Alice in Wonderland?

[MentalSanityOff]

The first time I heard this song, the first few lines immediately made Alice in Wonderland come to mind.
_______________________
Dreaming of that face again.
It's bright and blue and shimmering.
Grinning wide
And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes.


Thought the four lines painted a nice picture of the Cheshire cat, grinning wide, wild eyes just brought it to mind. I can't exactly explain three eyes though, or it being blue, the cat's purple as I recall.

_____________________
On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up


most substantial lines, they could easily represent Alice's falling through the first hole, where I think the walls are covered by clocks, and falls to a locked door at the bottom with a speaking knob. It could also represent her falling down the rabbit hole, and back again would show her awakening. Symbolically speaking, down that hole could mean just entering her wonderland, and the signifigance of back again would be having experienced wonderland, and now being able to take what she learned from wonderland and applying it to the world when fully conscious.

[MentalSanityOff]

also, keeping in mind what others have said, such as using drugs to "pry open your third eye" being a theme of the song. If that's the case, that could tie Alice in Wonderland in even tighter. It could be interpereted that some of the items, such as the mushrooms, which Alice eats to affect her growth are drugs. In short, this would mean Alice drifts of into wonderland, where she uses an array of drugs, also prying open her third eye. By the end of the story when she wakes up, she no longer has any of these drugs, but still maintains the same state from when she had them, thus having her third eye open.

Also, the last line of the 2nd stanza, which i left out in my previous post could fit in more clearly.


On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye.


When she rises up (wakes up from wonderland) as i said before, her third eye is open, which she has never used before (outside of wonderland at least). hence she would be wiping away the cobwebs from her eye, and perhaps the dew would have something to do with her falling asleep and waking up in a grassy field?


back to the first stanza one more time...


Dreaming of that face again.
It's bright and blue and shimmering.
Grinning wide
And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes.


Dreaming of that face again? Well if it is indeed the cheshire cat's face, this line would prove true, as Alice is currently dreaming. next line
Bright and blue and shimmering. Well Professor Pudding pointed out that in the book the cheshire cat is blue, meaning that it could also just as easily be described as bright and shimmering
the rest is obvious enough, except for the three wild eyes bit.

[MentalSanityOff]

i might be able to explain the next verse with alice in wonderland as well.

A child's rhyme stuck in my head.
It said that life is but a dream.
I've spent so many years in question
to find I've known this all along.

There is, in fact, a children's poem (which rhymes) titled "Life is but a dream."
Guess who wrote it? Lewis Carroll, also author of Alice in Wonderland

http://www.poetry-archive.com/c/life_is_but_a_dream.html


im beginning to get the impression that Alice in Wonderland may tie into the song very tightly

also read a post where somebody made out whispering in the song that said "It came from an Irish novel. Open it in the light. It came from a novel, now you will find it" then near around 10:55 it says "Open".

i doubt this is Alice in Wonderland, as I'm pretty sure Lewis Carroll (can't remember his real name) was born in England, but it might still be possible?

[people_do_like_me]

Has anyone thought of playing the whole album simultaneously with the movie Alice in Wonderland?

Just a thought.

[benpink]

Has anyone thought of playing the whole album simultaneously with the movie Alice in Wonderland?

Just a thought.


wow, this is an interesting thread. i love the idea of syncronizing movies and music. i always wanted to try Mars Volta's De-loused in the Comatorium with Alice in Wonderland. the basic plot line is the same, except Alice doesn't jump off a bridge to her death at the end, like in de-loused....

[people_do_like_me]

Someone who owns both should try it definitely.

I might even rent Alice in Wonderland.

[jonathan2994]

that's a good idea. i thought about it and after researching to see that Aenima and Alice in Wonderland were approximately the same length (Alice is 75 mins according to imdb.com; Aenima is 77:23), i got the idea that it could work. see, the "flush it down, learn to swim, etc." part of the title track would probably play during the time that alice is flailing around in the water, trying to escape Wonderland (i could be wrong, i haven't seen AIW since i was maybe 13). i'm gonna check the book out at the library. Also, there's a part early on where Alice is crying because the door won't let her in, and the "I could have cried..." part of H. might be in sync with that; and there's a part iin Third Eye that exclaims something about "climbing out the hole again", associated possibly with Alice waking up (did she wake up instantly or did she float out of the hole? it's been so long). try to make confirmation before you spread that around though. Finally, "Boredom's not a burden Anyone should bear" from Stinkfist fits with Alice being bored in the beginning (or was she? dammit now i'm lost). i'm sure there are plenty others i haven't thought of yet.

although, i'd rather not think that Tool would ever use someone else's idea of sycronizing with a movie. still, good movie choice.

[people_do_like_me]

yeah.....
so i tried to pu the movie in sync with the album..
some of it makes sense....but it's jus not perfect.

1>When Alice is done falling down the hole, she's upside down....almost at the exact moment her hands touch the ground, the distortion in Eulogy starts up.
2>I can't remember a lot of it, but I thought the most noticable part was when Third Eye starts to play....it just seems to fit with the movie for the most part.
3>When she wakes up underneath the tree, I'm pretty sure the softer part of Third Eye is being played (So good to see you, I missed you so much. So glad it's over. I missed you so much.)
4>The part of the song in parentheses make a lot of sense to me because she's back and her sister/mother is "seeing her again."
5>Prying open my third eye could indicate that she is waking up possibly?
6>This movie is obviously a movie about someone who was pretty high...and I've read a lot of posts about "Prying open my third eye" being about drugs and keeping the high after the drug wears off. This could indicate that.........Damn.....Lost my train of thought.

If you think this is interesting...or if you have the time....you should check it out yourself.

[jonathan2994]

what if it syncs up with the book? i mean, it sounds dumb but it's possible. the book was rather short, i could probably read it in 77 minutes. i bet you would at least loook up every now and then, smiling, after just reading something out of the book that maynard just mentioned in a song ("i could have cried", alice crying; "learn to swim", alice swimming/drowning). considering that maynard isn't a big TV/movie fan (how can you blame him?), and this was probably his idea if anyone's, than the book is probably closer to Aenima than the movie. maybe not sychronization, but maybe some lyrics or something.

i think we've stumbled on something interesting.

[people_do_like_me]

I think that you should rent alice in wonderland on dvd or vhs and try it

[Thrakandor]

Dreaming of that face again? Well if it is indeed the cheshire cat's face, this line would prove true, as Alice is currently dreaming. next line
Bright and blue and shimmering. Well Professor Pudding pointed out that in the book the cheshire cat is blue, meaning that it could also just as easily be described as bright and shimmering
the rest is obvious enough, except for the three wild eyes bit.
Perhaps the simple fact that she sees the cat implies the third.

[Hogpile]

To the author: This was an interesting read, good job. I don't think I've heard that interpretation before.

To the people hoping that Third Eye "syncs up" with Alice in Wonderland: If it did, I would never listen to Tool again.

[people_do_like_me]

To the author: This was an interesting read, good job. I don't think I've heard that interpretation before.

To the people hoping that Third Eye "syncs up" with Alice in Wonderland: If it did, I would never listen to Tool again.

I'm not saying that Tool did this on purpose....
and I'm pretty sure you could do this with almost any album....
but it's interesting none the less.

[ArizonaBay]

Well the link with third eye and alice in wonderland is genius. I think your right.. as for the whole album syncing up to the movie lol a bit too far. But i like the Cheshire cat deal. So taking into account that poem is this song really about rediscovering childhood in order to open your third eye and not really about drugs at all... This explains the came out to watch you play thing.. wow im satisfied i understand this song now... till someone throws a completely different explanation at me anyway

[MentalSanityOff]

So taking into account that poem is this song really about rediscovering childhood in order to open your third eye and not really about drugs at all... This explains the came out to watch you play thing..
I wouldn't go so far as to say that drugs aren't in the picture at all, I still believe they're a very big part of the song, but a link back to childhood is definitely very possible. Could be another motif with Maynards lyrics...

Jimmy-
11 and she was gone, 11 is when we waved goodbye (probably talking about his age, as a child, he was known as Jimmy)

H.-
My blood before me makes me open up my heart again, it's been suggested the song concerns his son

Pushit-
Know that I will choke until I swallow, choke this infant here before me, what is this but my reflection? Who am I to judge who struck you down? Very likely a childhood link

and considering all 4 songs are on the same CD, it looks very likely that it's a good direction to look into for the song.

[1jet10]

I had noticed the wonder land reference in the 2nd verse but I hadn't considered anything else. I lobe the cat reference idea though. I think the "grinning wide and comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes" line means that the cat has already opened its third eye, possibly granting it its strange abilities. The word "comforting" seems strange though. Ether the eyes are hypnotizing him or they set a goal for him to reach. Aka, he could be comforted by the journey to get the eyes for himself. Is there any connection for the talking part in the middle? That has always been my favorite part.
Also I like your ideas on the life is but a dream part. I had always just thought it referee to the last line of row row row your boat...

[Sinlor]

I had noticed the wonder land reference in the 2nd verse but I hadn't considered anything else. I lobe the cat reference idea though. I think the "grinning wide and comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes" line means that the cat has already opened its third eye, possibly granting it its strange abilities. The word "comforting" seems strange though. Ether the eyes are hypnotizing him or they set a goal for him to reach. Aka, he could be comforted by the journey to get the eyes for himself. Is there any connection for the talking part in the middle? That has always been my favorite part.
Also I like your ideas on the life is but a dream part. I had always just thought it referee to the last line of row row row your boat...

Does the cat in Alice in Wonderland have a third eye..?

[LouieCK]

I always thought this song was about Bill Hicks tripping on acid. I've heard a lot of different theories on what the song is about but I like to think that Maynard and company aren't as obscure in their writing as some people give them credit for. The song starts with a few Bill Hicks samples and then I think Maynard is telling a story about Bill going down the rabbit hole. I do like the idea that the song is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, in fact it makes me think that maybe the band was going for a Bill in Wonderland approach to the song. Dog will hunt.

[I Feed On Life]

This blew my mind.