Lateralus explained in one paragraph

[Slave#1]

"Over thinking, Over analizing seperates the body from the mind, withering my intuition leaving opportunity behind." Take a look at that...you can CLEARY see that maynard is telling you to NOT over analize shit...don't think about stuff so much...and just listen to the song. I meen, he says "Over analizing...leaving opportunity behind." If you don't understand that....somethings wrong with you, +p

Thanks

[one with nature]

overanalyzing and over analyzing have completely different meanings buddy. what he sais is that if you think and analyze, your mind and body will separate, which withers your intuition. the song implies that intuition is a good thing. leaving oportunities behind means that you must leave oportunities behind in order to follow your will. in other words, strengthen your will to do something and understand that by doing something, you will always leave something else behind. you can't do everything at once. so strengthen your will to do something and do it, and go where no one's been.

i get what you are saying, but im almost 100% sure the song does not mean that.

[benjamin]

!!!My new favorite thread!!!

...as if you cared, peace.

[]v[edusa]

my thought:

"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind."

Descartes did a lot of analysis on the mind. he found out that the body and the mind are seperate. "Descartes argues, the mind, a thinking thing, can exist apart from its extended body. And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought."... so maybe by analysis we will find that the body is seperate from the mind.

"Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines"

it has been thought that we shouldnt always trust our gut. maybe hes starting to rely less on instinct and more on reason and analysis. "drawing way outside the lines" sounds like hes examining things into detail (or analyzing) to feed his will so he can keep this moment going. maybe when he says "missing opportunities" he could care less what kind of opportunties he could have because spirituality, human evolution, and understanding more of himself and the universe are more important to him.

[Terry21]

overanalyzing and over analyzing have completely different meanings buddy. what he sais is that if you think and analyze, your mind and body will separate, which withers your intuition. the song implies that intuition is a good thing. leaving oportunities behind means that you must leave oportunities behind in order to follow your will. in other words, strengthen your will to do something and understand that by doing something, you will always leave something else behind. you can't do everything at once. so strengthen your will to do something and do it, and go where no one's been.

i get what you are saying, but im almost 100% sure the song does not mean that.

So how do you know he is not saying "overanalyzing" in the song?












;P

[]v[edusa]

i said descartes in my post. i should have said that plato originated the idea that the mind is seperate from the body. this is called dualism by the way.

[the midas touch]

my thought:

"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind."

Descartes did a lot of analysis on the mind. he found out that the body and the mind are seperate. "Descartes argues, the mind, a thinking thing, can exist apart from its extended body. And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought."... so maybe by analysis we will find that the body is seperate from the mind.
The only time in my life I've ever used a psychedelic, this was the most profound thing I felt--the separation of the body from the mind.

[]v[edusa]

The only time in my life I've ever used a psychedelic, this was the most profound thing I felt--the separation of the body from the mind.

awww thats cheating.

[McButterpants]

i said descartes in my post. i should have said that plato originated the idea that the mind is seperate from the body. this is called dualism by the way.

Dualism is balls and not Tool-esque. Descartes sucks ass, and Plato was a bell-end.

Also, I think that 'leaving opportunities behind' comes from over thinking and over analysing since they 'wither intutition' - which is what we use to respond naturally - the thought and analysis prevent us from responding naturally and mean that we miss opportunities.

Furthermore, this thread is not contradictory - the line is 'OVER-thinking and OVER-analysing' i.e. at the sacrifice of something else - at the moment, I am not sacrificing anything, apart from sleep, to write this. That one can over-think or over-analyse does not mean one shouldn't think or analyse at all. Oh no. It's just that understanding doesn't always come from the intellect. One can understand through seeing, touching or smelling, or any other way of perceiving something.

[DON IOTAE]

"Over thinking, Over analizing seperates the body from the mind, withering my intuition leaving opportunity behind." Take a look at that...you can CLEARY see that maynard is telling you to NOT over analize shit...don't think about stuff so much...and just listen to the song. I meen, he says "Over analizing...leaving opportunity behind." If you don't understand that....somethings wrong with you, +p

Thanks

I got it.

[tomisatool]

my thought:

"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind."

Descartes did a lot of analysis on the mind. he found out that the body and the mind are seperate. "Descartes argues, the mind, a thinking thing, can exist apart from its extended body. And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought."... so maybe by analysis we will find that the body is seperate from the mind.

"Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines"

it has been thought that we shouldnt always trust our gut. maybe hes starting to rely less on instinct and more on reason and analysis. "drawing way outside the lines" sounds like hes examining things into detail (or analyzing) to feed his will so he can keep this moment going. maybe when he says "missing opportunities" he could care less what kind of opportunties he could have because spirituality, human evolution, and understanding more of himself and the universe are more important to him.

This lines up with the reoccurring concept of evolution in Lateralus. For the first time, we're deciding to follow our mind, not out instincts.

"Following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been."
Using this deeper thought and intuition we can find a way to go where no one's been.

[]v[edusa]

Dualism is balls and not Tool-esque.

are you sure about that?

"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."

parabola has mind/body dualism all over it. I strongly feel this line is about his body, which is mortal, which is holding his spirit, which is eternal.

i just want to point out someone in the past that did overanalyze to the point where he started to really understand life and himself. This person is Leonardo Fibonacci. This guy used to wander in wooded forests picking up leaves, analyzing them, and finding patterns of the fibonacci sequence in them. Then he would meditate. Does that scene sound familiar to you? Check out the parabola video...

If it werent for fibonacci over analyzing leaves then our mathemathics today may have been really behind. I dont know about anyone here but I would have never have pointed out on my own that the fibonacci sequence is in Lateralus. I would have never thought of looking for a pattern like that in this song. That takes analysis. Why stick all this and deep lyrics into music and then say, "oh and by the way analyzing will cause you to lose your mind"

I dont know maybe he was talking about how it could cause you to lose your mind but remember, he said "separates the body from the mind". {sigh} how can i say this? realizing that your body is seperate from the mind does not cause you to lose your mind. hes not talking about seperating his mind into pieces. the mind is still whole in this line its just not part of the body. as he said in parabola, the body is mortal, but the spirit/mind is forever.

"this body holding me"...... please tell me what hes holding if hes not holding his spirit.

You dont just sing songs about 46 and 2, put the chakra system in a music video, or sing about turning lead into gold and not be a mind/body dualist.

EDIT: How could I forget the Rose Cross in the 10000 days booklet? this is a symbol from the golden dawn. The Golden Dawn revolved around Neoplatoism and has a lot to do with mind/body dualism.

[Kaienne]

Psychadelics aren't cheating!
Laturalus always reminds me of my experiences with psychadelics, especially DMT. Everything was made of fractals and spirals. There was a rushing sensation where I felt like I was reaching up and reaching out and reaching for the random more; there was more of it, lots more, and from down here it looked pretty random. Also, the line about feeling it move across my skin; that was definitely something I experienced on DMT. It was like I was suddenly acutely aware of every molecule in my body.
My experiences with mushrooms are also congruent with this song- riding the spiral to the end, we may just go where no one's been. Laturalus is actually my favorite song to listen to on psychadelics; it does amazing things for me.

As far as the over-thinking theory goes, it sounds like it's a cationary tale against lateral thinking, where one does not advance but stays on the same level, ne?

[Inner_Eulogy]

are you sure about that?

"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."

parabola has mind/body dualism all over it. I strongly feel this line is about his body, which is mortal, which is holding his spirit, which is eternal.

i just want to point out someone in the past that did overanalyze to the point where he started to really understand life and himself. This person is Leonardo Fibonacci. This guy used to wander in wooded forests picking up leaves, analyzing them, and finding patterns of the fibonacci sequence in them. Then he would meditate. Does that scene sound familiar to you? Check out the parabola video...

If it werent for fibonacci over analyzing leaves then our mathemathics today may have been really behind. I dont know about anyone here but I would have never have pointed out on my own that the fibonacci sequence is in Lateralus. I would have never thought of looking for a pattern like that in this song. That takes analysis. Why stick all this and deep lyrics into music and then say, "oh and by the way analyzing will cause you to lose your mind"

I dont know maybe he was talking about how it could cause you to lose your mind but remember, he said "separates the body from the mind". {sigh} how can i say this? realizing that your body is seperate from the mind does not cause you to lose your mind. hes not talking about seperating his mind into pieces. the mind is still whole in this line its just not part of the body. as he said in parabola, the body is mortal, but the spirit/mind is forever.

"this body holding me"...... please tell me what hes holding if hes not holding his spirit.

You dont just sing songs about 46 and 2, put the chakra system in a music video, or sing about turning lead into gold and not be a mind/body dualist.

EDIT: How could I forget the Rose Cross in the 10000 days booklet? this is a symbol from the golden dawn. The Golden Dawn revolved around Neoplatoism and has a lot to do with mind/body dualism.

Very well said, I concur with this. It get's my official stamp of approval. ;-)

[Inner_Eulogy]

Psychadelics aren't cheating!
Laturalus always reminds me of my experiences with psychadelics, especially DMT. Everything was made of fractals and spirals. There was a rushing sensation where I felt like I was reaching up and reaching out and reaching for the random more; there was more of it, lots more, and from down here it looked pretty random. Also, the line about feeling it move across my skin; that was definitely something I experienced on DMT. It was like I was suddenly acutely aware of every molecule in my body.
My experiences with mushrooms are also congruent with this song- riding the spiral to the end, we may just go where no one's been. Laturalus is actually my favorite song to listen to on psychadelics; it does amazing things for me.

As far as the over-thinking theory goes, it sounds like it's a cationary tale against lateral thinking, where one does not advance but stays on the same level, ne?

This I don't agree with, I don't think this songs intention had anything to do with drugs whatsoever.

[prater]

being so specific to drugs would limit the audience to the drug users only. *** the key point to the song comes here:
"I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow, to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human..."

Its the common Maynard conflict between thinking and feeling, he continually uses the word feel, and is describing the beauty of life that many fail to notice. and here:

"With my feet upon the ground I lose myself between the sounds and open wide to suck it in, I feel it move across my skin. I'm reaching up and reaching out,
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been."

Its about learning and knowledge, discovery and creativity. So feel, think, create, discover etc. all have been indicated, so I think its very similiar to parabola in paying homage to this great gift we have to be alive, with the brain capacity to learn, create, and feel and urging it to be noticed appreciated much the same as in parabola.

once again thats just my opinion, personally I get chills and teary eyes when I listen to it, its therapy for me when I lose sight of whats important, I just remind myself reach for the "random or whatever will bewilder me" and to always thirst for more knowledge so that I "may just go where no ones been." Forward thinking. Not just sitting on your ass drinking beer watching american idol night after night losing brain cells. This is an amazing world we have here and an amazing opportunity we have been given to explore and learn from everything around us.
Thats what I get from it, everyone takes something different, I just hope you use it to do something positive.

[Inner_Eulogy]

being so specific to drugs would limit the audience to the drug users only. *** the key point to the song comes here:
"I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow, to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human..."

Its the common Maynard conflict between thinking and feeling, he continually uses the word feel, and is describing the beauty of life that many fail to notice. and here:

"With my feet upon the ground I lose myself between the sounds and open wide to suck it in, I feel it move across my skin. I'm reaching up and reaching out,
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been."

Its about learning and knowledge, discovery and creativity. So feel, think, create, discover etc. all have been indicated, so I think its very similiar to parabola in paying homage to this great gift we have to be alive, with the brain capacity to learn, create, and feel and urging it to be noticed appreciated much the same as in parabola.

once again thats just my opinion, personally I get chills and teary eyes when I listen to it, its therapy for me when I lose sight of whats important, I just remind myself reach for the "random or whatever will bewilder me" and to always thirst for more knowledge so that I "may just go where no ones been." Forward thinking. Not just sitting on your ass drinking beer watching american idol night after night losing brain cells. This is an amazing world we have here and an amazing opportunity we have been given to explore and learn from everything around us.
Thats what I get from it, everyone takes something different, I just hope you use it to do something positive.

EXACTLY

[cocoon]

Beautiful! We are talking about rolling with the ebb and flow. Over thinking and over analyzing everything will lead to one's demise. We need to live in the moment, celebrate...he is urging us not to forget to enjoy the moment, the random and all this realm has to offer - and to enjoy it in it's fullest level - to step aside from the rat race and weep at the beauty of it all - just to really feel....since we are here on this plane of existence to feel to the deepest depths that we can and even attmpt to fathom it....and once we fathom it....we understand that our souls are like tiny raindrops in a vast ocean...and yet balancing the fact that we can learn and understand this and live it with the fact that we are mere humans...Ithink I am at the point where if I have to expalin you would not understand I think these lyrics resonate with you or they elude you...either way FOLLOW YOUR BLISS....ride the spiral

[Dez4eya]

Has anyone read the toolbook of interpretations?
It puts Lateralus, Disposition, and Reflection together with a great interpretation on where Tool was actually going with this song(these songs)

http://www.vanillacircus.net/book/tool_book.pdf

I have some deviations in my own interpretation but basically the same.

[]v[edusa]

Has anyone read the toolbook of interpretations?
It puts Lateralus, Disposition, and Reflection together with a great interpretation on where Tool was actually going with this song(these songs)

http://www.vanillacircus.net/book/tool_book.pdf

I have some deviations in my own interpretation but basically the same.

I dont know what would drive someone to write a book about Tool. This person could have at least left a warning saying that all of these thoughts are just educated guesses and that it doesn't mean the interpretations are correct instead of leaving their egot o say in the introduction that they found what the meaning is. This person could be leading people in the wrong direction for some interpretations. Even people on this forum including myself could be leading people in the wrong direction.

I dont know for sure if the person he wrote it to was a listener to Tool or not, but if I was going to introduce the band to someone I would let them listen to it and maybe say something brief about what I think their music is about... Because people should have a chance to find the message themselves. Its alright to communicate about Tool after people have listened to the music, but people shouldnt be claiming that they have found the message.

you can analyze and study Tool all you want, but if you do that then you are only finding half of the message. Their music exercises the right brain while the lyrics only really exercises the left brain. You could probably write a 200 page book of just the song Lateralus, but still only get half the message.

or atleast thats how I see it.

[Reimius]

I wonder if the people who posted in this thread are still alive. This is old

[Malaclypse]

literally no one from 2002 is still alive.

[Reimius]

True