stand reborn
Before us all
So glad to see you well

And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you to the ground
But I’m more than just a little curious
How you’re plannin’ to go about makin’ your amends
To the dead

Your halo slippin’ down
Your halo’s slippin’ down to choke you now

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