Just a thought

[SoM]

I interpret Third Eye to be a story of rediscovering spirituality, something that was once cherished, then lost, is now being embraced once again. The third eye represents a spiritual sense, a means of experiencing a world beyond mere physical existence.

This song did not make sense to me at all (even as a song about drugs) until I considered the dialog in the songs. Somthing/someone is calling out to him. He has been running from it for so long. Near the end of the song he becomes reunited with this being he talking to. The only real proof that I can offer of this interpretation is this line from the song:

"So good to see you once again. I thought that you were hiding. And you thought that I had run away. Chasing the tail of dogma."

Separation, followed by reunion.

Hope someone found this interesting, comments/criticisms are welcome.

Steve

[sircorn]

sounds more like he has reunited witha lost friend throughout the song, but maybe your right. Just consider the second verse after the one you posted. Chasing the trail of smoke and reason. A girl/friend might be scared off by anyone who does drugs and is phsycotic enough to be searching for 'true understanding' =D

[SoM]

hmmm....

"Chasing the trail of smoke and reason" could be about a friend/girlfriend...

--I stick my hand into his shadow to pull the pieces from the sand. Which I attempt to reassemble to see just who I might have been. I do not recognize the vessel, but the eyes seem so familiar. Like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song... "So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much. Came out to watch you play. Why are you running away?"--

This makes me think that whatever he reassembled is calling (or is being used to call) out to him, and is the one speaking to him the rest of the song.

I don't think this speaker is a girlfriend or anything like that.

[Hawk]

i tend to agree with the reunification concept. "eyes seem so familiar" "so good to see you once again" lines like that creat the idea in my mind of reunification with a creator or long lost part of one's slef. also the "chasing the tail" part implies going full circle back to where you started. can i also add that this song blows me away no matter how many times i hear it

[SoM]

Also, consider that the "third eye" in some cultures/religions represents ones spiritual sense. It is the means of communication/sensory with the spirit world. "Prying open my Third Eye"

The singer screams this phrase because it could be a painful experience. If you've ever spent a day or longer in a very dark place (like, when I sleep in late and my room is in the basement, heh) being suddenly exposed to bright light is very painful.

[cadder_99]

I also agree with the thought of reunification in this song, however, I feel that the reunification is occuring with the third eye. The music is very chaotic, calming, yet very confused in some parts. Some of the lyrics also suggest to me that the song is sung from the point of view of the third eye, and Maynard is almost recounting the experience in the first part of the song, and in the second part is the third eye looking back at its owner. "And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes" - describing the eye as the viewer. "So good to see you....I've missed you so much..." To me this is the third eye being "reunited" with its owner, like seeing someone in your family that you haven't seen in years.

[sircorn]

i was sorta jokeing with that post, used to be what I thought before i developed a mind of my own. I see this as a look at his past. Where his life was at a certain point. How different he is now, almost like me. How I've grown some sence since i first thought this song was about a person other than MJK or whoever the speaker is in this song.

[dawn]

I associate the third eye with the pineal gland...a dolphins blow hole...to pry it open would mean to force yourself to...embrace...something...

[Cryphyx]

I think that "Chasing a trail of smoke and reason" could mean that his spirituality had been decieved by smoke (drugs) and reason (science) and that now he has been reuinited with his spirituality. in this sense the song is both anti-drug and anti-dogmatic. Drugs and dogmas chain the mind to the material world, and the person in the song has a newly 'free mind.'

[ry.]

I too, had a hard time thinking of a meaning for this song, but now i have an idea that makes sense (at least to me...)

I believe the song is about rekindling one's childhood, which is represented by the "third eye". The song goes on to describe how we use our childhood consciousness less and less.

"I stick my hand into his shadow to pull the pieces from the sand. Which I attempt to reassemble to see just who I might have been. I do not recognize the vessel, but the eyes seem so familiar. Like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song..."

-The person he is making refrence to is himself in the past.

"So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much."

-He has regained a lost connection with his childhood.

But there is still a question of third eye and spirituality,
St Bonaventure believed there are three "eyes" of knowing:
eye of flesh - sees materal objects
eye of reason - tries to comprehend relationships of objectsand answer life's questions
mystic eye - trusts the transcendental

i believe that the song third eye is about recovering childhood consciousness. I think the song says that as we grow (older and more mature) we begin to use the eyes of flesh and reason more than the mystic eye. It seems that as a child, we could be more open-minded to anything, without reason getting in the way. This verse makes refrence to this idea:

"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."

[ry.]

Originally posted by Cryphyx
I think that "Chasing a trail of smoke and reason" could mean that his spirituality had been decieved by smoke (drugs) and reason (science) and that now he has been reuinited with his spirituality. in this sense the song is both anti-drug and anti-dogmatic. Drugs and dogmas chain the mind to the material world, and the person in the song has a newly 'free mind.'

I forgot to mention this and theres been alot of talk about it on here.....

The lines "Chasing the trail of smoke and reason";"Chasing the tail of dogma" also go with my interpretation above.

"Chasing the tail of dogma" - says that as we get older eventhough we believe that we are becoming more independant, we are actually becoming more dogmatic.

"Chasing the trail of smoke and reason" - is the battle of intergrating the childhood consciousness into the mature "reason-based" consciousness. Where the childhood is the smoke, because it symbolizes an idea that is not concrete, and contains no evidence (like the transparency of smoke), and reason is what we become obsessed with as we grow.

[4th Eye]

Originally posted by ry.
i believe that the song third eye is about recovering childhood consciousness. I think the song says that as we grow (older and more mature) we begin to use the eyes of flesh and reason more than the mystic eye. It seems that as a child, we could be more open-minded to anything, without reason getting in the way.

I have to agree with ry. in this one.

I'd like to remind you people that the "So good to see you...."-part is in quotes. Go check out the lyrics section. And I heard somewhere here that someone was talking with or about Bill Hicks about God and spirituality and that stuff, and there were almost exactly the same words "so good to see you...", "I've missed you so much...", "came out to watch you play..." and those in that interview or what ever it was. If I remember correctly it was about how God was communicating with Bill and missed him so much or something like that. Try to find the post about it somewhere here...I'm too lazy...

I've been told that when in the first grade I was asked if I believe in God, I said I do. Now I don't believe in God because I find it impossible (though I don't believe it could be impossible, I don't have provings for or against). I want to have a scientific explanation for everything. I'm chasing the reason. As a child I might have been more open-minded.

To make it short, I think this song is about 'becoming a child again', becoming more open-minded and see with the 'mystic eye'. Accepting there's something beyond comprehending, something that can't be explained by scientific reasons. Thinking like a child. And I also think this song is kind of a conversation with God, re-gaining the belief in Him.
Something like that...it's not so easy to explain in words.