Why the half a minute wait at the beginning?

[Kbob]

When i first heard this song i thought it was gonna be a segue/ambient song, because of the 38 seconds of just a bell at the start. The guitar doesnt begin to fade in until 0:38 (turn your headphones up and you'll hear it come in then).

Anyway, i was wondering why it is 38 seconds, so i came up with this theory that:

The 38 seconds of nothing is Maynard's (own, rather than his view on his mother) part of the song. Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't Maynard 38 years old when Judith died? That 38 seconds (i believe) is the memory of Maynard's time shared with Judith (each second being a year) on this world. It's like his own little part as an introduction to the rest of the song. He gets his own short quiet time to reflect on the past years before the band begins to play.

[jpoling13]

I don't know all the facts, whether he was 38 when she died or not. But if so, that's pretty cool. Your theory makes a lot of sense.

[Jimmeny]

No, he was 39 when she died.

Sometimes, artists don't think about exact seconds and all that shit. They wanted a quiet period at the start of the song, to frame it in some aesthetically relevent manner. When they felt it was time to fade the guitars in, they added the automation on the computer.

[MORNING_GLORY]

I definitely think you're over thinking it. People have really forgotten about the music... they all want puzzles and secret messages and meanings... and while Lateralus was full of that stuff, 10,000 days seems to be much more straight foward. Take it for what it is, don't try to make it something its not.

[Esurient4Truth]

I definitely think you're over thinking it. People have really forgotten about the music... they all want puzzles and secret messages and meanings... and while Lateralus was full of that stuff, 10,000 days seems to be much more straight foward. Take it for what it is, don't try to make it something its not.

A song is about interpretation. Different people will get a different vibe from the same song than others. In the end, I don't think it matters how one listens to a song. If listener feels the way he/she feels about the song -> more power to him/her.

[Jimmeny]

You're right, but I also think that has fuck all to do with the actual truth.

[Cheesegreater]

A song is about interpretation. Different people will get a different vibe from the same song than others. In the end, I don't think it matters how one listens to a song. If listener feels the way he/she feels about the song -> more power to him/her.

I agree, I don't see this pressing need to take the wind out of peoples' sails, always saying, "You're over-thinking it." I don't care if people go out on some tangent I haven't thought of before. I'm sure it works great with them, and I certainly don't have to take what they say as truth.

And truth isn't really relative in an OPINION forum, afterall. In fact, truth really has "fuck all" to do with everyones' opinions. We're writing opinions here folks, not scientific hypotheses that need be scrutinized down to the last detail.

There's an Aenima era thing about Tool, and Maynard says something to the effect of, "We're not trying to make everyone feel the same thing with our songs. It's not like we can know how every song is being interpreted by others. In fact, it's impossible to know all the little things that happen in someones head during the course of one song." Not his exact words but to the same effect.

Personally, I love hearing these "puzzles" people come up with. I may not agree with them, but it always gives me a perspective of what it's like to hear the song from another's point of view.

[Jimmeny]

There's a quite distinct difference between 'another's point of view' and 'There are 38 seconds of silence to represent every year Maynard knew his mother!' One is about perspective, the other is about taking minute details and intepreting somebody ELSEs intention. One inspires a shift of perspective, the other is a bogus truth theory.

You're wrong to say that our opinion is irrelevent to the truth. You're misconstruing Maynards quote to provide some power to your 'opinion' of his work. Infact, the opposite is the case. He's actually saying 'People have their opinions and I don't care' - I'm pretty sure the quote you're making also has a section where he says 'I see peoples interpretation of the lyrics and they're all wrong, but that's ok'.

He says that because, compared to the TRUTH, your opinions are WRONG.

Of course, this is NOT the same as saying that because your interpretation is wrong that it can't inspire you - Maynard wants you to be inspired, but he has to accept that people are going to misinterpret his intentions.



It's this kind of egocentricity that Maynard is trying to escape from. He really doesn't care what you decide to intepret in his songs. When he talks of inspiring everyone, he is not talking about 'lots of different interpretations', he's talking about making everyone look at what they have to say for themselves, and inspire them to communicate that creatively.

What you're suggesting is a lovely idea, until you think it through for a split second. What you're saying is that Tool try and write songs where every possibly interpretation has some kind of truth value. How is that even close to possible? Neither the result, nor the creative process, can possibly exist.

[simplydaman87]

i remember reading somewhere that danny said that there was a specific mathematical pattern to the gong hits or whatever they are that start the song but i have absolutely no idea what that might be

[Apachana]

Artists think in Bars and beats :)

[base metal]

I think it's just a transition to set the mood for the song after the intense ending to Jambi.

[slamminsalmon]

i agree with the above, and maybe an added moment of silence

[p.r.a.i.s.e.]

i agree with the above, and maybe an added moment of silence

that makes sense....
--
and about the gong hit, it could represent the moment of Judith Marie passing away....which would lead to 10,000 Days.
I always imagined Wings being like a conversation between Maynard and his mother, with some moments of Maynard speaking to himself.
10,000 Days always seemed like after she passed b/c he speaks more in past-tense[You WERE my witness, my eyes, my evidence,], also he implies about her funeral [The ignorant fibbers in the congregation./Gather around spewing sympathy,/Spare me.]