Editing Thirteenth Step (section)

===Concept and themes===
{{quote box|"I don't think the album is specifically for people who are going through recovery, although that metaphor is absolutely present. Many of the songs are sung from the perspectives of recovery: from the perspective of a person who is in denial about a loved one, and from the drug perspective itself — the perspective of a person who is starting to realize that there is an issue, and of a person who is ready to deal with it."<ref name="mtvnews">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/a/a_perfect_circle/news_feature_040122/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615202518/http://www.mtv.com/bands/a/a_perfect_circle/news_feature_040122/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 15, 2013|title=MTVNews.com: Maynard James Keenan: Not Yet A Legend, Not Yet Dead|website=[[MTV]]|date=June 15, 2013}}</ref> <br>Lyricist Maynard James Keenan on the album's concept.|width=20%|align=right}}

''Thirteenth Step'' is a concept album about the different aspects and perspectives of [[addiction]], and the recovery from it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://renownedforsound.com/index.php/album-review-a-perfect-circle-three-sixty/|title = Album Review: A Perfect Circle – Three Sixty – Renowned for Sound}}</ref> The album's title itself is a reference to the [[12 step]] program of [[Alcoholics Anonymous]].<ref name="allmusic" /> Lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band [[Maynard James Keenan]] explained the concept on the band's [[DVD]] ''[[Amotion]]'', stating:
<blockquote>"The songs on ''Thirteenth Step'' for the most part are about the various processes of addiction, behavioral addictions, chemical addictions, and each song is kind of sung from a different perspective. I have a lot of friends who've gone through a lot of these situations. Some of the songs are sung from the perspective of the actual drug, from the perspective of someone who has realized that they have an issue or a problem, also from the perspective of a person who realizes that if they don't do something they're going to die, a song from the perspective of a person who is in denial about a loved one, dying right before their eyes. And in the case of "The Outsider", it's sung from the perspective of a person who doesn't understand at all what their friend is going through, what their loved one is going through, and they think that it's more like a sprained ankle; they can just kind of walk it off."<ref>''[[Amotion]]'', [[A Perfect Circle]], [[DVD]] commentary</ref></blockquote>

Keenan, not having struggled with addiction first-hand, drew from experiencing it happen to others around him, such as [[Layne Staley]], the lead singer of [[Alice in Chains]], who died in 2002 due to [[drug addiction]].<ref name="mtvnews" /> The song "The Package" is from the perspective of an addict, desperate for more, while "[[Blue (A Perfect Circle song)|Blue]]" is from the perspective of someone having a difficult time dealing with the aftermath of an overdose.<ref name="mtv"/>

"The Nurse Who Loved Me" is a cover of the song by [[Failure (band)|Failure]], originally featured on the 1996 album ''[[Fantastic Planet (album)|Fantastic Planet]]''.