Lateralus is about finding balance

[Greyteeth]

Here are my impressions of, in my opinion, the best TOOL song. I think its saying that there are two extremes you can go to, both of which cloud d your judgement.

You can see everything in black and white, straight and narrow, in the manner of a fundamentalist Christian or the like and have your perception blinkered . The song is talking about awakening and growing out of that phase, perhaps even as an entire race. “Black and white are all I see in my infancy”- humans should move away from being dependent on absolute truths and good and evil.

Then there’s the debated, seemingly contradictory idea that “overthinking overanalysing separate the body from the mind”. This is a warning against discarding your soul and your humanity by being “negative and blind and cynical” with the knowledge that there is no higher authority as such, and trying to find answers when there are none.

I think that this song has a message similar to Maynard’s at the start of Salival, only more uplifting. In order to think for yourself you must put yourself into a state of “vulnerable open mindedness”, but this doesn’t mean throwing away the love that makes us human instead of machines. Instead we should take advantage of this blessed condition; “swing on the spiral of our divinity- and still be a human.”

Pretentious as it may sound, I keep being drawn back to Hamlet, and the question of what its is to be human. In particular “There is nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so” and “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy”- there are no boundaries, and we must not look narrower, like cynics or fundamentalists, but wider to take advantage of our time on this earth. That way we can embrace whatever may come without being confined in a single mindset.

[AllforUnity]

Well put, l like your ideas. :)

[The_Outsider]

Ralph, I'm guessing this is you, if not disregard this message.
It's me Laszlo, randomly we seem to have both posted here on the same day about the same song without knowing it, once again your superior english skills / less agressive reasoning have absoloutley decimated my opinion and lured me into a position where i will contradict my self - i.e. posting more than once ever

You have just come up with the best frigging interpretation of this song I've ever heard, and i agree with you on this song being the best song tool has done

As for Maynard saying that the interpretations on this website being way out, i think you might have just proved the exception to the rule [Contradicting myself again] and even if you are not, i dont care what he says, i love the idea.

With you , shannon and tom in our group we'll have little trouble taking over the world, lmao.

[Machiavelli70]

Precisely precisely -- I don't think Maynard wants us to care. If he did, he'd go shoot us all down with our ideas. And I don't think GreyTeeth's an exception to the rule -- you just happen to agree with his theories. When there's no way to discern what the real meaning is, is there any way to prove any meaning false?

And to retain topicality, I agree. See in color.

[AllforUnity]

l don't think it's not that he doesn't care...l think it's more that he wants us to figure things out for ourselves. And IF maynard DOES actually come visit these sites, l'm sure he's intriguiged by our ideas, and what we can come up with about his songs, l don't think it offends him.

[The_Outsider]

I agree, laff, if I were him i would be fascinated by the myriad of thought and opinion that can be inspired by a piece of my work, who knows, he may even write a song about us little people -then again, maybe not...

[AllforUnity]

Hey, you never know...he could even be one of the people that post to this site to see what people say about his ideas...?

Anything is possible.

[RRed]

My own original oppinion about this song still remains but I've discovered some more illuminating thoughts that make some pretty obvious connections for me.

I think this song is about everything you've already stated but for me I was more interested in the origin on these thoughts and ideas; looking into thier influences.

There are many different paths in life. More or less infinite paths but the end is the most concrete common denominator between them all. So what wouldn't matter what I do in life if it all ends at that same parabolic point? Well thats what I think this song is about. Identifying the 'True Will'. And if you know anything about Tools philosophical influences you will know what I'm talking about. You see everything ends at the Ain-soph; the nothing, the everything. Hence Spiralling out. But there is an ideal, efficient, and ordained path that excludes all these disabling burdens and self destructive distractions, that being our 'True Will.' This is a discription and plea to himself, ourselves, to risk, to experience the abyss ie The Patient/Disposition/Reflection, next to explore concsiousness ie Parabol/Parabola/Mantra, and lastly to finally find our 'true will' to be happy, balanced, and empowered. Obviously there is alot of details I didn't mention or address but this is in a 'nut shell' what I think this song is about.

RRed

[AllforUnity]

That's a pretty interesting point there. Although, YOU technically don't know what TOOL'S outlook on philosphy is. Have you ever sat down and chatted with the band about it? lt's most likely that you haven't...We all have our own interpretation of what influence they hold to us.

[Zeromus]

I think that the message of th song its very clear(for me). Its about to free your mind. To image "beyond the lines of reason", to discover how beatifull is this world and our time in it. To free your mind enough to discover our "True Will"(just like RRed said). And the spiral...its the life. Discover that we are divine beings, because we can see beyond, we can go to places that no one else has ever imagined. We are divine but still mortal, still human. and thats why we have to search our wind, our will in the spiral. We just have to swing on the spiral baby!

"Zeromus is not here anymore...but he will come back!"

[ckm]

I've always found it interesting how the "will" is portrayed in the song.

In the first verse, it seems a negative force. ..."that I must feed my will to feel this moment." Here it seems to me to carry negative connotations like that of a willful child or an addicts will to destroy himself.

In the second verse, the "will" is portrayed in a more positive light. ..."Feed my will to feel this moment, pushing me across the line" Here it seems to me the will is the liberator of the soul.

Anyway I like your ideas on balance. To me it is a place from where your will can take you "where noone's been".

[Machiavelli70]

To me, the lyrics in the stong can be applied as a general "push the envelope to expand yourself" idea, but it applies mostly to music when I listen to it. Urging you to move away from your everyday four four and et cetera. How many people reach out to grab a 5/8 pattern over 6/8?

[neochrist]

i think the song is talking directly to the listeners, telling them to stop trying to figure out life, stop trying to analyze why everything happens, stop asking why, and just enjoy your time here on earth, reach out for the random and stop caring why it happened, just enjoy it, its saying go outisde of the box, stop doing the norm, just experience life for what it is and wonder what it could or should be.

[RRed]

That's a pretty interesting point there. Although, YOU technically don't know what TOOL'S outlook on philosphy is. Have you ever sat down and chatted with the band about it? lt's most likely that you haven't...We all have our own interpretation of what influence they hold to us.


Very true.. I've never had the chance to pick thier brain, but there are some references that are more than obvious that would point one in the direction to make a rather educated guess about thier philisophies. I may not know exactly what thier personal beliefs maybe, and often times we aren't even aware of our own, but there are clues to their influences and thats what I am saying. Look at Dannycarey.com..... That's one of the first places you should start. Not only that but just small lines and references in thier music...

For example, 'As above so below' where did that come from?
Or 'transmutate these leaden grudges into gold'. Or 'scarlet lettermen' what does that mean? Or what does Eon Blue Apocoplyse refer to or what might it refer too? Or what's the deal with Saturn. Or all the references to the will? The 'true will' reference is littered through out the new APC album as well and who's in that band again? And what about those eyes around the cd its self what are those all about? And why would they use Enochian to express the 'voice of god'?

I understand that its a little presumptious to say you've got it figured out but whats the harm in really trying to figure it out. Perhaps we are capable of seeing exactly what they are portraying. That's not impossible, is it?

RRed

[Zeromus]

in fact.......thats VERY posible....

"Zeromus is no here....but he will come back."

[Mehhico]

Well, I was going to say something, but RRed took the words out of my mouth. I just wanted to add one of the most obvious references in Tools work relating to their philisophical influences. If you think the album title Ænima is just a cool way to write it, then it may not be worth continuing what I was going to say................................

[AllforUnity]

Well...l'm not sure, there are many questions, and then there are many obvious answers. l would love to sit down with TOOL and just have a conversation, and ask them about everything they stand for and what their songs mean and such, l think that would be such a wonderful experience. But until then, l really can't just assume that l KNOW what a song is talking about, or what a message is. l just like to think l'm close, because that's what it means to me, you know?

[regal lover]

i think the song is talking directly to the listeners, telling them to stop trying to figure out life, stop trying to analyze why everything happens, stop asking why, and just enjoy your time here on earth, reach out for the random and stop caring why it happened, just enjoy it, its saying go outisde of the box, stop doing the norm, just experience life for what it is and wonder what it could or should be.


Yes man asking why can sometimes lead to a complete overanalysing and reduced enjoyable experience of life but it can also help us understand, learn and make better choices to create better experiences for ourselves which is really what free will is all about.

[smellyuglyperson]

..hm interesting how many different and great interpretations individuals have come up with...

..it's great to see that there are people who can think for themselves, and draw their own meaning from an artwork that is relevant to their lives and that helps them grow personally....

..i believe (and i speak for myself, not necessarily anyone else) that it is vital that we learn to think for ourselves, find our own beliefs and spirituality...listening to music is a way to escape the physical world and institutions momentarily, listening to tool in particular i can really feel with the music and let it move me, it is a live thing...

i sometimes just "space out" and let the sounds move over me without thinking about what it means, and meaning will come to me...the way maynard sings seems to reflect the feeling of the lyrics and the song....alot of feeling and importance can also be derived by this...

..it is interesting i have only been listening to tool for 6 moths now, and i just heard the lyric in lateralus, "with my feet upon the ground i lose myself between the sounds" and "we'll ride the spiral to the end we may just go where no-one's been, spiral out, keep going"...to me this is exactly what i do when i listen to music...

but ahem...back to the point...lol...any form of art, as a creative work, is open to interpretation by different responders...and this is what makes art alive...people everywhere can hear see etc an artwork and draw or relate meaning to it which is important and relevant to their own lives...and this is the most pure form of interpretation...open your own mind, and know that the song to you is about what you think it is about, what you want it to be about...use the knowledge presented in the lyrics to expand upon your spiritual awareness or physical etc and know what you know...sure be open to opinions though....

so many people in other forums have been stating, oh maynard says this hence this is what the song means..this is not completely true...we do not know what he is thinking and are best to simply "spiral out" and be inspired by the beauty of the works and use this inspiration to do great things within our selves and outside...

[smellyuglyperson]

ps this is the beautiful thing about tool, it is open to many interpretations..

pop songs for example are designed for the majority about trivial material issues which can be easily understood by anyone and can usually have no other meaning other than that which it presents....for example, evanescence; "wake me up inside.....save me from the nothing i've become".....target market is people who are generally dissatisfied with their life situation, etc, stuck on one particular physical issue...there is so much more to life than any one aspect...all major areas of our lives should be of similar importance...and yet able to be surpassed....

tool's music deals with moving on past the trivial issues which most singers write of. i believe all challenges in life are like tests..once you learn one you pass to a harder other...tool's music helps you put it all into perspective and let feelings pass over you as you achieve higher understanding of your life..well for me i mean anyway....

ok ill stop assaulting ur ears now.....lol

[firesuite]

Lyrically: Going along with the balance motif, I especially enjoy the line "swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human." I think this line sums up the theme of this song and of the entire album. To me (and I cannot emphasize TO ME enough) this means that we should pursue the perfect balance of logic and emotion. Again, as usual in good TOOL fasion, contradictory and ironic, one is worthless without the other. This is what defines us as humans. Its not, for instance, love. Its not reason. Its the two working together to achieve, if you will, 46&2 or the next stage in our "evolution" (for lack of a better term). When we lose our grip on either, we become stagnant and cannot advance our being.

Musically: The music parallels these lyrics so well. Obviously the tone of parts of the song are reflective and slow ("black and white"...."bathe in the fountain") and some of just bursting with raw power and emotion ("with my feet").

To me this represents the best conceptual song-writing I have ever heard. The theme of the song is (TO ME) achieving a higher level through balance. They have done this musically as well. The result: their most moving song, both emotionally (you feel this song when you listen to it) and intellectually (obviously, good food for thought).

[aintsofar]

Then there’s the debated, seemingly contradictory idea that “overthinking overanalysing separate the body from the mind”. This is a warning against discarding your soul and your humanity by being “negative and blind and cynical” with the knowledge that there is no higher authority as such, and trying to find answers when there are none.

Huh, never thought that it was a negative message. I didn't think that separating the body from the mind would be a bad thing.