Originally Posted by spacemonkeyadb

Thanks for clarifying your position. I see that you're taking the lyric to mean "bound to" as in "morally required to" rather than as "likely to". Here I think we have an issue worthy of further debate as it suggests 2 very different interpretations of the song...
(perhaps this should be posted elsewhere, but I'll put it here as it bears on the issue of the chorus lyrics)

INTERPRETATION 1: Us monkeys need to quit fighting over everything, and the solution is to divide things up and share. The chorus then recommends this solution to us.

INTERPRETATION 2: The problem is that us silly monkeys will fight over anything given the chance, with the unfortunate result that everything gets divided in two. The chorus then laments this unfortunate fact.

I'd really like to know if anyone else believes interpretation 1 is Tool's intended meaning. Anyways, here's why I think it is not:

"PLENTY in this holy garden, silly monkeys
Where there's one you're bound to divide it"

If there is plenty in this garden, then why the need to DIVIDE & share, why not just get another one?

Also, compare the above lyric with:

"Silly monkeys give them thumbs they forge a blade
And where there's one they're bound to divide it..."

Here the monkeys WILL forge a blade (just as earlier they WILL divide it). To apply interpretation 1 here in an analagous way you would require this to mean something like: The monkeys WILL forge a blade but unfortunately they forget that they are also bound(required) to then divide things with it as well.

Also, if being "bound to divide" is a good thing in both of the above lyrics, then compare with the later lyric:

"Silly monkeys give them thumbs they make a club,
And beat their brother down"

Is this also a positive thing? Or is it an unfortunate fact, just like how we are "bound(likely) to divide" things in the prrevious 2 cases?

And finally, I think interpretation 2 fits in much better with the whole perspective of the song, i.e. Angels looking down on the unfortunate plight of humanity, and lamenting their unfortunate condition.