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LabRat404
02-06-2004, 07:40 PM
This is what the song means to me:

I have been studying a few of tools songs for quite soem time now, and I have yet to read any other thoughts about them. so here's my untainted thought :-)

"We barely remember what came before this precious moment" - we barely remember our selves. ancient cultures and peoples. anceint egypt, and some of the 7 wonders of the world. go figure. either that, or "who made the universe", or who is god.

Parabola (most people slaughter this word trying to pronounce it right), refers to the mathematical formula for ataining a curvature (with at least two dimensions). i think that this refers to the "spiral", which is mentioned in thie song, which is life.

In this song, maynard talks about how his body reminds him of his own mortality, but makes him feel eternal. I think this means that, alone, we are all mortal and will eventually die, but humanity as a whole - we are eternal. "we are all one mind", as said in Refelection.

I also had a startling realization when thinking about "this body holding me". could it be - sex? perhaps he's describing sex and how it makes him feel that "all this pain is an illusion". ah...sex. :-)

Talonwulf
02-12-2004, 10:04 AM
You know im sitting here laughing, not cos of your post. Its a good comment. But cos i think its funny about people who think its about life or sex. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against your interpretation, its just that i think Tool have been playing word games with us.

Parabol for example, is not a word. But what does it sound like? Parable. Parable means "A story with a meaning trying to illustrate a moral or religious point". In other words, Tool are teaching us [not bout religion] but something else - medititation and charkas.

The video is full of charka symbols, its everywhere. Third eyes come from Charka meaning the realisation of that around you, to be open minded. In other words not being a sheep and believing what religion tells you. The video also shows the two eyes moving up the body like charka, the guy recieves a crown, like charka and so on.

Mind you, they could be playing tricks with me. But it does seem... well, EXACTLY the same

LabRat404
02-12-2004, 12:41 PM
Yes, the sex theory of this song was just one that I threw in, I don't actually believe it's about sex. I have noticed the chakras in the end of the parabola video, and I do know that the eye most likely represents the Third Eye Chakra (middle forehead). The song The Grudge mentions "The one, the Ten", which I think comes from the different "branches" of the Tree of Life. "Black and white are all I see, Red and Yellow then came to be, reaching out to me, lets me see" also may come fro mthe tree of life, for each color. though I'm not sure if there is a black or white one ....

Parabol - ... still poondering
Parabola - I think it's just a song about enjoying life. it's an anti-pessimist song.
Parabola Video - god (black guy), man (man is god), the creation of the "forbidden fruit" (the big ball that keeps growing and kills the little guy). I think the video trys to tell us that Man is God. the little guy is possibly our belifes of god and such, and how easily our beliefes get struck down (by the forbidden fruit ?? )

I know this doesn't belong in this forum, but .... I think Lateralus (both the song and album) is about maynard's own spiritual birth and all. learning about meditation, chakras, and freeing the mind of doubt and such.

it seems that everythign in the lyrics or videos is symbolic of something. I don't think anythign is just thrown in "cuz it sounds cool"

this isn't a very organized post. so, yeah.

LabRat404
02-12-2004, 12:57 PM
ok, I'm a little bit more organized now, so here's my interpretation of this song as I believe it to be true..

We really have no idea what came before us, before humanity, before life. This reality, the universe, everything in it -- it truely is a marvelous thing. Life is not to be treated as a burden as most people do. We really are lucky to be alive, for we cannot even explain why we are. self consciousness is even more of a mystery. how do I know that I exist? self awareness is just such a complicated thing when thought about scientifically.

The parabola is the spiral (from lateralus), which is life. "keep, going sprial, out"


"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am mortal. You are mortal. Individually, we are all mortal.

"Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."
------------------------------------------------------------------
WE are eternal, not individually, but Humanity as a whole is eternal.
Possibly in relation to the collective unconscious.
(what one person does affects everybody else. I think this was Carl Jung that first publically claimed that theory)

"All this pain is an illusion"
----------------------------------
Pain is Doubt. Possibility is our infinite wisdom. never forget that. always keep an open mind.

Lord Fongo
02-14-2004, 04:22 PM
ok, I'm a little bit more organized now, so here's my interpretation of this song as I believe it to be true..

We really have no idea what came before us, before humanity, before life. This reality, the universe, everything in it -- it truely is a marvelous thing. Life is not to be treated as a burden as most people do. We really are lucky to be alive, for we cannot even explain why we are. self consciousness is even more of a mystery. how do I know that I exist? self awareness is just such a complicated thing when thought about scientifically.

The parabola is the spiral (from lateralus), which is life. "keep, going sprial, out"


"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am mortal. You are mortal. Individually, we are all mortal.

"Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."
------------------------------------------------------------------
WE are eternal, not individually, but Humanity as a whole is eternal.
Possibly in relation to the collective unconscious.
(what one person does affects everybody else. I think this was Carl Jung that first publically claimed that theory)

"All this pain is an illusion"
----------------------------------
Pain is Doubt. Possibility is our infinite wisdom. never forget that. always keep an open mind.

Damn...I never looked at it that way, LabRat. I always tend to look at songs on a more "personal experience" level, and Parabol/Parabola struck me simply with the strong emotions I feel whenever my girlfriend comforts me or when we embrace. Ya know, feeling deeply emotionally connected to this one person; all the pain seems so distant when this person is here. Basically, I interpreted it to be more romantic than anything.

But that interpretation is very interesting and lets a whole new light in for me. Very nice. Perhaps I need to "pry open my third eye" a little more and interpret songs on more than just one level.

Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that that is a very good interpretation. ~applauds~ Sorry for talking too much...

LabRat404
02-14-2004, 05:56 PM
...if only all girlfriends were as comforting.

Talonwulf
02-15-2004, 02:25 PM
having a third eye means relying on your own impulses, thoughts and theorys and not believing in other poeples. Ive seen people using it thinking it means how u interpret a song CORRECTLY. It aint