My Thoughts

[Nyne]

Well... first post on the forum.

Listening to Lateralus, I can't help but connect it to drug use. The whole spiraling out theme gets me in the mood of being high.

"Black then white are all I see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend."

I think this describes that earlier in his life, things were all black and white with nothing in between. Now that his mind is open, perhaps due to "mind-expanding drugs" he now sees these other colors. Now it's time to push the envelope and watch it bend with this new knowledge and feelings he obtains.

"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines."

Thinking and analyzing everything too much as for example a business man would do, will disconnect you from what life is meant to be. Life is meant to be experienced, not analyzed.

"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."

He's embracing these feelings to expand and open his mind to the fullest in which becoming the closest form to god as possible (all-knowing), while still remaning a human. (again... due to mind-expanding drugs...)

Yeaaahh... well, that's what goes thru my head when I listen to this song and read the lyrics. I myself can connect with this song because I feel the same. I know this is one in a million opinions on the song but I think this is what went through Maynard's head as he wrote it, but who the hell knows eh?

[mutable]

That makes sense. I've always thought of it to be about growing up and maturing though. I wont analyze the whole thing for you, but its mainly in this part...


"Black then white are all I see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend."

See, when a baby is first born, they only see in black and white, (I forget how long this last for, its not long though, maybe like a month I think.) Then, the first colours a baby is able to see are red and yellow, again, it doesn't last that long, not sure of the actual length of time though. I wont bother spelling out the rest for you, because I'm sure you can already see it if you think about it. I don't think he is actually talking about growing up from infancy to adulthood, I think he is using the childhood vision process as kind of a metaphor for maturing, and be able to see and understand things better. (if that makes sense?)

You're interpretation makes sense though. It's just not the way I see it, not that either one of us is wrong though.

[lateralus freak]

I think that you are both right...
This is actally the first message I have ever written and I hope I'm doing it right...

anywayz, tool rocks!