excuse me if this has been discussed before

[nabiliofadilio]

to me, the booklet for lateralus is showing the layers and forms of the body
the complete body all working together
the muscle of the body which is the physical part
ect.
and finally the sould of the body which is what holds everything together
the album lateralus is about communicatio
i think the booklet shows the TOOLS you have to use to communicate

ehh? make sense?

[justify_denials]

of course. the inner workings of man. Lateralus, being a muscle, I think in the leg?

[nabiliofadilio]

ohh i didn't know it was a muscle

[Clutch_The_Cornerstone]

yeah thats news to me also. kool stuff.

[justify_denials]

I could have sworn it was a muscle but I only foudn this....

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Lateral_geniculate_nucleus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus_reticularis_lateralis

None the less, don't take this literal.

[]v[edusa]

Since the art is in parts and everytime you flip the pages of it it goes deeper into the body, I always saw it as digging through the body to see whats truly inside. Kinda like finding the truth to yourself from within.

I dont know, just a thought.

[jevons]

Lats? Like the lateral muscles in your upper body?

[nabiliofadilio]

I could have sworn it was a muscle but I only foudn this....

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Lateral_geniculate_nucleus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus_reticularis_lateralis

None the less, don't take this literal.

that makes sense but why did tool spell it differently?

[justify_denials]

Well, I had this crazy theory that, well some very early printings which I read was about the first 100,000 or so had the song title spelt "Lateralis" and that supposedly it was an error so the track was reprinted to be spelt "Lateralus". It's of course no joke, I own a copy with this supposed "error". Well, that was'nt the theory but my theory is that it was a clever message saying 'lateralIS"........"lateralUS"....... like, Lateral-is/us.
Lateral is us.

[nabiliofadilio]

oh ok. thanks
thats cool, too, i would have never thought about it like that. LATER-is-us
awesome!

[Esurient4Truth]

Well, I had this crazy theory that, well some very early printings which I read was about the first 100,000 or so had the song title spelt "Lateralis" and that supposedly it was an error so the track was reprinted to be spelt "Lateralus". It's of course no joke, I own a copy with this supposed "error". Well, that was'nt the theory but my theory is that it was a clever message saying 'lateralIS"........"lateralUS"....... like, Lateral-is/us.
Lateral is us.

honestly i think that is coincidence. what would "later" by itself symbolize? parallelism?

human beings believe they are fundamentaly built upon layers. You have your organs, encased by the skeleton, then by the muscles, finally the skin, then the external factors such as eyes, mouth, fingernails and hair.

I tend to disagree. The human body isn't layered physically (since in the end, everything is just composed of a bunch of cells working together;and in the end, we are of one thing: a mass of cells).

I like tool's lateralus cover because is shows a spiritual system of layers, rather than physical layering.

[nabiliofadilio]

honestly i think that is coincidence. what would "later" by itself symbolize? parallelism?

human beings believe they are fundamentaly built upon layers. You have your organs, encased by the skeleton, then by the muscles, finally the skin, then the external factors such as eyes, mouth, fingernails and hair.

I tend to disagree. The human body isn't layered physically (since in the end, everything is just composed of a bunch of cells working together;and in the end, we are of one thing: a mass of cells).

I like tool's lateralus cover because is shows a spiritual system of layers, rather than physical layering.

well if its coincidence its a fucking cool coincidence!
your right about the spiritually layered thing, but what does LATERALUS the word have to do with it?

[Arkham Asylum]

I've always heard a thing about it saying "Lateral Us", as in "we are lateral". Lateral thinking will not lead to any significant discovery, a.k.a. the album's theme.

If you look at the black cover sleeve, the "us" is offset slightly, making it look like possibly two words in one ("lateral" and "us")

[nabiliofadilio]

cool, i never noticed that before. thanks

[Esurient4Truth]

well if its coincidence its a fucking cool coincidence!
your right about the spiritually layered thing, but what does LATERALUS the word have to do with it?

never said anything about the word LATERALUS as a whole.

look below:

I've always heard a thing about it saying "Lateral Us", as in "we are lateral". Lateral thinking will not lead to any significant discovery, a.k.a. the album's theme.

If you look at the black cover sleeve, the "us" is offset slightly, making it look like possibly two words in one ("lateral" and "us")

I don't think that was the intention, but how are "we" lateral? How is humanity lateral?

In my thought, a lateral society would consist of people being mentally and spiritually on the same playing field: which in our lifetimes, is impossible (example: differences in religious beliefs.)

One might argue that humans are lateral because, in a way, we are on the same playing field as god (life is a unity). I disagree with this. Think of our eternal life as as a house. You have different rooms: the living room, the bathroom, the office, the bedroom... The current life we are living, aka reality, would be a room in the house, with the door's closed. This would put God (if you believe) on a different level than us: or on a different plane if you will, since you, as a human being, isn't in the same room as God. God is awaiting for you in the bedroom (eternal slumber, aka death), while you live your life in the living room.

[justify_denials]

honestly i think that is coincidence. what would "later" by itself symbolize? parallelism?

human beings believe they are fundamentaly built upon layers. You have your organs, encased by the skeleton, then by the muscles, finally the skin, then the external factors such as eyes, mouth, fingernails and hair.

I tend to disagree. The human body isn't layered physically (since in the end, everything is just composed of a bunch of cells working together;and in the end, we are of one thing: a mass of cells).

I like tool's lateralus cover because is shows a spiritual system of layers, rather than physical layering.

Hey. I completly have nothing against your opinion and a matter of fact love to hear such. My thought had been that since tool seem to be a bunch of unpredictable guys that, well, the theory I came up with seemed possible. But then, with your thought, your opinion, honestly I think you proved them to be even more unpredictable and, a added element, mysterious. Honestly, at the same time with my theory, I see eye to eye with you. I don't know, but it won't make me crazy so I am open to anything.

[justify_denials]

I've always heard a thing about it saying "Lateral Us", as in "we are lateral". Lateral thinking will not lead to any significant discovery, a.k.a. the album's theme.

If you look at the black cover sleeve, the "us" is offset slightly, making it look like possibly two words in one ("lateral" and "us")

It is possible you read a thread containing this back in 2004 or I think it was 2005? I posted, not a thought about it, but not alot about it. But I do believe I did start a thread about it, possible under my old name before I switched to this one.

[Arkham Asylum]

I don't think that was the intention, but how are "we" lateral? How is humanity lateral?

I didn't mean to imply anything about humans being lateral other than the fact that we'd read the album title as one word. It is unconventional (what I would consider NOT lateral) to see it written as two words, "lateral" and "us". Hell, for all I know, it's just some silly pun. Anyway, it's all good.

I really like your thought though, about being in a room with the doors closed. Very appropriate analogy.

[Arkham Asylum]

It is possible you read a thread containing this back in 2004 or I think it was 2005? I posted, not a thought about it, but not alot about it. But I do believe I did start a thread about it, possible under my old name before I switched to this one.

I had heard about it from a friend maybe 2-3 years back, but it's very likely he found it here on TDN.

[nabiliofadilio]

One might argue that humans are lateral because, in a way, we are on the same playing field as god (life is a unity). I disagree with this. Think of our eternal life as as a house. You have different rooms: the living room, the bathroom, the office, the bedroom... The current life we are living, aka reality, would be a room in the house, with the door's closed. This would put God (if you believe) on a different level than us: or on a different plane if you will, since you, as a human being, isn't in the same room as God. God is awaiting for you in the bedroom (eternal slumber, aka death), while you live your life in the living room.

i agree with you completely on that
i looked up lateral in the dictionary just to see if there was any more info on it and one of the definitions is "branching from the main part|"
which fits since lateralus always seemed like differewnt kind of album. tool discuss unique subjects in unique ways and the title track is about opening up your mind to new things. BRANCHING OUT

[Esurient4Truth]

BRANCHING OUT

(I just did some resent research on this and perhaps this fits in somehow)

Sephirothic System of Ten Divine Names
...
aka

The Tree of Life

*just as an edit - probably not what maynard means or is referring to, but still very interesting if your willing to read a bit.

[nabiliofadilio]

http://www.toolpantheon.com/lateralus_meanings.htm
tree of life

[Esurient4Truth]

http://www.toolpantheon.com/lateralus_meanings.htm
tree of life

I don't want to sound cocky or rude, but damn I was on the spot.

Nice find nabiliofadilio

[nabiliofadilio]

hahahaha i guess you have the right to be, you thought of it
i read through some of it and i can't really comprehend most of what it says. can you explain it to me?

[Eulogy33]

well, in both knees we have a lateral meniscus and a medial meniscus. about a year ago i tore my left ACL and Lateral meniscus. VERY, VERY, VERY painful.

[Resolution]

Since the art is in parts and everytime you flip the pages of it it goes deeper into the body, I always saw it as digging through the body to see whats truly inside. Kinda like finding the truth to yourself from within.

I dont know, just a thought.



excellent interpretation. i especially like the GOD that is displayed within the brain.

[jevons]

God likes it, too.

[endless_nameless]

I don't think that was the intention, but how are "we" lateral? How is humanity lateral?

In my thought, a lateral society would consist of people being mentally and spiritually on the same playing field: which in our lifetimes, is impossible (example: differences in religious beliefs.)

One might argue that humans are lateral because, in a way, we are on the same playing field as god (life is a unity). I disagree with this. Think of our eternal life as as a house. You have different rooms: the living room, the bathroom, the office, the bedroom... The current life we are living, aka reality, would be a room in the house, with the door's closed. This would put God (if you believe) on a different level than us: or on a different plane if you will, since you, as a human being, isn't in the same room as God. God is awaiting for you in the bedroom (eternal slumber, aka death), while you live your life in the living room.

I think God is the house, and which room we reside in is defined by our perception.