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thereisnospoon
07-22-2003, 09:41 PM
hmmm,

it's easier to write if i think of tool as a person. and besides, the song is by the band!

see, i think that besides all it's rambling, tool still thinks that everyone's not bad. i mean, they sure care about women and children and all the good people.

so, yeah, they want a flood to sweep everything away. but they also want these "good people" to "learn to swim".

the title of the song? aenima? sort of like "cleaning the system out", isnt it? like flushing all the bad stuff (war, rape, etc.) away and letting the good stuff (peace. fluffy red underwear) remain and letting it flourish.

loki veridis quo
07-23-2003, 05:02 AM
i was led to believe the title of the song, aenema, refers to a name given to ppl who reject society or sumthin like that, by some philosopher guy... im sure somebody here will elaborate on it...

which fits, cos the song wants to flush away society... metaphorically speaking... and that u shud learn to swim, a metaphor for surviving without what were attached to, ie society. like how u learn to swim to survive in the water...

then again i think the title of the song is an anogram.

(a)bove (e)everyone ; (n)othing (e)ven (m)atters (a)nymore

like, tool is above society..they see the corruption thats in the world... so they wanna flush it all away because its all pointless... nothing matters anymore... it fits, but maybe only in my brain :S

skaboy52
08-18-2003, 10:58 PM
The song, if not a lot of the album itself, is essentially a tribute to Bill Hicks. He talks about how much he hates LA and wants it to fall into the Pacific Ocean due to a huge earthquake on his album, get this, Arizona Bay. Bill Hicks was in truth a brilliant man in the guise of a comedian. Supposedly, Eulogy was written about Hicks as well, and the last track on the cd includes sound clips of Hicks from the cd Relentless. If I can recommend a single Hicks cd above any other, do yourself a favor and check out Rant in E Minor. It will blow your mind.

ReverendMaynard
08-24-2003, 09:04 AM
Also, you may want to check out a book (recommended on the Tool reading list) called "Love and Sleep and Ægypt" by John Crowley.
As for Bill Hicks, yeah, the album is a pretty blatant tribute to him. See pretty much any Hicks album to find the phrase "Squeegee your third f*ckin' eye."

ReverendMaynard
08-27-2003, 09:22 AM
Sorry. "Love and Sleep" and "AEgypt" are seperate works. I'm still trying to get my hands on either. I'll tell you when I do.

Leighbot
09-12-2003, 01:15 AM
i was led to believe the title of the song, aenema, refers to a name given to ppl who reject society or sumthin like that, by some philosopher guy... im sure somebody here will elaborate on it...

which fits, cos the song wants to flush away society... metaphorically speaking... and that u shud learn to swim, a metaphor for surviving without what were attached to, ie society. like how u learn to swim to survive in the water...

then again i think the title of the song is an anogram.

(a)bove (e)everyone ; (n)othing (e)ven (m)atters (a)nymore

like, tool is above society..they see the corruption thats in the world... so they wanna flush it all away because its all pointless... nothing matters anymore... it fits, but maybe only in my brain :S


i think its a bit more literal than metaphoric, in the sense that if we keep this life-style up, the ice caps will melt, and 5m above sea level will be the new sea level. Also if you have the 'reflecto' version of AEnima, it shows half on california dissapearing.

Also i sincerly do not believe that tool think they are above us, other wise they wouldn't be trying to help us see things the way they do.On the contrary I think they try to promote change precisly because they realize that they are fated to what ever will happen to the rest of us and therefore we all better open our eyes, first, second and third!

JTCrace
09-12-2003, 05:10 AM
The title of the song is a combination of the words Anima and enema. The former being a man's feminine side which acts both as a complex and an archetype. This whole album mostly deals with Maynard forging a relationship with his Anima. This particular song refers to the feminine on a universal level; notice the continual references to water, which is a very feminine symbol for obvious reasons. Also, if one watches the video there are clues there too. Notice the wounded guy with a disconnected umbilical cord. And the other guy who attaches himself to a electric generator-like thing that really looks like a bid dildo (in other words, it's a phallus symbol, representitve of masculinity). Also at the end we see a fetus in the womb and then we see what looks like an ejaculation. Probably the most important symbol in the video is the the lizard which has two heads instead of a head and a tail. This again reiterates the idea of disconnection. In mythology the reptile that consumes its own tail (those of that attended the last tour would have noticed an animated "ouroboros" during H.) represents the cyclic nature of everything and the idea that everything is interconnected. What is comes down to is that in this universe, in a certain way, everything is connected to everything.

Our society has become so masculine oriented. In almost all aspects of society, things are becoming far too separated, especially in the realm of human interaction. Nobody is connected up to anything, we are literally drowning in confusion, anger, depression, apathy, laziness, blindness. etc. This is Maynard's desperate call for a return to the working feminine principle, the feminine principle that connects things up and brings things together. The entire song is a metaphor. That is why at the end he says, "Don't just call me a pessimist, try and read between the lines." Maynard is simply saying he would like to see a catastrophe occur on a psychological/spiritual level, not necessarily a physical one.

the_aenima
05-06-2005, 12:06 PM
Maynards father was a preacher, correct? then maybe THATS why he has a semi religous turn on his songs he makes quotes fromthe bible in a lot of his work.

tendertrap?
05-15-2005, 06:51 PM
error

tendertrap?
05-15-2005, 07:36 PM
JTcrace pointed out what i had also come to understand as the underlying theme. i want to elaborate:
-- the album is entitled Ænima
-- the song is entitled Ænema

-- the character Æ is used to imply a union between Anima and Enema and their respective meanings.

I wish I could spout knowledge on the Anima, but alas, I have read more about the life of Jung than I have read his actual body of work.

Obviously, Jung's Anima represents a specific entity, a facet of the mind or spirit, but i think an understanding and awareness of the Anima is linked to other developments of the person. So for the moment, let the concept of the Anima (as it relates to the above mentioned words) represent what i believe to be these 'developments': an expanding self-awareness, a respect for fellow humans, respect for the mother earth, respect for one's self (if you know what i am getting at, all such things etc).

Now imagine that these developments and this general awareness as a sort of flushing of the soul. A cleansing.

Now project this image of an 'Enema of the soul' to the image of Arizona Bay. Where LA represents (justifiably so) the ills of society, the individual, etc., the great flood from the sky must flush this away, so learn to swim (see above 'developments').
Sorry, i have to go so i kinda rushed the end there a bit. Ill be back though, so please post...

tendertrap?
05-16-2005, 09:23 PM
ok let me finish...
the verb here is flush. cleanse. flood and suck.

i think there are two different applications for this action, both of which run parallel to each other.
the first is the individual, through his own own 'developments' (see my above post). developing this--for simplicity--awareness of one's Anima, is what I think maynard means by 'learn to swim'.
i think the other, but more important application of the Enema is on the social level. those who 'swim' by applying their--again, for simplicity, and now spelled accordingly--awareness of their Ænima, live. those who do not will drown in what maynard has dubbed the Ænema, the great "flood from the sky, meteor showers and tidal waves--followed by fault lines that cannot sit still..."


then again, i cant help but think that there is some historical meaning to the character Æ which would displace its purpose as simply a link between two words.



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