Relationships

[Slip Away Insanity]

I see this song as being about the gradual break down of a relationship, or a "Schism" in a relationship

Here we Go

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away"

What I get from this is basically....I Know this relationship can work, I know this because it used to be fine, but it's deteriorating

"Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion"

Pure intention, Juxtaposed, so basically the good intention, or the desire for goodwill, placed side by side, will set this relationship off. Will set it going. I mean isn't that what a relationship really is? Two people who want to make eachother feel good, and happy? At least thats what I think the Foundation of a relationship should be.

"Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication."

"Disintegrating as it...." A relationship will gradualy fall apart, unless these people can talk to one another, to communicate.
"The light that fueled..." The Pure will toward one another that fueled the beggining of our relationship, is destroying us. No one person can spend an eternity making another person happy, it gets old.
"We cannot see to reach..." This won't work, we can't continue to make only the other person happy, we must communicate in order for this to work.

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communicati"

You may want to point your finger, towards the person who YOU beleive is responsible for the downfall of the relationship, but deep down you know that your just as responsible. And also you desire more than anything else to "bring the peices back together" To bring this relationship back together and to "rediscover communication"

FAVORITE PART

"The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance."

The squaring off between, is arguing, having spats. but, its worth it if you truly love the person. You must, Find beauty in the dissonace. Find beauty, in this argument. Find what was wrong, And Fix it.

END

Ok, That's what I Think this song is about. I listen to this song whenever me and my woman get into a big argument. It helps me think about it. I love this song.
Its amazing.

Thoughts?....

[RedMetalSox]

it's a tool love song.

[Faltering]

I see this song as being about the gradual break down of a relationship, or a "Schism" in a relationship

Here we Go

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away"

What I get from this is basically....I Know this relationship can work, I know this because it used to be fine, but it's deteriorating

"Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion"

Pure intention, Juxtaposed, so basically the good intention, or the desire for goodwill, placed side by side, will set this relationship off. Will set it going. I mean isn't that what a relationship really is? Two people who want to make eachother feel good, and happy? At least thats what I think the Foundation of a relationship should be.

"Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication."

"Disintegrating as it...." A relationship will gradualy fall apart, unless these people can talk to one another, to communicate.
"The light that fueled..." The Pure will toward one another that fueled the beggining of our relationship, is destroying us. No one person can spend an eternity making another person happy, it gets old.
"We cannot see to reach..." This won't work, we can't continue to make only the other person happy, we must communicate in order for this to work.

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communicati"

You may want to point your finger, towards the person who YOU beleive is responsible for the downfall of the relationship, but deep down you know that your just as responsible. And also you desire more than anything else to "bring the peices back together" To bring this relationship back together and to "rediscover communication"

FAVORITE PART

"The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance."

The squaring off between, is arguing, having spats. but, its worth it if you truly love the person. You must, Find beauty in the dissonace. Find beauty, in this argument. Find what was wrong, And Fix it.

END

Ok, That's what I Think this song is about. I listen to this song whenever me and my woman get into a big argument. It helps me think about it. I love this song.
Its amazing.

Thoughts?....

Always how I viewed it as well. Good job.

[spacemonkeyadb]

Yes. This is how I've always understood the song too.
Your interpretation is 100% correct IMO.

[ShadowLine]

for me the song always has and will tie in with the film hellraiser.
chris
x

[Louis_116206]

I feel the same way abouut the song to. the part: (Cold silence has a dignency to atrophy any sense of compassion) to me meant something along the lines of if you turn your back on a loved one continuessly e.g. a lover it wastes away or "atrophies" how you feel about them and you become acustomed to ignoring them.

[Omar Rodriguez-Mopez]

That's how I feel about the song. Personal experience makes this a favorite.

[Louis_116206]

I have to say the first time i heard schism i fell in love with it.

[ShadowLine]

the word schism means a bridge between two identities.

chris
x

[Louis_116206]

oh cheers i'm going round contemplating different songs lol

[Omar Rodriguez-Mopez]

I have to say the first time i heard schism i fell in love with it.

Schism is the the Tool song that took the longest for me to like. When I first heard it just sounded too different.

[LonesomeKiller]

Schism is what first turned me onto Tool, I had heard PrisonSex and Sober before, but I'd never put 2-and-2 together that Tool did those songs.

[martyrinexile86]

I see this song as being about the gradual break down of a relationship, or a "Schism" in a relationship

Here we Go

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away"

What I get from this is basically....I Know this relationship can work, I know this because it used to be fine, but it's deteriorating

"Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion"

Pure intention, Juxtaposed, so basically the good intention, or the desire for goodwill, placed side by side, will set this relationship off. Will set it going. I mean isn't that what a relationship really is? Two people who want to make eachother feel good, and happy? At least thats what I think the Foundation of a relationship should be.

"Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication."

"Disintegrating as it...." A relationship will gradualy fall apart, unless these people can talk to one another, to communicate.
"The light that fueled..." The Pure will toward one another that fueled the beggining of our relationship, is destroying us. No one person can spend an eternity making another person happy, it gets old.
"We cannot see to reach..." This won't work, we can't continue to make only the other person happy, we must communicate in order for this to work.

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communicati"

You may want to point your finger, towards the person who YOU beleive is responsible for the downfall of the relationship, but deep down you know that your just as responsible. And also you desire more than anything else to "bring the peices back together" To bring this relationship back together and to "rediscover communication"

FAVORITE PART

"The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance."

The squaring off between, is arguing, having spats. but, its worth it if you truly love the person. You must, Find beauty in the dissonace. Find beauty, in this argument. Find what was wrong, And Fix it.

END

Ok, That's what I Think this song is about. I listen to this song whenever me and my woman get into a big argument. It helps me think about it. I love this song.
Its amazing.

Thoughts?.... This is always how I viewed the song as well, and, for what it's worth, your interpretation also served to clear up some stuff for me as to the meaning of some of the lines. Thanks.

[livingxdeadxrainy]

I see this song as being about the gradual break down of a relationship, or a "Schism" in a relationship

Here we Go

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away"

What I get from this is basically....I Know this relationship can work, I know this because it used to be fine, but it's deteriorating

"Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion"

Pure intention, Juxtaposed, so basically the good intention, or the desire for goodwill, placed side by side, will set this relationship off. Will set it going. I mean isn't that what a relationship really is? Two people who want to make eachother feel good, and happy? At least thats what I think the Foundation of a relationship should be.

"Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication."

"Disintegrating as it...." A relationship will gradualy fall apart, unless these people can talk to one another, to communicate.
"The light that fueled..." The Pure will toward one another that fueled the beggining of our relationship, is destroying us. No one person can spend an eternity making another person happy, it gets old.
"We cannot see to reach..." This won't work, we can't continue to make only the other person happy, we must communicate in order for this to work.

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communicati"

You may want to point your finger, towards the person who YOU beleive is responsible for the downfall of the relationship, but deep down you know that your just as responsible. And also you desire more than anything else to "bring the peices back together" To bring this relationship back together and to "rediscover communication"

FAVORITE PART

"The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance."

The squaring off between, is arguing, having spats. but, its worth it if you truly love the person. You must, Find beauty in the dissonace. Find beauty, in this argument. Find what was wrong, And Fix it.

END

Ok, That's what I Think this song is about. I listen to this song whenever me and my woman get into a big argument. It helps me think about it. I love this song.
Its amazing.

Thoughts?....

Bravo. I love your explanation of the song.

[iAMtheMA!]

first off...
pure = 100% (not just "good intention")

"the light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us, so we cannot seem to reach an end, crippling our communication" - "lucifer" literally means the "light-bearer". and here's our fire: in an experiment against god, lucifer (who couldn't seperate himself from god using an internal merkaba) created a way for merkabas to be performed externally and without the use of love. this, in turn, created an enormous sense for duality and transformed emotional understanding into calculated technologies. "once everything is dualized and running on motors, it becomes more and more difficult to perceive the One spirit that moves through everything" as it states in mr.frisell's book. sure, it's easy for us to imagine duality, infact, scientists having been using the dichotomous metheod to determine the identity of items in the natural world for years. but is there really a "good" or "evil"? maybe not. maybe we're reading too much into it, further calculating identities so to seperate. the "hole" refers to our desire to obtain non-essentials (listen to and watch a perfect circle's "weak & powerless"). "want" vs. "need" is one of our ultimate dualities created by lucifer.

"the poetry that comes from the squaring off between, and the circling is worth it. finding beauty in the dissonance." this just screams to me how perfect our bodily proportions are (see: da vinci's "vitruvian man"), it's poetry - squares and circles... it makes too much sense to ignore. if someone where to tell you that our bodies are specific and mathematical, would you believe it? if you're not able to find the image, then try to visualize the following. with the arms and legs extended straight out, a square/cube will form around the body. the center of this square/cube is located at the base of the spine, where our first eight cells still exist (in yet another cube, see: "egg of life"). with the arms and legs spread, a circle/sphere forms with the center located at the navel. by moving this center to the base of our spine (overlapping the square) you'll notice a phi ratio, where the perimeter of the square is equal to the circumference of the circle. and it's not by coincidence, either. seems like we've been specifically synthesized.

[maele]

Maynard as we all know is the deepest MoFo' in the world, when you listen to "Schism" you can tell he is trying as hard as he can to make this completely amazing and beautiful love song (which in my opinion he acomplishes) but it kind of breaks down the whole relationship and how he knows the "problem" can be fixed because it was at one point a whole e.i: "I know the pieces fit, cause I watched them fall away..."

[itsok]

its about mankind. struggling probably; but i suppose you have to actually try or do something in order to struggle with it. hmm

[Slip Away Insanity]

well thanks for all of the positive feedback guys. This is one of my favorite Tool songs. Thats always the way that I've viewed that song. Glad you guys liked it.

[itsok]

i changed my mind.

it isnt only about the struggle. it could be about the things that intensify the struggle. . . basically get along or fucking die, whether it is literal or not. perhaps even tasting freedom and success, then watching it slip away, not being able to do anything about it because you have already done all you can to get to that point.

maybe.

[ShadowLine]

schism is not a love song, its about getting our level of conciousness back up to where it was before, i think this song is pretty much based on the ancient secret of the flower of life. most of tool stuff from lateralus and 10000 days is based on this.

chris
x

[harry_manback19]

This song is clearly about the breakdown of relationships and trying to prevent that shit, but if you look at the song as part of lateralus as a whole, theres much more than that. Its about trying to piece together not only your relationships but your entire existence, so u can "rediscover" yourself.

[rintoot]

Schism is the the Tool song that took the longest for me to like. When I first heard it just sounded too different.

I second that

[ruxy]

I first heard tool only 3 years ago,and fell in love instantly.the first song I ever heard from them was parabol,but lately,I rather relate to schism...It's about the situation i'm in. Many of tool's songs just seam to describe part of my own thoughts and feelings...about many things...are we crippled in our communication? yes,many of us!

[base metal]

There are some interesting views here. I think the main theme of the song is that 'the person' is trying to 're-build' a relationship back to where it was or where it should be, or they are struggling within themselves to reach a higher level of conciousness, so to speak. However, I think of this song in terms of relationships in general, not just lovers. I have related to it in different ways.

[zedd]

I feel the same way abouut the song to. the part: (Cold silence has a dignency to atrophy any sense of compassion) to me meant something along the lines of if you turn your back on a loved one continuessly e.g. a lover it wastes away or "atrophies" how you feel about them and you become acustomed to ignoring them.

This line is my favorite of this song. It also hits the hardest with me in my relationship. The way i view it is. Communication is a major key to a relationship. After years of being in a relationship, people stop talking to each other and expressing feelings, and just go about there day not paying much attention to there partner. That lack of communication puts a gap in the relationship. If you stop communicating and expressing your feelings or listening to you partners feelings. You start to deaden your senses to the other person. This is how i interprete what mjk said in this line.

[NoFeelings]

that's the first thing i thought too.that its a love song.but back then i wasnt so much into tool,hadnt done any research on their songs and underlying messages and such so im not so sure anymore.
it did get my mate back though when i sent him the lyrics after a spat oO

y0h0h0

[Mattywasaracecardriver]

This line is my favorite of this song. It also hits the hardest with me in my relationship. The way i view it is. Communication is a major key to a relationship. After years of being in a relationship, people stop talking to each other and expressing feelings, and just go about there day not paying much attention to there partner. That lack of communication puts a gap in the relationship. If you stop communicating and expressing your feelings or listening to you partners feelings. You start to deaden your senses to the other person. This is how i interprete what mjk said in this line.

thats a cool point, i get it totally, but for me, cus of where i stand in the relationship department, this line was also the most powerful of the song. but for me it represents how when there is a definate sense of compassion between too people, but it is in danger of slipping away, if something is not said to keep the development growing. it also then can be linked with a sense of paranoia, taking the silences too far, and believing that it is the relationship fading away. the rest of the song shows a great sense that communication is faulting, and it is making two things rip apart, whether that be society as a whole or two lovers. but that line suggests to me that the silence between to people who like eachother is enterprated as being a fading of the feelings in the relationship, which is not necassarily true. don't ya think this song is so good at relating to worries in a relationship tho. spot on

[mr. nikki jensen]

it's a tool love song.

..

[hobblegobble]

Maybe it isn't necessarily about a love relationship...maybe just a devotion from one being to another...

[Mattywasaracecardriver]

yeah i know what you mean, its only a love relationship in my head because of whats going on in my life. i love tool, they obviously have their own personal meanings to each song, but i love the ability to relate them back to my own experiences