clavian
08-31-2004, 04:59 PM
Like many TOOL songs, "Eulogy" suggests many things to many different
people. To the casual listener (is any TOOL fan actually a casual
listener?), the song appears to have a deep seeded disdain for Jesus.
Although never directly mentioned in the song, several lines lead people to
believe that it is referencing him. However, as I'll point out, I don't
think the song has anything to do with the "true" Jesus. Consider this:
Regardless of your thoughts on Jesus, Christianity, or religion in general,
you will likely have respect for the ethos that Jesus represents. Toss out
all your opinions of modern religion and consider what Jesus stood for
(whether you believe the man actually existed or not): Love, in the purest
sense of the word, and standing up for what you believe is right. To
decry Jesus, or what he represents, would be akin to making fun of somebody
for wearing a seatbelt in a car that is travelling on a highway. In other
words, it would make absolutely no sense. Unfortunately, Jesus has been the
object of misunderstanding throughout time because of how people apply his
teachings to their lives through religion. Consider what John Lennon said.
He stated that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. It offended
Christians the world over, but the irony of the whole thing was that Jesus
never was popular, and never will be. We all know that Maynard is a very
astute observer of the human condition, so I think that a song simply
decrying Jesus as a fake would simply be below him. Instead I assume the
song speaks of someone who he knew well, or perhaps not, that had a "Jesus
Complex".
In a general sense the song is likley partially a critique on the modern
structure of religion; the oft referenced, much maligned "middle-man"
concept. Unfortunately, the middle-man concept is relied upon to distribute
the good news to the masses, and as we all know, it can easily become
corrupted in the process. Remember that game you played in grade school
called "telephone" where you sat in a circle and whispered something into
someones ear and they in turn whispered it to the next person until it
returned to the person who orignally spoke it? The word or phrase never
made it to the end the same as it began. Sometimes this was because it was
simply misunderstood somewhere along the line, but other times it was
because someone delibelrately changed it because they could, knowing full
well that it could never be traced back to them. Turns out this wasn't just
a game, it was also a lesson. You must seperate true faith from religion to
understand this. Faith is far less restrictive and dogmatic. However, in
many cases, the middle-man is a neccesary evil to achieve the ultimate goal.
After all, would you want to drive all the way to Flint, Michigan to buy a
new car from the Ford factory? Not likely. Your local dealership is much
more convenient, and therefore you acknowledge the middle-man concept as
useful, although you may not like it. I'm getting a bit off track
here...the point is that I don't see Maynard bashing Jesus or what he stood
for, because it does not make a bit of sense. Bashing religion? Sure.
Second, the person that is the subject of this song (as has often been
discussed on this board) has very little in common with the common
understanding of Jesus:
"Waving and pointing his finger at everything but his heart..." implies (to
me, anyway) a much more angry person and someone that had more of a desire
to dictate than teach. Jesus was full of compassion and understanding. His
only moment of anger that I recall right off hand is when he threw merchants
from the steps of a church for loitering in a holy area.
"Not all martyrs see divinity..." implies quite obviously, that somewhere
along the line, a martyr did achieve divinity. One would naturally assume
this was Jesus, as his story is commonly taught. I am not schooled in the
world's various religions, but I don't recall any other martyrs that
achieved divinity. Once again, this points to the subject of the song
having the aforementioned "Jesus Complex", and not actually being Jesus.
Also the line that concludes the song "To ascend you must die. You must be
crucified." appears to draw upon what happened to Jesus. It's almost as if
Maynard is saying "OK, so you think your the next Jesus? To be like him you
must die. Good riddance!" The song draws on many comparisons to Jesus,
which leads me to believe that there is no way the song is about him.
Many other things have been pointed out in previous posts, like the fact
that the Bible documents Jesus' fear of death which contradicts the song a
bit, but I think a strong case has already been made.
So there you have it. My opinion in a not-so-nutshell. It is probably
worth mentioning that I am a Christian. In my experience, while I have
found the majority of Tool fans to be very smart and likeable
people(obviously I am a Tool fan myself), I have also observed that most of
them have either a negative or indifferent attitude towards "religion"(I do
too, but I'm not going to elaborate any more than I already did on the
differences between religion and faith). I do find it strange then, that
many of the posts on this board go to great lengths to point out that the
song is not about Jesus, when I assume that the average TOOL fan would have
no problem with an anti-Jesus song. Maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps its more
comfortable for Eulogy to not be about Jesus, regardless of what we think of
his teachings.
Cheers to all.
people. To the casual listener (is any TOOL fan actually a casual
listener?), the song appears to have a deep seeded disdain for Jesus.
Although never directly mentioned in the song, several lines lead people to
believe that it is referencing him. However, as I'll point out, I don't
think the song has anything to do with the "true" Jesus. Consider this:
Regardless of your thoughts on Jesus, Christianity, or religion in general,
you will likely have respect for the ethos that Jesus represents. Toss out
all your opinions of modern religion and consider what Jesus stood for
(whether you believe the man actually existed or not): Love, in the purest
sense of the word, and standing up for what you believe is right. To
decry Jesus, or what he represents, would be akin to making fun of somebody
for wearing a seatbelt in a car that is travelling on a highway. In other
words, it would make absolutely no sense. Unfortunately, Jesus has been the
object of misunderstanding throughout time because of how people apply his
teachings to their lives through religion. Consider what John Lennon said.
He stated that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. It offended
Christians the world over, but the irony of the whole thing was that Jesus
never was popular, and never will be. We all know that Maynard is a very
astute observer of the human condition, so I think that a song simply
decrying Jesus as a fake would simply be below him. Instead I assume the
song speaks of someone who he knew well, or perhaps not, that had a "Jesus
Complex".
In a general sense the song is likley partially a critique on the modern
structure of religion; the oft referenced, much maligned "middle-man"
concept. Unfortunately, the middle-man concept is relied upon to distribute
the good news to the masses, and as we all know, it can easily become
corrupted in the process. Remember that game you played in grade school
called "telephone" where you sat in a circle and whispered something into
someones ear and they in turn whispered it to the next person until it
returned to the person who orignally spoke it? The word or phrase never
made it to the end the same as it began. Sometimes this was because it was
simply misunderstood somewhere along the line, but other times it was
because someone delibelrately changed it because they could, knowing full
well that it could never be traced back to them. Turns out this wasn't just
a game, it was also a lesson. You must seperate true faith from religion to
understand this. Faith is far less restrictive and dogmatic. However, in
many cases, the middle-man is a neccesary evil to achieve the ultimate goal.
After all, would you want to drive all the way to Flint, Michigan to buy a
new car from the Ford factory? Not likely. Your local dealership is much
more convenient, and therefore you acknowledge the middle-man concept as
useful, although you may not like it. I'm getting a bit off track
here...the point is that I don't see Maynard bashing Jesus or what he stood
for, because it does not make a bit of sense. Bashing religion? Sure.
Second, the person that is the subject of this song (as has often been
discussed on this board) has very little in common with the common
understanding of Jesus:
"Waving and pointing his finger at everything but his heart..." implies (to
me, anyway) a much more angry person and someone that had more of a desire
to dictate than teach. Jesus was full of compassion and understanding. His
only moment of anger that I recall right off hand is when he threw merchants
from the steps of a church for loitering in a holy area.
"Not all martyrs see divinity..." implies quite obviously, that somewhere
along the line, a martyr did achieve divinity. One would naturally assume
this was Jesus, as his story is commonly taught. I am not schooled in the
world's various religions, but I don't recall any other martyrs that
achieved divinity. Once again, this points to the subject of the song
having the aforementioned "Jesus Complex", and not actually being Jesus.
Also the line that concludes the song "To ascend you must die. You must be
crucified." appears to draw upon what happened to Jesus. It's almost as if
Maynard is saying "OK, so you think your the next Jesus? To be like him you
must die. Good riddance!" The song draws on many comparisons to Jesus,
which leads me to believe that there is no way the song is about him.
Many other things have been pointed out in previous posts, like the fact
that the Bible documents Jesus' fear of death which contradicts the song a
bit, but I think a strong case has already been made.
So there you have it. My opinion in a not-so-nutshell. It is probably
worth mentioning that I am a Christian. In my experience, while I have
found the majority of Tool fans to be very smart and likeable
people(obviously I am a Tool fan myself), I have also observed that most of
them have either a negative or indifferent attitude towards "religion"(I do
too, but I'm not going to elaborate any more than I already did on the
differences between religion and faith). I do find it strange then, that
many of the posts on this board go to great lengths to point out that the
song is not about Jesus, when I assume that the average TOOL fan would have
no problem with an anti-Jesus song. Maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps its more
comfortable for Eulogy to not be about Jesus, regardless of what we think of
his teachings.
Cheers to all.