My take - 11 as a negative power

[YMM]

Dunno if this theory has been brought up before. Anyways...

My theory:

Jimmy describes being dependant on someone who cannot be there for you.

Proof:

What was it like to see
The face of your own stability
Suddenly look away
Leaving you with the dead and hopeless?

This describes the person you rely on leaving (in MJK's specific case, his mother becoming paralyzed).

Eleven and she was gone.
Eleven is when we waved good-bye.

This establishes the term 'Eleven' for the rest of the song as something bad. Eleven represents two things put together that do not fit - a person relying on another who is not able to carry the responsibility.

Normally, 1 + 1 = 2. But when 1 + 1 = 11 something is wrong... there is an unbalance and it just doesn't work.

11 was also MJK's age when his mom became paralyzed (correct me if I'm wrong), so it also has that adding to it's feeling of just being wrong or not complete (and explaining the title, as this was his childhood nickname (again correct me if I'm wrong)).

Eleven is standing still,
Waiting for me to free him
By coming home.

This shows that this dependancy will not leave him alone. When he leaves it keeps calling im back because he has not truly made peace with it and become independant. It seems like it is the right thing to do - and so tricks him into coming back when really it'll just make him weaker.

Moving me with a sound.
Opening me within a gesture.
Drawing me down and in,
Showing me where it all began,
Eleven.

Shows the scope of the power '11' has over him. How everything reminds him of it and makes him wish to return to it.

It took so long to realize that
You hold the light that's been leading me back home.

Shows that he finally realizes that '11' is what has been holding him back... pushing him back home. This is only a moment of clarity however, offering a glimpse of sanity before...

Under a dead ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering...
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.

Regardless of him knowing his weakness, '11' still pulls him back once more, convincing him he should still be dependant on the person he once was completely.

Hold your light,
Eleven.
Lead me through each gentle step by step
by inch by loaded memory.

The dependancy returns in full force. He once again becomes trapped in the memories of when this other person could hold him up, before they "left".

I'll move to heal
As soon as pain allows so we can
Reunite and both move on together.

Irony. '11' is what keeps hurting him, yet he still pledges to return to it when he heals. Kind of pathetic, actually.

Hold your light,
Eleven. Lead me through each gentle step by step
By inch by loaded memory
'till one and one are one, eleven,
So glow, child, glow.

Again emphasising the dependancy. He specifically mentions the 1 + 1 = 11 theory as well.

I'm heading back home.

He succumbs to '11'.

Overall, the mood of the song has always come across as sarcastic... as he talks good about '11' his tone says the opposite, because deep down he knows the truth.

Also, friends I have told this to have always argued that 'home' sounds too positive to symbolize something so negative. Look at how it is used though: he describes it as being beneath a "dead ohio sky". 'Home' is his dead past and it will do him no good to revisit it.

My friends then argue that '11' holds a 'light'. And 'light' to guide the way can't be a bad thing. Or can it? The road ahead of the protagonist is dark and he is unsure of where to go (because he is not fully independant). It seems so much easier to just take the easy road and crawl back home to '11' through the well-lit path. It is luring him back.

Even if I'm 100% wrong (which is alright), this song has helped me through some issues of my own. Which is amazing considering the guy next to me might think it's about something completely different. Ah, the power of Tool.

[The Drizzle]

Good theroy. I had previously considered 11 to be a positive thing in that 11 was a situation where two individuals came together to form one yet maintained thier own identity, but now i'm not so sure. Also on the topic of the connection to MJK's mother you might want to consider the new albums subject matter (esp "Wings for Marie") and its obsession with the number 11

[YMM]

I thought that too, but only from listening to just the lyrics.

Upon listening to the tone of the music that goes with the lyrics it sounds way too sarcastic and angry.

[thomasknight]

eleven comes after ten

[YMM]

^Please elaborate on that, I'm not sure what you're implying.

[Yondo]

He's being a jackass.

[CrownOfNegativity]

Nice theory. I like it.

[Ardhanarishvara]

some of it sounds plausible,

but that 1+1 = 11 is a huge leap from thin air through thin air to thing air
you could just as well say 46&2 could mean that maynard is 2 and 46 will always be a larger number :P

explain

[amrod]

11 is a positive symbolic representation of oneness. it's one of the three master numbers 11.22 and33. the vibration and information on this wavelength is very powerful. Intention and abstract cores of our being is where we can set ourselves free. Casteneda, kumara, toltecs they all speak of the power of the one- hence 11/11.

[pryingopenmybrowneye]

I've always heard this song to be the message from the more emotionally detached elder self speaking to the eleven. this idea of what would you say to yourself if you could go back to right before the loss of innocence. i see it as a reunion between the two... 1+1= 11 because they're not "added" but instead the sum of the parts makes the whole ? following?? i don't know really how to put it into words...

the music before hand in intermission has always given me this kinda ... childish sense... remembering the funny clowns and cotton candy at the carnival, maybe even the freak show... then comes the distortion and we hear the story of the childs loss of innocence, the loss of the stability (maybe a glimpse into his own personal freak show?). I think it's a healing process of the elder version of the same person, he needed to be guided back through everything by his younger self. watch it all again. feel the pain again. get back in touch with his roots? his home? ruinite with himself so to speak.

/shrug

very powerful song either way.

[LiLponyAddiction]

I always thought the number 11 kind of represented a new beginning, but one that builds upon completed past experiences.

I stumbled across the 11:11 theory some time ago. I didnt delve too deeply into it, but the key points that seemed to hold a lot of significance with the lyrics I saved to my computer. I dont remember the site, but Im going to post them here anyways....

****

Many believe awakening ocmes through healing and the creation of balance - 11.

You will experience a sudden awakening after which reality is never the same. You are going to create clarity, healing and balance for yourself.

Your soul will automatically and quickly move you from level to level of experience until you 'get it'.

Once you see your numeric codes - you have activated something in your DNA codes and they will continue to appear until you 'get the message' ... it is 'time' to move on.

Upon seeing your digit encoded numbers - you may feel a sense of urgency or related emotions. Chill out! For NOW there is TIME!

The numbers usually signal changes in the patterns of your life.

They may confirm something that you are experiencing whenever the numbers appear to you.

******

I also stumbled across this quote of MJK's from a concert in 1996 sometime ago. I have the live footage of him saying that little bit before Prison Sex.

"Going back to 'Prison Sex' for just a minute... (waits for wild cheers to subside from idiots who think they're going to play PS again) ...A lot of people have a misconception of what that song's about. It's really just a step in a process... It's about identifying cycles of abuse and working through it. See, 'Prison Sex' is the about identifying the cycle, that's the first step...

The next step is working through it, and that's what 'Jimmy' is about...(The song "Jimmy begins)



I think that "jimmy" is his finally coming to terms with his past and allowing himself to fully heal and move on with his life. Maybe reaching a higher level of conciousness. *shrugs*

[YMM]

One more point for my theory: 12 is commonly thought of as the perfect number (I believe that is a Christian thing?) 11 is not quite there - he's stuck one step from being perfect or normal because of his dependancy on the absent person.

Also, the MJK quote could still fit with my theory - an abusive parent is obviously also absent in that they can't provide the love a child needs. The child is then always trying to please them and going back to them even though they continue to hurt the child. So my theory works for an absent OR abusive parents (as well as anyone else you're dependant on who is absent or abusive), I suppose.

[lizbiz]

Umm... it's Maynard coming to terms with himself and his mother's stroke. He saying he's been dead since then until this new awakening and now he's heading home to reclaim himself and his family.

Stinkfist - not feeling anything, needs to feel, find something new
Eulogy - for his old self
H - finding a connection and beginning a transformation
46&2 - Going through the process
Jimmy - Along the path, a revelation

don't need to go any further

[philipg]

Now that 10,000 days has come out ive thought about jimmy a lot
maynard is around 42 now, and 10,000 days is around 27 or 28 years, rounded
and apparently whatever affliction judith suffered took place 10,000 days before she died.
im pretty sure she died right around the time that APC came out with 13th step, because they had a little "in memory of" blurb in the liner notes.
and this was in late 2003. so maynard was around 39 then
so 10,000 days/28 years before judith died, maynard was 11
i think you guys see where im going from here...

[philipg]

oh yeah, i saw a live video of jimmy and maynard was saying that it was kind of a sequel to the song prison sex... so it goes even further back.

[TheJuiceOfSatan]

Obviously this eleven year old self is somehow stuck in this sense of abandonment. perhaps he means by going home, as in back to his boyhood home or something he can reconcile these feelings and move on.

[The Tower That Ate People]

I wonder how Maynard would explain it?

I want you to consider this:

"Being only one hour before 12:00—midnight—the eleventh hour means the last possible moment to take care of something, and often implies a situation of urgent danger or emergency" quote wikipedia.

Just want to shed some new light on this.

[OUTATIME]

Pretty solid theory. I am glad to hear that Tool helped you in a real situation. Just one more reason to like Tool.

[iAMtheMA!]

how do the whispered and/or difficult-to-decipher lyrics fit into the whole grand scheme of things? i can't say i agree fully with your presented views on this song, this one's still somewhat of a miss for me, but these are the sort of insightful posts that'll get some motors running on the subject.

[jdstrube]

Perhaps 11 signifies a happy time before all the bad stuff happened, which is why he can't excape it, it was a simpler time

[weathermantom]

Do you guys remember a while back on Toolband when there were a bunch of posts regarding the new album and some "11" theory? A bunch of people emailed Blair and asked if there was something up with the number 11 -- the clocks in the background of the album booklet pictures said it was 1:17 or 11:17 or something... I'm too lazy to get the CD right now. Also, Wings is 6:11, 10kD is 11:13, Lipan Conjuring is 1:11, and Rosetta Stoned is 11:11 (minutes:seconds, in case you didn't catch that).
Just a thought...

[JE Mack]

i agree with you jdstrube.

[jdstrube]

i agree with you jdstrube.

thank you