Parabol/a is from two points of view

[HelenA]

So, if we assume that this pair of songs is about sex, and I think we can, then it just seems to me that it makes more sense if Maynard is singing from two separate points of view.

I could be wrong, so don't flame the shit out of me, BUT if we consider each stanza (verse) as a play between the male and the female then it works really nicely.

Look:

“So familiar and overwhelmingly warm
This one, this form I hold now.
Embracing you, this reality here,
This one, this form I hold now, so
Wide eyed and hopeful.
Wide eyed and hopefully wild.”

This ^ is from the man’s point of view. He feels the warmth of her hot, wet pussy. He is holding her. He is the instigator and she looks wild eyed and hopeful. He feels powerful because she is responding and she is hopeful that he might make her come.

“We barely remember what came before this precious moment,
Choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside...
This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in
This body makes me feel eternal. All this pain is an illusion.”

This ^ is from the women’s point of view. She is more romantic then he is, she feels his throbbing cock inside her and wants it to stay inside and last longer. It reminds her that she is not alone. She has power and that even if it hurts, it doesn’t matter. Anal?

07 parabola • (new song)
“We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment,
We are choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside
This holy reality, this holy experience.
Choosing to be here in”

^Man

“This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion.”

^Woman

“Alive, I

"In this holy reality, in this holy experience. Choosing to be here in”

^Man cums (very grateful)

“This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion.”

^Woman, still hopeful.

“Twirling round with this familiar parable.
Spinning, weaving round each new experience.
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.”

^Man. I think this could be him realising his part in the process and twirling his tongue around her clit, spinning and weaving a new experience. Recognizing the holy gift and giving her the chance to be alive and breathing.

“This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal.
All this pain is an illusion.”

^ Both. They have gorgeous sex and realise that they (as a couple) are eternal.



What do you think? Happy to hear other thoughts.

[onerand]

I'm glad to see someone seeing things from a different point of view but i think this song is completely internal. physical and emotional pain can be channelled for one's own benefit but the more one delves into one's self the more reality seems to dissipate. i think maynard is saying that he chooses to be in himself as opposed to being placed there without choice, but on the other hand if he lets go death will be permanent hence the parabol. its a contradiction just as all of our existence is, but thank god for mortality

[HelenA]

Yes - thank God indeed. I agree that the more one delve's into one's self the more fantasy comes into play. It is good to probe into one's secret places. And you are probably right about Maynard as well.. he certainly likes to be in a place he chooses. He likes to be in charge. Maynard is familiar with the secret desires of the human heart and small momentary deaths are inevitable as we seek deeper ground.

[]v[edusa]

lol, i cant believe that fits.

i still think this song is about his body holding his spirit. the body is mortal but the spirit is eternal. this is referring to platos mind/body dualism. also it could be referring to his true center which is inside the heart and that the reality of the false center creates pain which means its only an illusion. "remembering who or what came before this precious moment" comes from the eternal spirit or the true center that is held inside the body.

i dont think tool would make a song about the second chakra (sex) especially right after a song centered in the heart chakra (schism).

[Arkham Asylum]

lol, i cant believe that fits.

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Feel free to flame. I didn't mean anything by it.

[HelenA]

Sexy song - just my view

[chalk_line]

I think this song could be about death. Thinking about death, a near death experience, or just plain mortality, the inescapable reminder of death.

The begining of the song reminds me of being reborn or starting life over
So familiar and overwhelmingly warm
This one, this form I hold now

"We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment"
Everybody has had the thought, "what will happen after i die"? or " All i know is life, i can't even conceive of anything before i was here on this planet".
becasue human existence is without gaps, i mean that it is one continuous experience we know nothing of the time before our existence and nothing beyond our time alive.

"Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing"
Its almost as if hes saying that he now recognizes how lucky he is to be alive, that he took for granted the simple things..and just living life

also, at the near death experince, people often accept death.
Maynard has said before"I have died and will die.It's all right.I don't mind"
He now says" Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal.
All this pain is an illusion"
He has accepted death and no longer fears it as before.

Just my take on it.

[HelenA]

mmm - thanks chalk_line. Interesting post.

[HelenA]

Actually, "the little death" is another name for orgasm - maybe we can thread these two together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_little_death

[Vpaah]

le petite amorte (drunk spelling, didnt take french)
tool huge crowley fans 'in orgasm the mind is blotted out'

really good idea, you've changed how i look at this song, thank you

maybe you don't even need to take it as being so literal, twirling, pain ect could be psycological changes and feelings rather than physical

.Gynomancer.

[HelenA]

Nah - the physical stuff is more fun - I like the pictures it makes in my head!

[Vpaah]

yeah but i don't want to have to giggle like the school girl that lives inside me every time i listen to the song

[Him]

The person who views things from the sacral chakra sees sexual meanings in everything around them... go beyond that...

[onerand]

hmmm.....where do i begin? the fact that i had to ask myself that is more than indicative that i have a lot to say about nothing. helena BIG UP to you for not being such a spiritualist, even though maynard may be one it doesnt mean that his songs are based on his religious path or his spiritual journeys....on the APC dvd he says that no cd can be made without a song about anal sex so you could be right on the money there helena LOL

[wilkez]

i think when maynard says "we" in this song he is referring to the single conciousness we all belong to. so many times on the cd and in other tool albums he talks about how we are all one single thing. third eye, reflection, ect.

[BlueTape]

wow, nothing about the difference and relationship between the two songs??

k, chew on this

parabol-third eye closed
parabola-third eye open/body separated from mind

parabola is when the curve meets the straight plane, the straight plane being parabol and the curve(spiral) being parabola


as for the whole sex look, thats humorous and could very well be the case but i think the songs have a bit deeper of a meaning

[Arkham Asylum]

parabol-third eye closed
parabola-third eye open/body separated from mind

parabola is when the curve meets the straight plane, the straight plane being parabol and the curve(spiral) being parabola

Pretty cool look at this. I really like this, BlueTape, especially the idea of the parabola meeting the plane (even from the mathematical viewpoint).

[Noob_Jones]

I may be remembering wrong but thinking back to my 7th grade Spanish class when you add an "a" to the end of a word it makes it feminine.

[PShepherd11]

I also think it's about sex, but to me it has an emotional feel to it, not really physical. Not just two random people getting together feeling intense arousal. More like, a pair of soulmates making love, feeling emotionally connected.

[HelenA]

Yes - if it is (even partly) about sex then it is about an intense loving relationship not just a random pairing.

[Rakzis]

well we all know how tool's songs can have many meanings, whether or not it's spiritual or physical you can't deny eather one. First of all you can't have existence without intercourse (hence how we are all born) I tend to view it more sexually
"so familiar and overwhelmingly warm this one, this form I hold now" the other person. "choosing to be here right now. hold on, stay inside...this body holding me, reminging me that I am not alone "(intercourse, the act of two in unity, a gift of pleasure that also creates life, the act of two halfs coming together to complete each other [parabol/a], why else does he say"BE MY REMINDER THAT I AM NOT ALONE" the "feeling eternal" part could be that they are so connected with each other that to them there is no time or meaning of time and "all this pain is an illusion" is them not having to worry about anything else around then and the feeling of pleasure is the opposite of pain, when they are together there is no pain. Near the end when it talks about "chance to be alive and breathing" could be when they have climaxed and are breathing heavily, then when it says "this body holding me reminds me of my own mortality" could be the end of feeling eternal and pain being an illusion or the fear of losing it, that's why he reassures himself that they will feel it again by being in unity again "embrace this moment.remember.we are eternal.all this pain is an illusion"......but this is just my opinion and what this song means to me, whether or not it's one of the many meanings behind these two songs. so you can't rule out either the spiritual or the physical aspects.....(and I agree with some of the graphic descriptions from HelenA) I'll respect any replies

[Rakzis]

I've had this opinion since LATERALUS come out and I'm happy to find out that someone else shares my view on this song...........(the whole sex theme)..............I agree, Excellent and fun

[PShepherd11]

Yes - if it is (even partly) about sex then it is about an intense loving relationship not just a random pairing.

Sorry Helen, I didn't mean a random pairing exactly; more like casual sex. Maybe that's not what you meant either, but I guess your descriptions made me think more of people who get together casually and it's not much more than arousal at the time; as in, they don't have a bond between them.

[Rod]

Here's my favorite interpritation of the song's. It's an out of body experience.

http://toolnavy.com/showthread.php?t=3058

I had the privelage of seeing this song performed live when the band was "on". Towards the climax, Maynard turned around on his platform and leaned way back with his arms outstretched .... it gave the impression he was floating. In retrospect, I believe he was simulating an out of body experience. He was spirit Maynard.

[Rakzis]

I still can't get over the part "This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone " "be my reminder here that I am not alone"

[HelenA]

Yeah - same. Lovely lyrics.

[orange_knickers]

I always thought of this as a spiritual song, almost into the buddhist line of thinking. About how we all are one, ultimately, and will return to one source, and pain and suffering beeing just an illusion. It beeing a comforting song, about not immersing oneself into ones pain, but looking beyond that.
Though if u see it as sex, it would surely be that loving kind Helena speaks of, which makes it even more beautiful in a way.

[parables in the world]

Your interpretation is a funny one and a good one too.....i personally think this song is about realizing how our body is a holy gift, and how good it feels to be alive, and to breathe.

[endless_nameless]

I think you're right about this song being from two points of view, but I see them as being the Self and the Ego, which is you on two different planes of reality (two sides of a parabola). Parabol is the Self, which is eternal and unmovable, and passively observes in a state of restrained awe the twisting and twirling excitement of life in the physical realm (watching the weather change). Our waking lives are a song, the Self is the silence from which the song came and to which it returns, underlying the music.

Parabola begins when the parabolic curve reaches the dividing straight line; the perspective changes from the higher, eternal observer to the sinusoid, mortal "I" of normal ego consciousness - the sense of self that is alive and riding the rollercoaster.
This is why the mood of the music changes from peaceful reverence to an energetic, up-tempo celebration.

So in essence this song is about realizing and celebrating the holy gift of life from two different perspectives, which are ultimately the same perspective; notice how the two songs mirror each other, musically and lyrically. The final stanza -
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember:
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion
- represents the conscious ego coming to terms with the animal body's death, but ultimately identifies with the eternal Self rather than the mortal ego - recognizing that all we ever have is this moment, which is divine. Then, after the distorted interlude (maybe represents the continuing journey of mortal life, or the period of uncertainty following death) the Parabol guitar is re-introduced, collapsing the opposites into one, finding the Self at the end of the ego-consciousness side of the parabola.

[parables in the world]

That reminds me of the video.

[faxedsomedoubt]

To me this song speaks to the emotional connection of love, and the ability of the body to reinforce and persuade the mind. To be so encompassed by the person in front of you—emotionally distracted and fulfilled to the point where you no longer are even able to remember all those that came before him (or her). Or how it is that you and this person even ended up in that place. But, still able to give of yourself completely to the moment—“choosing to be here.” The ultimate expression of obsessive love (which all love is at the beginning) is the act of sex. There is nothing outside of that moment. Unspoken devotion, truly sacred connection with another human being. The pain (the bitterness, the sadness, the frustration, the anger) that we carry around every day seems to crumble in that moment. Another element of the brain/body connection—the ability to block physical and emotional pain, the ability to escape the weight. At the beginning, you feel alive, and like you can breathe more freely than you ever have before—because although the obsession is intoxicating, it frees your mind of having to be alone, or at least feeling like you are. And although it’s familiar—the adrenaline rush, the infatuation, you’ve been there before; it’s also new and surprising and there’s no way to really know what is coming. It’s a spiritual union, and sex is just the culmination of that connection.

[HelenA]

It’s a spiritual union, and sex is just the culmination of that connection.
Mmmm - sex - yummmmmmo - sigh