D~licious
12-21-2002, 11:59 PM
While the songs in Lateralus can each stand alone as individual pieces, the themes as the album progresses form an allegory of a person reaching towards spiritual enlightenment. It follows from the decision to strive for something more in The Grudge all the way through to Nirvana in Triad.
The Grudge:
The Grudge is the beginning of the journey. You are attached to your ego and the physical world. It’s what you have held on to in order for things to be simple and normal. However, it’s time to change - to “let go”. Saturn has ascended. Symbolically, Saturn causes important decisions in life. If you desire to stay earthly, leaden, etc. then Saturn will “drag you down like a stone”, but if your aspirations are nobler, then Saturn can “lift you up like a child”, a rebirth. You are stuck and sinking deeper into a mundane existence, which you must choose to move boyond.
Eon Blue Apocalypse:
Here are your first steps towards enlightenment. They are slow and unsure, and you are in an unfamiliar landscape. This is the beginning of your transformation.
The Patient:
Giving up your old life is not as easy as you thought. You are weary and worn out. The only thing keeping you on track is the promise of something better. You “wait out” the tedium in hope of spiritual progress. You must be determined in this quest.
Mantra:
A repeated thought/sound to focus on God. Perhaps a way to get beyond the “tedium” and become tuned to your spiritual self.
Schism:
Schism is about destructive separation, and how communication is required to rejoin and grow. In this context (I think) it is the separation of the physical and spiritual self. You were once complete, but your zealousness for enlightenment (“the light that fueled the fire) has caused the spiritual and physical to detatch and “mildew and smolder”. Though spiritual growth is necessary, you cannot totally abandon the physical nature of yourself. Only through communication between the spiritual and the physical can you grow and “reach an end” of enlightenment.
Parabol:
Now that you realize that a body can be part of this spiritual journey, you begin to sense how wonderful life can be. This song is relatively low key, so you are again getting used to new sensations. You are starting a new phase.
Parabola:
Parabola is when it hits you how wonderful things truly are. You can use your body to sense life and feel your connection to everything – to sense the eternal, the infinite. You feel God coming over you.
Ticks & Leeches:
Nobody’s really sure what to do with this one. Neither am I, but I don’t want to just ignore it. It’s a major shift in the tone of the album. Perhaps it serves to reference “all this pain” in Parabol/a. They can take what they want, but it will not destroy the higher good, it will not end the journey. It is a brief lapse of pain and decline.
Lateralus:
What a good song, an anthem of will to “create something positive”. Things were plain in your ignorance, but now rich colors and possibilities fill your life. You had your taste of how beautiful things can be in Parabola and sense that the journey can only get better (“as below, so above and beyond”). You now want to feel it all, to “ride the spiral”, to experience everything good about existence. You see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Disposition:
Here you deal with a drastic change. You are again at a base level, alone and without guidance (“mention anything”). Some have said that Disposition (the song) refers to death. A major part of your journey is now over. You can only watch the weather change as you continue towards your goal.
Reflection:
You are down and out, alone and pitiful. Yet your goal is still there; you’re near the end (“It’s calling me”). You are complacent to feel sorry for yourself (all that you once knew is lost and gone), when the Moon tells you about the One Pure Light. The One that gives the Moon its beauty and reflects through and creates everything. This is encouraging and you realize that you must forget yourself and your passiveness, and answer the call. You must make it happen now before all is lost (and you “pine away”).
Triad:
To me this is a sonic representation of the “stream of universal consciousness”. There are myriad sounds mixing together beautifully and driving towards perfection. You have become nothing; you are everything. It’s the Infinite becoming the One. Your journey is over. You have reached Nirvana - Enlightenment.
Congratulations!
Faaip de Oiad
I usually don’t like listening to this (it kinda ruins the mood) but it is the voice of God afterall. Maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about what’s at the end of the rainbow and just enjoy the journey.
So, there it is. Decide to become something better, struggle with it, rejoice in it, and see it all the way through. That’s what I’m left with at the end of my Lateralus experiences. If you’re still reading, then I admire your patience.
Peace, I’m out!
The Grudge:
The Grudge is the beginning of the journey. You are attached to your ego and the physical world. It’s what you have held on to in order for things to be simple and normal. However, it’s time to change - to “let go”. Saturn has ascended. Symbolically, Saturn causes important decisions in life. If you desire to stay earthly, leaden, etc. then Saturn will “drag you down like a stone”, but if your aspirations are nobler, then Saturn can “lift you up like a child”, a rebirth. You are stuck and sinking deeper into a mundane existence, which you must choose to move boyond.
Eon Blue Apocalypse:
Here are your first steps towards enlightenment. They are slow and unsure, and you are in an unfamiliar landscape. This is the beginning of your transformation.
The Patient:
Giving up your old life is not as easy as you thought. You are weary and worn out. The only thing keeping you on track is the promise of something better. You “wait out” the tedium in hope of spiritual progress. You must be determined in this quest.
Mantra:
A repeated thought/sound to focus on God. Perhaps a way to get beyond the “tedium” and become tuned to your spiritual self.
Schism:
Schism is about destructive separation, and how communication is required to rejoin and grow. In this context (I think) it is the separation of the physical and spiritual self. You were once complete, but your zealousness for enlightenment (“the light that fueled the fire) has caused the spiritual and physical to detatch and “mildew and smolder”. Though spiritual growth is necessary, you cannot totally abandon the physical nature of yourself. Only through communication between the spiritual and the physical can you grow and “reach an end” of enlightenment.
Parabol:
Now that you realize that a body can be part of this spiritual journey, you begin to sense how wonderful life can be. This song is relatively low key, so you are again getting used to new sensations. You are starting a new phase.
Parabola:
Parabola is when it hits you how wonderful things truly are. You can use your body to sense life and feel your connection to everything – to sense the eternal, the infinite. You feel God coming over you.
Ticks & Leeches:
Nobody’s really sure what to do with this one. Neither am I, but I don’t want to just ignore it. It’s a major shift in the tone of the album. Perhaps it serves to reference “all this pain” in Parabol/a. They can take what they want, but it will not destroy the higher good, it will not end the journey. It is a brief lapse of pain and decline.
Lateralus:
What a good song, an anthem of will to “create something positive”. Things were plain in your ignorance, but now rich colors and possibilities fill your life. You had your taste of how beautiful things can be in Parabola and sense that the journey can only get better (“as below, so above and beyond”). You now want to feel it all, to “ride the spiral”, to experience everything good about existence. You see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Disposition:
Here you deal with a drastic change. You are again at a base level, alone and without guidance (“mention anything”). Some have said that Disposition (the song) refers to death. A major part of your journey is now over. You can only watch the weather change as you continue towards your goal.
Reflection:
You are down and out, alone and pitiful. Yet your goal is still there; you’re near the end (“It’s calling me”). You are complacent to feel sorry for yourself (all that you once knew is lost and gone), when the Moon tells you about the One Pure Light. The One that gives the Moon its beauty and reflects through and creates everything. This is encouraging and you realize that you must forget yourself and your passiveness, and answer the call. You must make it happen now before all is lost (and you “pine away”).
Triad:
To me this is a sonic representation of the “stream of universal consciousness”. There are myriad sounds mixing together beautifully and driving towards perfection. You have become nothing; you are everything. It’s the Infinite becoming the One. Your journey is over. You have reached Nirvana - Enlightenment.
Congratulations!
Faaip de Oiad
I usually don’t like listening to this (it kinda ruins the mood) but it is the voice of God afterall. Maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about what’s at the end of the rainbow and just enjoy the journey.
So, there it is. Decide to become something better, struggle with it, rejoice in it, and see it all the way through. That’s what I’m left with at the end of my Lateralus experiences. If you’re still reading, then I admire your patience.
Peace, I’m out!