nobody_
11-29-2003, 11:53 PM
I've been thinking about this song quite a bit lately, and have enjoyed reading many of the interpretations and observations about it on this forum. I'm fascinated about the mathematical sequences in the meter of the lyrics as well as the rhythmic meter of the music. I'm glad people have noticed this stuff and that the band's vision is so holistic that even the structures of songs and albums are crafted to be related to the overall meaning and intent of the whole.
I think that this interaction between the essence and the body of the song, in other words the meaning of the lyrics and the skeleton of the song's musical structure, relate to the theme of "Lateralus," which is plainly stated as wanting to explore the realm of spirit while staying firmly rooted in the body. I think this is an overarching theme in Maynard's lyrics from as far back as Opiate to as recent a release as the latest APC album.
I think the importance of balancing the two and experiencing one through the other and vice versa is also reflected in the choice of art for the album. Alex Grey's vision of the human deftly incorporates body and spirit without neglecting one or the other. The body is shown as container for internal spiritual energy that connects back to an exterior "universal lattice" of energy. Yet the body cannot be dismissed or discarded--every neuron, every cell is a detailed conduit for the energy of consciousness.
Back to "Lateralus." I think when Maynard sings about over-thinking separating body from mind, that this is the worst possible turn of affairs in his worldview. He needs to be rooted in the flesh in order to ground his experience, to put it into "muscle memory." Maynard expresses inner voyaging not with abstract language, but with a very physical image of a bending envelope.
The last two stanzas of this song I feel capture the entire essence of what is being expressed by Maynard. He lists all the spiritual experiences he desires--to be moved by beauty, to feel the power of emotions, to experience connection with others and the universe, to be inspired and creative. All of this is to "swing on the spiral of our divinity." Yet Maynard does not want to completely transcend this plane--he places a condition on these desires, that they all allow him to still "be a human." Even in describing these abstract experiences, he uses physical verbs and descriptions--to bathe, to swing.
In the second stanza, he grounds these desires in denser physical imagery. He begins by declaring that his feet will be on the ground--he is not going to lose touch with the physical. He's not just going to experience this within his head, but also feel it on his skin. He's going to "open wide to suck it in"--a physical and sexual image. He's "reaching out," going "beyond the lines of reason," reaching beyond the immediate to the transcendent, but he's not going to lose that sense of grounding.
"Lateralus" plainly states in much more general terms the same sensibility that I feel is expressed in much of Maynard's lyrical vision. He uses the graphic metaphor of fisting to express desensitization and the need of extreme stimulation to feel any kind of sensation in our modern culture in "Stinkfist." In "4 degrees," he uses anal sex as a metaphor for pushing boundaries and experiencing the most intimate of human states. In "Prison Sex," sexual abuse, 'blood shit and cum,' is used to illustrate cycles of habit and learned experience. Notably, the narrator cannot come to terms with his experience until he experiences the abuse physically, from the other side. In "Flood," the narrator describes the experience of realizing all he'd known was false with the physical experience of floods and crumbling land. In "46 & 2," the narrator describes the experience of an evolution that in reality is likely experienced as mostly spiritual and emotional as something physical--"shedding skin," "picking scabs," "digging through old muscles," and even making the next step in gene evolution.
These are just a few random examples--I think any Tool or A Perfect Circle song with lyrics--and perhaps even some of those without--are likely to address this theme even if just in part. I think this is something that is very important to Maynard, whose growth in life included a stint in the military, a very physical experience, and a stint in art school in which he used artistic and spiritual knowledge to inform arrangement of physical space as a feng shui consultant (I got this from some article or another on tdn).
I think though the main reason for this absolute dedication to the experience of the flesh probably resides in some kind of abuse that Maynard experienced in his lifetime that was physical and/or sexual. I get the sense of past trauma rising up in the pain, frustration, anger, and search for meaning that comes up in Maynard's lyrics. It also seems to demonstrate itself in how protective and defensive Maynard is toward press and interviewers, especially concerning his personal life. I think this is part of what makes the expression of this search for the spiritual in the visceral so compelling and powerful--the engine behind it is fueled with powerful personal emotions that are rooted in the deepest kind of trauma. Obviously, I'm not certain of this, but it's something I strongly sense.
I think out of all the things Maynard has been a part of thus far, "Lateralus" is the song that most clearly and beautifully expresses this powerful, central theme. "To swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human"--I think this hits the nail on the head, very eloquently capturing the twin poles between which the human experience resides.
I think that this interaction between the essence and the body of the song, in other words the meaning of the lyrics and the skeleton of the song's musical structure, relate to the theme of "Lateralus," which is plainly stated as wanting to explore the realm of spirit while staying firmly rooted in the body. I think this is an overarching theme in Maynard's lyrics from as far back as Opiate to as recent a release as the latest APC album.
I think the importance of balancing the two and experiencing one through the other and vice versa is also reflected in the choice of art for the album. Alex Grey's vision of the human deftly incorporates body and spirit without neglecting one or the other. The body is shown as container for internal spiritual energy that connects back to an exterior "universal lattice" of energy. Yet the body cannot be dismissed or discarded--every neuron, every cell is a detailed conduit for the energy of consciousness.
Back to "Lateralus." I think when Maynard sings about over-thinking separating body from mind, that this is the worst possible turn of affairs in his worldview. He needs to be rooted in the flesh in order to ground his experience, to put it into "muscle memory." Maynard expresses inner voyaging not with abstract language, but with a very physical image of a bending envelope.
The last two stanzas of this song I feel capture the entire essence of what is being expressed by Maynard. He lists all the spiritual experiences he desires--to be moved by beauty, to feel the power of emotions, to experience connection with others and the universe, to be inspired and creative. All of this is to "swing on the spiral of our divinity." Yet Maynard does not want to completely transcend this plane--he places a condition on these desires, that they all allow him to still "be a human." Even in describing these abstract experiences, he uses physical verbs and descriptions--to bathe, to swing.
In the second stanza, he grounds these desires in denser physical imagery. He begins by declaring that his feet will be on the ground--he is not going to lose touch with the physical. He's not just going to experience this within his head, but also feel it on his skin. He's going to "open wide to suck it in"--a physical and sexual image. He's "reaching out," going "beyond the lines of reason," reaching beyond the immediate to the transcendent, but he's not going to lose that sense of grounding.
"Lateralus" plainly states in much more general terms the same sensibility that I feel is expressed in much of Maynard's lyrical vision. He uses the graphic metaphor of fisting to express desensitization and the need of extreme stimulation to feel any kind of sensation in our modern culture in "Stinkfist." In "4 degrees," he uses anal sex as a metaphor for pushing boundaries and experiencing the most intimate of human states. In "Prison Sex," sexual abuse, 'blood shit and cum,' is used to illustrate cycles of habit and learned experience. Notably, the narrator cannot come to terms with his experience until he experiences the abuse physically, from the other side. In "Flood," the narrator describes the experience of realizing all he'd known was false with the physical experience of floods and crumbling land. In "46 & 2," the narrator describes the experience of an evolution that in reality is likely experienced as mostly spiritual and emotional as something physical--"shedding skin," "picking scabs," "digging through old muscles," and even making the next step in gene evolution.
These are just a few random examples--I think any Tool or A Perfect Circle song with lyrics--and perhaps even some of those without--are likely to address this theme even if just in part. I think this is something that is very important to Maynard, whose growth in life included a stint in the military, a very physical experience, and a stint in art school in which he used artistic and spiritual knowledge to inform arrangement of physical space as a feng shui consultant (I got this from some article or another on tdn).
I think though the main reason for this absolute dedication to the experience of the flesh probably resides in some kind of abuse that Maynard experienced in his lifetime that was physical and/or sexual. I get the sense of past trauma rising up in the pain, frustration, anger, and search for meaning that comes up in Maynard's lyrics. It also seems to demonstrate itself in how protective and defensive Maynard is toward press and interviewers, especially concerning his personal life. I think this is part of what makes the expression of this search for the spiritual in the visceral so compelling and powerful--the engine behind it is fueled with powerful personal emotions that are rooted in the deepest kind of trauma. Obviously, I'm not certain of this, but it's something I strongly sense.
I think out of all the things Maynard has been a part of thus far, "Lateralus" is the song that most clearly and beautifully expresses this powerful, central theme. "To swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human"--I think this hits the nail on the head, very eloquently capturing the twin poles between which the human experience resides.