fraterps
08-02-2006, 01:09 PM
Though there is a little lyrical exegesis that goes into this post, it is primarily concerned with the notional content of the song. As such I trust it is at home here.
I originally posted this on Toolarmy a couple of days ago. It's pretty much carried over from there. It is I believe the definitive discussion of the song.
As far as I can tell, some of Jambi's central lyrics (and as a result the song's meaning) have not been adequetly expressed among the members of Tool's Army. I see the lyrics they've posted at the Toolshed, a community funded endeavor, display this same lack of conveyance. I will now try to rectify what I feel is the loss. I think this is a powerful invocation, and for those who know of it in a crowd something wonderful can happen at its performance. Something wonderful happens in the awareness of it alone at home as well. But such is Tool, to a greater or lesser extent with or without that knowledge.
The song needs to be understood as the calling of and for an inner daimon, a higher genius invoked. 'Daimon' is a Greek word meaning friendly spirit or a spirit that lives with us. Socrates thought he had a Daimon which communicated with him, and the Greek word for 'happiness' that Aristotle made central to all human endeavor has daimon as a root--eudaimonaia.
Jambi begins with an open and honest testimony of the state in which the subject undergoing the invocation is in. S/he is accepting and bringing into the working the wealth possessed by her, the pleasures s/he enjoys. And s/he would give it all away. While the song overtly alludes to the idea of another person, Jambi should more completely be understood in the vein of the mystics of divine love (see St. John of the Cross, for instance). As the remainder of the lyrics amply indicate, the individual is in the process of accepting where s/he is, engorged and laughing all the way to hell, and in a magnificent fashion remaining firm in the invocation of the divine. This also needs to be understood in the context especially of the Abramelin operation and the symbolism of the ritual work of what today is most easily called the Golden Dawn, inclusive of its various connections. To avoid getting too wordy, I'll just let the song show what I mean.
These lyrics are copied from Toolshed's page as of, July 31st, 2006. Some of the lyrics I am unsure of, and so the square bracketed remarks showing contention between different interpretations carries over from Toolshed. Where I have made changes I have deleted what was there, my insertions then being placed within curved brackets '{}'. Where relevant, I insert my comments for the understanding of the song also in curved brackets, following a double return setting them away from the lyrics.
Jambi
{Here from} the king's mountain view
{Here from} the wild dream come true
Feast like a sultan, I do
On treasures and flesh never few
{Here is the first self-declaration--I am indulgent, a king among men in some ways.}
But I would wish it all, away
If I thought I'd lose you just one day
{and the recognition that there is an other, something to be addressed as an identity, a 'you', whose presence makes this indulgence trivial and irrelevant}
The devil and his had me down
In love with the dark side I've found
Dabblin' all the way down
Up to my neck soon to drown.
{Continuing with the process, the aspirant remarks on this aspect of the journey. We all have our devils, I suppose.}
But you changed that all for me
Lifted me up, turned me round
So I, I would wish this all away
Pray like a [martyr / father] dusk to dawn
Beg like a hooker all night long
Shout to the devil with my song
And got what I wanted all along
{I think perhaps the line is 'sent to the devil with my song', not 'shout'.}
But I
I would
If I could
I would
Wish it away
Wish it away
Wish it all away
Wanna wish it all away
No price could hold sway
Or justify my
{middle way?, my center}
{This line I am not convinced of ('middle way' doesn't seem clear--it may be 'giving away'). But the notion that there is a 'center' belonging to the speaker now becomes the first direct textual indication that the gift which is wished to be kept before all the world is really something about ourselves, something we ARE in some sense (or at least have the potential to be)--here understood as a point of equilibrium.}
So if I could I'd wish it all away
If I thought tomorrow, they'd take you away
You're my piece of mind, {my AUM}
I said I'm just trying to hold on
One more day
{The object of this affection, this desire for continued close companionship, is one's piece of mind, the AUM}
Damn my eyes!
Damn my eyes!
{Oedipus, anyone? Ironically, it's only at the end of the play, after Oedipus has gouged out his own eyes, that he truly 'sees'.}
If they should compromise
A fulcrum {or fall from?}
{What you need....If I need this...
I might as well be gone...}
{The exact composition I am unclear of here, but the central message comes soon enough. This is the final declaration of the state s/he is in, before the instrumental which leads into the following, the invocation proper.}
Shine on forever
Shine on benevolent sun
Shine down upon the broken
Shine [on 'til / until] the two become one
Shine on forever
Shine on benevolent sun
Shine down upon the severed
Shine [on 'til / until] the two become one
{Here is the entrance into the central focus of the ritual, what the work signifies.}
{Divide heaven with a middle way,
Divide Adam with a middle way,}
{And this is the union, no radical dichotomy within us eternal, a devil and god to vaccilate between, but a middle way. For this one must understand qabala. Just do a google search for 'Adam Kadmon' and that will get you started. Note also the relevance and placement of the sphere of the sun on the tree of life--shine on benevolent sun. Tool knows what they're doing. This is a song for the union of god and man, the masses of humanity and the hosts of heaven. This is the Great Work of which little has been written and less understood. But pursue it and you can't be kept from it. In concert, I imagine it can be spectacular. Just to have it present in the world today is an amazing token of the light bathing this planet right now. But I don't feel like talking politics.}
Shine down upon the many, light our way{s},
Benevolent sun.
{Again the invocation, now suffused not just among the broken and the severed, but out upon the many, lighting our ways.}
Breathe in union
So, as one, survive
Another day {in} season
{Ah, but there's else to be done, for the world is at a tipping point now. Best to remind us with a call to union, to survive another season. This should be the will of us all, if we have any sense of world affairs today. Personally I would be very suprised if I didn't see at least a low-grade nuclear device used in my lifetime. I'm of the opinion that most people in the middle east will glow in the dark before the end of the next decade. Damn it, got into politics anyway. Such should not be discussed in lodge, I'm told.}
{Silence Legion} save your poison
{Silence Legion} stay out of my way
Finally, a banishing of Spirits, to clear the field that the work may be done purely. In some rituals a given activity is finished by a forceful call to 'stand back' against any untoward spirits that may enter the consequence of the ritual as it is incorporated into our own ongoing experience. This is called a 'banishing' rite. The banishing ritual is very often the first solid piece of ritual work an aspirant is introduced to, as it helps in equilibrating the yearling as s/he prepares to make way into the world of subtle vibration, where the littlest thought or deed can set up impressive repercussions. More progressive work usually follows, but this all depends on the tenor of the will of the student. Suffice it to say in this context, while some rituals are happy to end with no banishing, Jambi finishes its daimonic entreaty with a healthy declaration that the work here will not be spoiled by Legion. To understand who is Legion, see a New Testament, Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39. Pray we aren't the pigs!
The song is meant to embolden us in the quest to pursue this goal, knowledge and conversation of the holy guardian angel, though Tool is too consciously removed from the imagery of the tradition to make the references overt. That's part of their art, after all. But the message is there nonetheless. This particular song I have found to be very dear to me.
In closing, I would like to say I hold no exclusivity for this reading. I imagine there are other ways to look at the song. But I think the notion I've conveyed here is true to the intentions of the band--it is closer to what they were consciously intending than anything else I've seen. Decide for yourselves. This song is but one piece of a much larger tapestry composing their artistry, and it paints a beautiful picture (the system).
Wishing You all the Best,
PS
I originally posted this on Toolarmy a couple of days ago. It's pretty much carried over from there. It is I believe the definitive discussion of the song.
As far as I can tell, some of Jambi's central lyrics (and as a result the song's meaning) have not been adequetly expressed among the members of Tool's Army. I see the lyrics they've posted at the Toolshed, a community funded endeavor, display this same lack of conveyance. I will now try to rectify what I feel is the loss. I think this is a powerful invocation, and for those who know of it in a crowd something wonderful can happen at its performance. Something wonderful happens in the awareness of it alone at home as well. But such is Tool, to a greater or lesser extent with or without that knowledge.
The song needs to be understood as the calling of and for an inner daimon, a higher genius invoked. 'Daimon' is a Greek word meaning friendly spirit or a spirit that lives with us. Socrates thought he had a Daimon which communicated with him, and the Greek word for 'happiness' that Aristotle made central to all human endeavor has daimon as a root--eudaimonaia.
Jambi begins with an open and honest testimony of the state in which the subject undergoing the invocation is in. S/he is accepting and bringing into the working the wealth possessed by her, the pleasures s/he enjoys. And s/he would give it all away. While the song overtly alludes to the idea of another person, Jambi should more completely be understood in the vein of the mystics of divine love (see St. John of the Cross, for instance). As the remainder of the lyrics amply indicate, the individual is in the process of accepting where s/he is, engorged and laughing all the way to hell, and in a magnificent fashion remaining firm in the invocation of the divine. This also needs to be understood in the context especially of the Abramelin operation and the symbolism of the ritual work of what today is most easily called the Golden Dawn, inclusive of its various connections. To avoid getting too wordy, I'll just let the song show what I mean.
These lyrics are copied from Toolshed's page as of, July 31st, 2006. Some of the lyrics I am unsure of, and so the square bracketed remarks showing contention between different interpretations carries over from Toolshed. Where I have made changes I have deleted what was there, my insertions then being placed within curved brackets '{}'. Where relevant, I insert my comments for the understanding of the song also in curved brackets, following a double return setting them away from the lyrics.
Jambi
{Here from} the king's mountain view
{Here from} the wild dream come true
Feast like a sultan, I do
On treasures and flesh never few
{Here is the first self-declaration--I am indulgent, a king among men in some ways.}
But I would wish it all, away
If I thought I'd lose you just one day
{and the recognition that there is an other, something to be addressed as an identity, a 'you', whose presence makes this indulgence trivial and irrelevant}
The devil and his had me down
In love with the dark side I've found
Dabblin' all the way down
Up to my neck soon to drown.
{Continuing with the process, the aspirant remarks on this aspect of the journey. We all have our devils, I suppose.}
But you changed that all for me
Lifted me up, turned me round
So I, I would wish this all away
Pray like a [martyr / father] dusk to dawn
Beg like a hooker all night long
Shout to the devil with my song
And got what I wanted all along
{I think perhaps the line is 'sent to the devil with my song', not 'shout'.}
But I
I would
If I could
I would
Wish it away
Wish it away
Wish it all away
Wanna wish it all away
No price could hold sway
Or justify my
{middle way?, my center}
{This line I am not convinced of ('middle way' doesn't seem clear--it may be 'giving away'). But the notion that there is a 'center' belonging to the speaker now becomes the first direct textual indication that the gift which is wished to be kept before all the world is really something about ourselves, something we ARE in some sense (or at least have the potential to be)--here understood as a point of equilibrium.}
So if I could I'd wish it all away
If I thought tomorrow, they'd take you away
You're my piece of mind, {my AUM}
I said I'm just trying to hold on
One more day
{The object of this affection, this desire for continued close companionship, is one's piece of mind, the AUM}
Damn my eyes!
Damn my eyes!
{Oedipus, anyone? Ironically, it's only at the end of the play, after Oedipus has gouged out his own eyes, that he truly 'sees'.}
If they should compromise
A fulcrum {or fall from?}
{What you need....If I need this...
I might as well be gone...}
{The exact composition I am unclear of here, but the central message comes soon enough. This is the final declaration of the state s/he is in, before the instrumental which leads into the following, the invocation proper.}
Shine on forever
Shine on benevolent sun
Shine down upon the broken
Shine [on 'til / until] the two become one
Shine on forever
Shine on benevolent sun
Shine down upon the severed
Shine [on 'til / until] the two become one
{Here is the entrance into the central focus of the ritual, what the work signifies.}
{Divide heaven with a middle way,
Divide Adam with a middle way,}
{And this is the union, no radical dichotomy within us eternal, a devil and god to vaccilate between, but a middle way. For this one must understand qabala. Just do a google search for 'Adam Kadmon' and that will get you started. Note also the relevance and placement of the sphere of the sun on the tree of life--shine on benevolent sun. Tool knows what they're doing. This is a song for the union of god and man, the masses of humanity and the hosts of heaven. This is the Great Work of which little has been written and less understood. But pursue it and you can't be kept from it. In concert, I imagine it can be spectacular. Just to have it present in the world today is an amazing token of the light bathing this planet right now. But I don't feel like talking politics.}
Shine down upon the many, light our way{s},
Benevolent sun.
{Again the invocation, now suffused not just among the broken and the severed, but out upon the many, lighting our ways.}
Breathe in union
So, as one, survive
Another day {in} season
{Ah, but there's else to be done, for the world is at a tipping point now. Best to remind us with a call to union, to survive another season. This should be the will of us all, if we have any sense of world affairs today. Personally I would be very suprised if I didn't see at least a low-grade nuclear device used in my lifetime. I'm of the opinion that most people in the middle east will glow in the dark before the end of the next decade. Damn it, got into politics anyway. Such should not be discussed in lodge, I'm told.}
{Silence Legion} save your poison
{Silence Legion} stay out of my way
Finally, a banishing of Spirits, to clear the field that the work may be done purely. In some rituals a given activity is finished by a forceful call to 'stand back' against any untoward spirits that may enter the consequence of the ritual as it is incorporated into our own ongoing experience. This is called a 'banishing' rite. The banishing ritual is very often the first solid piece of ritual work an aspirant is introduced to, as it helps in equilibrating the yearling as s/he prepares to make way into the world of subtle vibration, where the littlest thought or deed can set up impressive repercussions. More progressive work usually follows, but this all depends on the tenor of the will of the student. Suffice it to say in this context, while some rituals are happy to end with no banishing, Jambi finishes its daimonic entreaty with a healthy declaration that the work here will not be spoiled by Legion. To understand who is Legion, see a New Testament, Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39. Pray we aren't the pigs!
The song is meant to embolden us in the quest to pursue this goal, knowledge and conversation of the holy guardian angel, though Tool is too consciously removed from the imagery of the tradition to make the references overt. That's part of their art, after all. But the message is there nonetheless. This particular song I have found to be very dear to me.
In closing, I would like to say I hold no exclusivity for this reading. I imagine there are other ways to look at the song. But I think the notion I've conveyed here is true to the intentions of the band--it is closer to what they were consciously intending than anything else I've seen. Decide for yourselves. This song is but one piece of a much larger tapestry composing their artistry, and it paints a beautiful picture (the system).
Wishing You all the Best,
PS