Comfortable and Vulnerable

[Snowkook]

I think what Maynard means is sit back, close your eyes and let us take over.

[Persuasion]

I think he wants us to see the other side. And whether we take him there, or he takes US there, it doesn't matter. The other side is the place that appears every time you close your eyes. The colors behind your eyelids.

Lay back and I'll meet you on the other side.

[Killer Of God]

I think Maynard was trying to push the people who were all ready tripping on drugs to trip that much harder. Cause when you hear "And We'll Meet You On The Other Side" echo for awhile it kind of puts you in a trance. You start to really think about that line and all of a sudden the guitar kicks in and you are on "The Other Side."

[Tralfamadore-83]

I dont think any of that has anything to do with it, unless spoken for oneself. It isnt even about Maynard. Think. For. Yourself. Sit in a state of pure COMPLETE open mindedness in a vulnerable state, and get comfortble being this way. If you need stimulants to do this, well, fine; but do it just the same. 'trippy'...

Maynard is just another insightful messenger that happens to be captivating and influential. But Im sure he doesnt want everyone running around in anarchy being 'rebelious' just to come and herd behind him.

[Andy]

Originally posted by Killer Of God
I think Maynard was trying to push the people who were all ready tripping on drugs to trip that much harder. Cause when you hear "And We'll Meet You On The Other Side" echo for awhile it kind of puts you in a trance. You start to really think about that line and all of a sudden the guitar kicks in and you are on "The Other Side."

Yeah, thats exactly whats going on. Tool's music
is designed to be heard while under the influence of drugs, specifically hallucinogens (IMHO), and the whole little introduction he gives before the song just prepares all the "trippers" to buckle in, cause it's going to be a hell of a ride (even for Tool's standards). And it sure is.

[Smokin joe]

This song is obviously about someone trying to part with something that brings him great joy, and misery. So I think maynard means for you to sit back and relax, but to open yourself up to him, make yourself vulnerable to the song.

If, when I say I may fade like a sigh if I stay

joe

[Killer Of God]

Originally posted by Andy
Yeah, thats exactly whats going on. Tool's music
is designed to be heard while under the influence of drugs, specifically hallucinogens (IMHO)

Right On man. Thanks for knowing what i'm talking about. I saw TOOL play this version of Pushit and i was rolling hard. Lets just say i might have gotten a little teary eyed. It freaked the shit out of me.

[chaosad]

Originally posted by Andy
Yeah, thats exactly whats going on. Tool's music
is designed to be heard while under the influence of drugs, specifically hallucinogens (IMHO), and the whole little introduction he gives before the song just prepares all the "trippers" to buckle in, cause it's going to be a hell of a ride (even for Tool's standards). And it sure is.

i very strongly disagree. i think that if you think this, you are very much missing the entire point of tool's music. the point is, your mind is a beautiful and amazing thing, and there are infinite things that you can do with it. you dont have be just another clone walking the streets, you can rise above. you can realize everything up until now that is in your brain has been preprogrammed, and you can stop it whenever you want. the path to doing this involves expanding your ways of thinking, but the point is you *don't* need the drugs. if you can do the drugs and keep it under control, and they help you get where you need to be, then thats cool. but you can tune your brain into whatever place you want it to be without the drugs. when he says make your mind vulnerable, it is the same as saying "Believe in Nothing." let everything that you thought you knew go, and take this song for what it is, completely objectively. all songs of *any* musical genre that are written from the heart, and not for reasons such as money or fame, really mean something to someone. namely, the person who wrote it. its just a matter of making your mind vulnerable to those feelings and emotions, and experiencing the world from a different perspective. so by making your mind comfortable and vulnerable, you are simply going to a place where you are ready to learn, to expand. if you are on drugs great, if you dont need the drugs, i think thats more great.

[GregoryWohlwend]

hmmm, perhaps you CAN tune your mind, but drugs tune your heart. i doubt you have ever believed you were in hell have you? try doing this without the use of a hallucinogen of some sort, even though you may have convinced yourself that you are in tune with some sort of energy, you still have to keep reminding yourself of that, herein lies the problem with it because by reminding yourself you take away from other things you could be doing with that energy. drugs put you in a state of complete vulnerability, even if you don't want to be there, and when you don't want to be there well... that's when everything comes crashing down and the truth is revealed.... when you consciously do this thing you are talking about, when you don't want to be vulnerable anymore, well then you simply snap out of it. a difference undeniable by those that have experienced this just as i have.

my guess is that you see drugs as a crutch or a weakness when in fact they are a TOOL. the common reference to drugs as being bad is nothing more than an authoritative whim being sent from generation to generation. if you see drugs as a weakness then you must be searching for weakness. by thinking weakness exists you think of those that use the "crutch" as weaker than you, you are more powerful for not using them, when you really don't understand that weakness and power are illusions of the ego. another one of those things that gets in the way of the creative human spirit....

[sluice_van]

Originally posted by GregoryWohlwend
hmmm, perhaps you CAN tune your mind, but drugs tune your heart. i doubt you have ever believed you were in hell have you? try doing this without the use of a hallucinogen of some sort, even though you may have convinced yourself that you are in tune with some sort of energy, you still have to keep reminding yourself of that, herein lies the problem with it because by reminding yourself you take away from other things you could be doing with that energy. drugs put you in a state of complete vulnerability, even if you don't want to be there, and when you don't want to be there well... that's when everything comes crashing down and the truth is revealed.... when you consciously do this thing you are talking about, when you don't want to be vulnerable anymore, well then you simply snap out of it. a difference undeniable by those that have experienced this just as i have.

my guess is that you see drugs as a crutch or a weakness when in fact they are a TOOL. the common reference to drugs as being bad is nothing more than an authoritative whim being sent from generation to generation. if you see drugs as a weakness then you must be searching for weakness. by thinking weakness exists you think of those that use the "crutch" as weaker than you, you are more powerful for not using them, when you really don't understand that weakness and power are illusions of the ego. another one of those things that gets in the way of the creative human spirit....

wow, that is a really great way of putting that ... i had honestly never even thought of drugs in that way before, or related them to a possible extension to the ego. i believe i have the necessary self control to USE drugs, and not abuse them, but my life revolves around competing with others physically, so i am 100 % clean and sober all the time, year round. very good assessment though.

[Rico Wonderboy]

I think it had nothing to do with drugs. Just think of the style of this song, versus the original version. It's safe to say that this is the feminie version, or the opposing, more sensitive side.

The original is harsh at times, unforgiving, and raw. It's an angst filled song that can rock pretty hard. It gets you going, and it's what you'd expect from tool.

This other version (as he states at the beginning) is that same song, under a new light. It kind of regresses away from Tool's hard core repetoire, and gets emotional. It becomes less of an angry song, and more of a sad song. It's not something that Tool (at least at the time) had done too much of. Their fan base was largely the crowd that followed Sober, hoping only for the thrash metal they got from Powerman 5000.

This emotional song shouldn't appeal to those fans, so Maynard addressed this beforehand. He said, take a step back, we've looked at this in a new way, and you should too. You'll like it. In order to do this, you must take away all of your expectations and assumptions about what it may be.

The song is slow, and pained. There's very little agression evident, but now there's suffering. He has become the person he used to sing about getting beat up.

I think this was a statement from the band about them in general. Look at what was to come? Lateralus. The songs on this album are deeper, more emotional (Schism, The Patient), and they are more introspective than the band's previous work.

Judging by the response at the end of the track (and the concert I was at when they did something similar) the fans loved it. Maynard's advice beforehand was just a disclaimer saying that, yes, it would be different and unusual, but when all is said and done, it's just part of the same band. Their other side.

[Jimmy Pop]

Yes!

I completely agree with you. This song is way sadder and it is so deep, and I don't think MJK thought about drugs when he said relax.

He simply said "close your eye, and feel the music".

[Tantobourne]

Everyone pretty much encapsulated what 'comfortable and vulnerable' means here.

I'd guess that the concept can be applied at any level...be it drugs or whatever.

Bottom line is to 'have an open mind' and to relax a bit and willingly let down your physical or mental guards long enough to 'experience' something...a new foreign thought or feeling.

Most of the time we hide behind things in order 'not' to feel. A lot of us do this instinctively and don't even recognize it for what it is. As time goes by these inhibitions govern us in such a base way and, to some degree, defines our personalities.

Perhaps he was simply saying, "Don't think this song is crap because we changed it on you. Give it a chance, you might like it" = )

-Tant

[myownidentity]

This song, is so deep, i mean you try and listen to it alone, at night, hang on every word. By the time its over you will be in tears its just that good.

[Jello]

Originally posted by myownidentity
This song, is so deep, i mean you try and listen to it alone, at night, hang on every word. By the time its over you will be in tears its just that good.

thank you, that is exactly the way i feel about this song...when i listen to it when i'm completely alone in the dark and listen to every last word, every note that is played, i can't help but feel my eyes water, it's a song that affects every part of you, mind body and soul...it's just too terribly beautiful not to be moved by. i really don't feel maynard had any drugs in mind when he was uttering the opening words to this song, he simply wanted people to open up and feel the emotion behind the song, the pure, raw feeling of the song. I feel that this is the best song tool has ever done, it just feels the most honest and beautiful thing that they have ever done, not to say that they don't try on other songs, but this one in particular just seems special. ever since i first heard it it's been my favorite tool song. I could listen to it all day and never tire of it, it's just so wonderful, it's helped me through some very hard times in my life, if not for this song it's quite possibly that i would've killed myself by now, but it's helped me overcome the emotional obsticles that have blocked my path, and for that i am eternally grateful to tool......well, that was a little heavy for my first post, but i just had to speak out about how i feel about this song

[Winds of Fame9]

Originally posted by Andy
Yeah, thats exactly whats going on. Tool's music
is designed to be heard while under the influence of drugs, specifically hallucinogens

I disagree. I prefer to have a totally clear mind when i listen to tool (or do anything for that matter). Music isnt "designed" for anything. The point of music is for anyone to make whatever they want out of it. If you get to that feeling of being in a comfortable yet vulnerable place by doing drugs, then good. I on the other hand dont need that stuff. (just my two cents)

[neochrist]

i just have to say, have you listened to merkaba on the salival cd, in the background, he's saying, its a psycadelic experience, i mean come on, that song is made to trip and listen too.

[g-bay-be]

If you need drugs to slip into that state of vulnerability than you are missing out. I think tool is meantto inlighten us and widen our horizons

[Luna Galapogos]

I personally don't care exactly what he meant at the beginning of the song, or how much any of you feel about what he meant. It is more important that you, whether on drugs or not, slip into a state that lets you transcend the body and slip into another dimension, another realization of one's self. If you can't do that, then what is the point? Drop the anchor and sail away on your alter ego, isn't that more the point than whether you should take drugs or not? Well, whatever, take this as you will, I personally believe that TOOL's music is more a key to opening doors you never could open while sober or on drugs.

Let him who has ears to hear, listen. Let him who has eyes to see, look. Let him who has mind to think, explore.

[Luna Galapogos]

i just have to say, have you listened to merkaba on the salival cd, in the background, he's saying, its a psycadelic experience, i mean come on, that song is made to trip and listen too.

You seem intent on proving that TOOL wants you to do drugs while listening to their music. Why does it matter so much? Maynard himself said that the point is for the band to meet the listeners and the listeners to meet the band through the music. If you do that with or without drugs, it shouldn't matter.

[AllforUnity]

Yeah, l agree with you...l don't think drugs make anything any clearer or anything like that...it just makes you feel "tripped out" or whatever. Good point.

[AllforUnity]

What the hell...l just posted something and it didnt' go...anywho. l agree with you totally, l don't think doing drugs while listening to the music makes you see anything more clear or something like that...good point.

[findmyself]

I think that the title (Salival) is relaitve to a specific herb. that is leagl to own, use and sell everywhere but Australia, and once smoked it puts you in a totally new place, a place that is comfortable and vulnerable, it is a very weird experience (i have done it) The idea i think though is basically to inform yourself rather than be informed and to do so you must be in an unbiased, clear state of mind, whether it be thru drugs or just music or whatever someone may do. I really don't think that TOOL is suggesting that anyone use drugs, i think that it may have been a personal experience for them/one of them and they may be using it as a metaphor just to say that however it is done, to inform yourself you got to be in that special state of mind