Does anyone really understand this video?

[Kostia]

Most of what I've read here is only about one segment or more of the video. But how does it all relate? I do NOT understand this one at ALL. That's why I don't enjoy it even as much as I do something like Sober. My favorite video is Prison Sex, probably because it's disturbing and understable, unified style. This video shifts style and theme about one... two... three... four times. All I get out of it is sort of the quest theme. Like an epic poem. It embodies several, several archetypes.

Anyone really get this video? If so, reply.

[Nirvana]

Every song of tool has a meaning... why not the video... if you try to figure it out yourself it will be much funner than to try to find a meaning about what others said...

Of course i can say what i think of parabola.. just how you described Prison Sex... Its easy... when you know the meaning...

Everyone looks at the video in a different way... Its how you pick up the song and the video in one time... try to see them connect togheter and not only by song...

when you watched it long enough... and really listen and understand the music... you will find a meaning...

PEACE!!!

[1 & 1 are 1 11]

Originally posted by Kostia
Most of what I've read here is only about one segment or more of the video. But how does it all relate? I do NOT understand this one at ALL. That's why I don't enjoy it even as much as I do something like Sober. My favorite video is Prison Sex, probably because it's disturbing and understable, unified style. This video shifts style and theme about one... two... three... four times. All I get out of it is sort of the quest theme. Like an epic poem. It embodies several, several archetypes.

Anyone really get this video? If so, reply.

Like it has always been said by tool and fans alike.. think for yourself.. but it is alot of fun discussing tool videos.. much like discussing artwork or a film.. I believe the overall video is broken down like this..

The Begining with the Characters:
Th begining was more puzzling to me than anything. It viewed just the begining about 50 times just to try and get a grasp on it. I dont remeber exactly how many persons there are.. I'm guessing seven right now.. maybe a reference to the aposoles.. I could be wrong though.. I believe it is a picture of unity.. Unity opening the door to inner reflection and life. There is symbolism all around that first scene... the bright red apple.. the star formations.. all symbols for life and existence.. I believe that when the door is created.. it is a metaphor for innner exploration..

The First Scene w/Tricky:
The boulder/tablet, I believe is a symbol for hardship and strife.. when tricky overcomes this hardship, in its breaking, he walks away.. The shot where he is looking out the window, is confusion.. he is searching for somthing... these scenes are also very dream like.. working with Tool's use of subconsious as a working feild of existence.. and if any one knows of dreams.. it is in the subconsious that most problems are usually conforted... anyway... He chooses to ignore his feelings.. in the form of the little clay character.. and when the "orb".. or realization of what he has choose to ignore comes.. and destroys his feelings.. he has a breakdown.. and begins to disect the feelings he had chose to ignore.. trying to see why he felt this way.. trying to bring the dead back to life.. in so many words..

The Forest:
An obvious symbol for comtemplation and self exploration.. Tricky here is searching for answers.. in the forest of his mind.. hehe.. The rest is pretty self explainatory.. The Alex Grey part.. Higher inlightenment.. Christ Consciousness even... Tricky travels through his parable.. and discovers the englightend side of him through hardship and self examination...

This is just my take on it.. I'm sure other people will disagree.. but I hope people will look at my take on it.. and let it sway their ideas just a little.. The quote at the begining of the opinion page by Maynard tells you just that.. I could be dead wrong in this.. but it is my opinion.. it is my take on the images and film..

Thanks for giving me another chance to write out my ideas.
Love and Light
C.

[somethingbetter]

^^ well, that was insightful and helpful-


thanks


btw- this by far is my favorite video...


and really, it is what it means to YOU, as the viewer, that is most important. Sometimes the feelings you get from watching/hearing something is all that matters.

[4th Eye]

I'm stuck in the apple/three suited guys -scene. Does anyone know what the different stars mean? I've read about it somewhere but can't remember what and where.

When those guys are floating and vomiting and creating the circle, it reminds me of holy trinity, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. And the circle means that they are one same thing. Don't know how it relates to rest of the video. Something about "holy reality, holy experience"??

And why is that one guy scratching his nose when the other one is cutting the apple???

[Nirvana]

try the ... video--->parabola--->6 point star... maybe you saw it there...

[floormatt]

I think you are right about the three men representing the holy trinity. Here is my interpretation of the video.

The three men represent the holy trinity. They cut open an apple (probably the fruit from the tree of life) and then there is a flame on the man's finger (perhaps representing how god created light from nothing) and then the man scratches his nose, which i'm pretty sure is insignificant, but we will never know the real motivation for showing it. The trinity purges itself, creating mankind. We see Tricky, representing the first man. There is also a tree (probably the tree of life) that appears to be growing upwards like a PARABOLA. There is a small man (i think he represents righteousness) who is killed by a big black orb, which either represents Death or mankind's sin. He dissects him, then walks out into the forest. Looking one way, he sees Death, and looking the other way he sees a golden leaf, which could be from the tree of Knowledge. it turrns into an eye and makes him either enlightened or eternal. Genesis talks about what would have happed had Adam and Eve been allowed to eat from the tree of Life after they had sinned and eaten from the tree of Knowledge. They would have lived forever in sin, which could be what happens at the end. Tricky becomes immortal and all-knowing, like God.

All of this somehow symbolizes the beginning of creation, perhaps not of our earth but of another that the trinity could have created. All of this is very appropriate since Parabol/Parabola is the beginning of the story when you listen to Lateralus in the 13-spiral pattern (look it up on the Lateralus forum if you dont know what I mean) anf the rest of the story is how the man must live eternally. It does make a good story.

Well, those are my thoughts on the parabola video.

[Justme]

one thing noone has mentioned:

That blue apples are specifically mentioned on gravestone that has the encrypted message near rennes le chateau:
...anyone know what the hell I'm talking about? hehe

[somethingbetter]

he's scratching his nose to show that while it is all very significant (life) at the same time, it isn't.. or perhaps a representation on how life's experiences, however trivial, can bring FEELING, or perhaps just showing how basiically, we are all just boogers itching God's nose? ;)

[floormatt]

i'm glad you brought up Rennes le Chateau because it is a fascinating story. Go to http://vincentbridges.com/rennes for more info on this.

[Melkari]

There seems to be four distinct parts in the video. The first part with the atom-type objects, the three men, the one man, and his enlightenment.

My fairly simple take on it, is that the first half deals with creation/ultimate decision making (sort of God types), and the second half is the lesser intelligence (humans) comprehending and becoming enlightened to the true reality of things.

Of course I'm sure that's flawed to hell and isn't very detailed, but that's just how I've thought of it.

[Edman]

Does anyone know what those frams are at the beginning?

[GregoryWohlwend]

i relate this video to tripping just as i do the entire lateralus album.

in the beginning we have matter or atoms seen close up in chet zars point of view. (the guy who created what you are seeing in the beginning) anyways you pan back and the atoms start to multiply and grow less detailed until they loosely resemble a room with a table. then the next seen is of that same room with that table. so now we are in the material world, instead of innerspace. the three guys are a few men getting together to perform some sort of rite. they do so in their triple form perfectly. (the nose scratch is just there, i don'tread into it, sometimes you have to scratch your nose) this rite is created by some sort of outside ominicient force (the three business men) so this happens, they cut the apple and puke. after they puke the circle pulls onto itself and basically the world which tricky will live in is being created

after it is created tricky arrives and is experiencing things etc. the little dude with him represents friendship. (isn't that tree sculpture thing amazing?!) anyways.. tricky and friends are in the room isolated from the natural. he seems dramatic because he is learning, as he learns more he begins to understand his environment. now he does some drugs and becomes further aware of the pattern of life. (pineal glands expanding) the orbs come out to play because emotions run high on psychadelics. what once was a single ball is now many for they have multiplied. his innocent friend is crushed by this orb which was created by himself. see tripping is a spectrum of feelings (inside = hell, outside = heaven) i use heaven and hell for lack of a better word. tricky is inside and he can't deal with it.

so then he walks outside. this is where heaven starts. he begins to walk among the natural while the memory of what was done previous lurks in the shadows. he sees a leaf, representing the peaceful nature of nature. picks it up and connects to it. this is where alex grey comes in with his genius. here tricky comes full circle with his energy, what once was simply matter, then came into being the tri-force of business men, then into man, then higher man, and now man returns to energy through a realisation found in nature. hence the energy matrix at the end.

i seem to find a lot of infinite circles in interpretaitions recently. i like things which have a cycle, they seem the most logical. perhaps this is why i interpret this video this way, and perhaps i'll have a different point of view some time later in my life, furthermore, this is not to say these are the ideas i get WHEN i'm actually watching the video, most of the time my ideas are loosely if at all related to the subject at hand, including the music as well. i find these experiences much more enjoyable than any sort of concrete interpretation that makes sense. my interpretation doesn't utilize much knowledge but i don't like to attach alot of symbolism to things due to the ambiguity of the imagery.

anyways that's how i look at this one

[Peeete]

m'kay who is this alex gray character?
and is tricky that english trip-hop guy

enlighten me...

peace

[[anath]]

yup, tricky is an englishman in california
you can recognize him by hash blunt in his mouth all the time

the alex grey character is YOU, my friend
dont ask why, it's just like that

peace :)---
[a]

[Peeete]

Originally posted by [anath]
the alex grey character is YOU, my friend
dont ask why, it's just like that

that made my brain hurt...

[Shpongleyes]

to be more specific, alex grey is actually the artist who painted all of the lateralus leaf artwork and some of the animation in the parabol/a video. (namely the last part)

his artwork can also be seen as backdrops at Tool's live shows...

anyway check out www.alexgrey.com for more info and more artwork.

it is truly a sight to behold. i own his book Transfigurations, and i have made a point to NOT read the descriptions untili think i understand the feeling. and THEN i will go back and read what he has to say. just to see how different two people can interpret the same thing.

oh, and sorry for the somewhat off-topic post....
~Matt

[random_1]

merkaba is all over this video.

thats what that star is the sign for, unless u didnt know.
also the insite power that fills him at the end.
notice the blue light comming off him.
when u try to reach merkbata its said blue light sournds you.

http://www.merkaba.net/ notice when the flame eyes enter his inner body a flower opens. merkaba is the flower of life.
that symbol that appears mean some thing else, i read around this webpage, some thing like. were are all one.

"The Flower of Life teachings illustrate for the left-brain analytical part of us that there is only one consciousness and one God and we are all part of that oneness."

"Our hope is that those of you who wish to rediscover more will find the experience fulfilling in your life. "

as i found with the lyrics of the song, its talking about exploration and discoving your self. and life in general.

maby i hit the head on the nail. merkaba is the key.
also there is a song called merkaba on salival.

rediscover communitcation
see at the end of the film clip his body joins all the eye's in a web. all thoughs eye's are us " one consciousness and one God and we are all part of that oneness."

it allfits can any one else see it. maby i should try merkaba
look at alex greys other art work the one called "dieing"

the spirt leave the body from the third eye and joins all the other eyes around him. just like in the film clip. trippy stuff

[random_1]

and i notced when the 2 flames stop to open flower.
one is sorta pink eye, on is blue
cleary thats female and male. ummmm.
and the end is pretty much the saying
from third eye

all matter is mearly energy condensed to a slow moving vibration
and the guys spewing formed the merkaba start/flower.
but i dont get the apple or the guys.
i can only see the merkaba relation and how we all connect.
surely the best vid they have made

try reach merkaba and all answer's will be told

[EuphoricBlue]

Well seeing as how parable mean to say something and mean 2 things (like Jesus did) at the same time. So what that means is this video means 2 things. This is my interpretation. I think the Alex Grey part shows both meanings because the art he uses was a vision he had while trippin with his wife....this video means just that.

God~Psychedelic/Love~God

Don't believe me let's see what Alex Grey said when someone asked him that on his forums.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hey Friends,

I just wanted a plant to "initiate" the protagonist of the video. Igniting Sacred Plants have initiated millions of people into the higher mysteries..."

Well spoken.....plants to initiate god and union of polarities.
Hope this helps with the discussion!!!!!!!!


Blue

[Sheepish]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but in one scene when there is a shot of Tricky's back, there is a pattern of dimples in the shape of what looks like a mushroom (although, someone mentioned that it looks like a wrench).
Everytime I hear the line "recognise this as a holy gift" I think of it as referring to mushrooms/pyschedelics. As you would know, mushrooms are considered a sacred food of the Gods by some tribes (Aztecs, I think). I just think it may tie in with the whole video somehow - the whole journey of enlightment message towards the end of the video.

Ideas? Comebacks?

[supersonic2006]

It's hard to really understand this video.

I doubt anybody really knows what it ALL means. Hell, some of it might have just "looked cool."

I see the beginning with the floating spiky circles as matter, or particles or energy or some sort of opposite-reality-dimension-behind-the-scenes-of-everything sort of deal, which then of course we see again as the table, shrine, altar, thing.

The first businessman seems to be here to propose an idea or give a demonstration, the other two are like audience members (which somewhat explains the nose scratching, at least to me) he brings out the knife, this, like, very special knife. I don't know what's so special about the knife, i have knives too, but i don't wrap them in purple cloth and put them in a special bag. anyway, it seems then that the apple is created by the demonstrator, and then he cuts it and shows them what power it has or something with the stars, and then they puke, (i don' t really have a theory on that)

then the whole circle, kind of like a doorway or something, and then you see another star, which is just cool.

the giant swinging weight makes me think of some sort of machine or something, and from this machine comes the little dude with the pulsating face, and then a bunch of stuff with the pushing that like rock,and it brakes, and i don't really understand that, but, whatever.

then you see this tree sort of thing, which is like life, or possible decisions that a person makes in their life.

the man puts his head on this table or something and then it splits to these spiraling things..... i don't know what that is, perhaps meditation or prayer or something?

he seems to be aware of the small pulsating-face-guy, but is too preoccupied with himself and his own thoughts, much as society as a whole is too busy to really pay attention to what's important. He starts the globe spinning, and this shows something of a bad decision or a wrong turn in life. this eventually grows and ends up in the death of his little friend.

Much as we do, the man only pays attention to his friend when it is already too late, he curses the bad thing and studies his little friend (perhaps correlating to a person's reflection on the life of a dead friend)

After this he decides to take a walk in the woods, to think or something, to get away from it all, but the bad decision still haunts him.

There he finds the leaf and from there I have no idea but it is really freaking cool.

[evil olive]

watch the end of the video then listen to the beginning of 3rd eye after the reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal fucking high part. to me these 2 things seem to describe eachother. any one else think so?

[SilverGrudge]

On danneycarey's site it talks about how back then they used a Stargate to send people (like jesus) to a different
dimension [heaven].



In order to 'safley' make the journey to the other dimension, the people had to wear a purple rope and a crown of some sort.

And i think that the knife which is inside the purple piece of cloth is like a key of some sort
opening up the next dimension where tricky is...

[SilverGrudge]

Sorry for the double post =)



When the apple is first cut open theirs a 5 pointed star, then a 6 pointed star and finally a 7 pointed star. Those are the numbers given to Man, God, Satan. So i think that the one cutting open the apple represents God, the one with the flame on his finger represents Satan (fire duh) and the one scratching his nose is Man (why would god or satan need to scratch their nose?)


But that's what i think....the Holy Trinity is a good theory also..

[mongoose]

I think that SilverGrudge's post is verrry interesting. It shows that some people can analyze a lot better than I can :). I was just wondering if anyone had noticed that pretty much EVERYTHING in the video is symmetrical (The apple, the knife, the tree of life, the forest, the leaf, the big bashing stone tricky uses, pretty much any object), like a parabola is perfectly symmetrical. If it's been previously mentioned I'm sorry for saying it again. I'm wondering if this somehow hints a double meaning or something. Or probably something much deeper than that. Also, a parobola goes on into eternity, but the points of it become farther and farther apart. Possibly spirit and body/mortality growing farther apart? I don't know. I just thought the symmetry was really cool in the video and i've been trying to figure out what it means.

--Mongoose

[Roona-Spism]

isn't the scratching of the nose just go with the whole business thing? Like the whole procedure isn't as important to them as it is too us. The first guy dusts himself off which is like self cleanliness, you know an everyday thing like scrathing the nose and going to work. Also are these guys like the guy off the EAnema film clip or is that something different?

[Voldemort]

I agree with that last comment, the entire opening seems to suggest a dis-connected casual attitude from the figures. They are merely creating the world as part of their routine existence.

Mankind (represented by Tricky) must then strive to attain self-enlightenment, move onto the Christ Conciousness grid and evolve. As one theme of the album seems to be acceptance and casting away differences to "rediscover communication" a link to this transcendant evolution (46+2) through love and an open mind is highly probable.

The Alex Grey segment (to me anyway) seems like a beautiful rendering of the evolution, with the flame floating into the pineal gland and the grimy physical world of struggle and strife fading into the particles from whence it came...

[debaser]

Does everything Tool does have to be about drugs? I smoke pot all the time but have never taken a psychadelic in my life. Oh wait, I can't enjoy it as much as you because of that. If this is about drugs, then Tool's lyrics/music/videos won't mean jackshit in 25 years. You think Zeppelin and Sabbath lyrics mean jackshit now? Noooooo.........

[PRNinja23]

I have a couple ideas on different scenes of this video:

First scene/Apple - They are trying that forbidden fruit, which for myself was drugs. After they cut the apple, their feet come off the floor (getting "high"). From their mouth pours shit - the lies that we tell ourselves - and then it goes around in a circle, which represents the cycle of lies that feet each other. This is just a shot in the dark, but I see the fire as meaning "getting lit".

Glowing orb - This represents the beginning of "this body", when his, your, and my life began as a single cell. The cell splits and then there are more and it increases throughout the video.

Cutting the clay figure in half - he's looking for the answer of what makes "this body" live. Turns out it's just a mound of flesh, so there must be something more...

Forest - I see this as representing nature - and when he looks at the leaf he sees that he's part of this whole divine project we call life. The Third Eye appears from the fire, which travels through his body, stopping briefly at his heart for a quick glance. Then it goes up to the center of his forhead, and he sees the essence of his existence through the Third Eye. The light patterns represent how all of our existences are intertwined in a huge web. (Read lyrics of "Reflection" - "We are all one mind.")

[NiMRoD420]

okay okay -- why the hell does he slice his little face-popping buddie's corpse in two? and does anyone else see the forest scene as sort of coming out into the larger nature or the universe and seeing it for what it is? the leaf bursting into the flaming eyes would sort of support that...

[Absent]

The beginning has me a bit confused because some friends and I are disagreeing on it... Some of us believe it could represent Christ, the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother ( taken from Gnostic texts ) and others believe it represents the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ( The western religion, believed to be corrupted by the church according to Gnostic teachings ) or even God, Man and Satan. It's a blank spot but the rest of the theme seems to lean toward Gnostic beliefs so I believe the 1st one. The Alex Grey artwork at the end seems to come from the Christian Gnostics ( to do with the whole Shakra points of the human body and a spiritual awakening ) If you take note flowers open at each of the shakra points of the human body as the eyes pass circles around them at the end of the video. The 6th point is the eye that opens on the forhead and the 7th is the crown that he wears, he has a spiritual experience in understanding himself that makes him more aware and reaches a higher state of being. The Gnostics teach that you become closer to the Heavenly Father when you are blessed by the Earthly Mother ( a rebirth of the soul, the 'rebirth' comes from a womanly force obviously... ). When you experience this rebirth it's like a "wave" of energy overcoming you, and connects the self with the spirit. This makes you more aware of what makes you who you are and understanding yourself. You experience Kundalini ( Meaning "coiling" like a snake, from the base of your spine ) as the divine femine spirit passes through your body. We ( my friends and I ) seem to think the Lateralus album is supposed to be the musical "rebirth" in a sense. If you understand their album and you too can achieve a higher state of being because the album goes into the layers until the end with "Faaip de Oiad" in the lowest level that we are unaware of ( after the long pause at the end of "Triad"... almost like a "hidden track" where you are unaware of a spiritual connection to any higher power, but it is there ). Much like a spiritual awakening explained in Gnostic texts it is through understanding the self that you better yourself. If the album is about discovering the layers of human existance then understanding the album is understanding yourself. The middle has me a bit confused, I'm still working on it.

I know it's a long post, sorry for that, but seeing as how this is my 1st post on here too.. Hi...
Go ahead and disect this any way you want to...

[Atratus]

Nobody's seemed to mention this yet, but notice at the beginning of the video a sort panel is overlaid unto the screen, making for a screen within the tv screen. The grey metallic edges. They disappear when Tricky let's go of the leaf into the air.

[Reaver]

I have'nt seen the Parabol/a video in a long time but if you don't mind I would like to make an interpitation of a part of the video that most people seem to neglect, if I remember correctly the video starts off with atom/sub-atomic/atom-like objects.
In the end of the video when the man reaches ascension, he explodes and then once again, the atom-like objects are shown, I may remember wrong, but I think that this could be played in a loop and mean that no matter the level of ascension, the person is still bound by the same atomic structure, I'm probably wrong, maybe this is a video that is suppsosed to mean whatever you want it to mean, maybe Tool just made this video simply to provoke thought among us, maybe I'm wrong (I probably am) but still.. This is just my opinion, take it for whats it's worth....

[Talonwulf]

Thats like the dumbest question ive ever heard. Not because its easy to figure out whats going on, but because its an arid and pointless question. The song is looooong and changeds theme yes, but i believe [as do a lot of people, and i also reckon Tool wants us to] that its all about what we think ourselves. You can't look at something and always get it right, but you can make your own judgement that suits you. Usually these judgements end up being something that appeals to you, because your mind seeks out experiences you've had to compare. But whatever. Theres nothing wrong with not having a clue. I dont see this video as a lot of other people do, and i dont want to. I want to see it through MY own eyes.

[BlooReflection696]

Parable - A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Cmon guys, its that simple, I got that straight from www.dictionary.com, though I guess I can't really say that speaks for the video(or does it?) but it certainly does for the music.

[neochrist]

Parable - A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Cmon guys, its that simple, I got that straight from www.dictionary.com, though I guess I can't really say that speaks for the video(or does it?) but it certainly does for the music.

generally i dont discuss this shit anymore, but since you think you have it all figured out im going to burst your bubble, yes thats half the story, now go back to your beloved dictionary.com and look up parabola, then look at a parabola, ponder the connection and come back enlightened.

[thirdseason17]

hahahaha neochrist is banned.



anyways. i like the ideas so far. keep them coming.

[VashTheStampede]

i dont think the nose scratching part is insignificant at all...maybe it is showing that these guys are human also?