inane

I think your interpretation of The Patient may be a little thin. While we will probably never know exactly what this song is about, I think I have a pretty good idea. Let me know what you think. What I think this song, and the album as a whole are about is ascention, and wanting to ascend now. There must be something more to life than everyday tedium and I'm tired of waiting for the big payoff, I want it now. I would have given up already were it not for the little things that keep me going. By the end of Parabol/Parabola, we come to the realization that life itself is the journey toward ascention and is just as important and grand as heaven itself. The trick is that life is what you make of it. You must be aware, you must watch out for the random and grab on to the spiral and let it swing you wherever it will. You mustn't fear the unknown and allow yourself to become comfortable with the norm. You must also be able to find pleasure in and appreciate the simple things in life, like watching the weather change. One theme that runs deeply through Tool's music: Think for yourself. Explore. Expand your mind. Another prominent theme is tedium, or boredom. Take Stinkfist, for example: "This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to." Lateralus- the whole album's theme is tedium: moving sideways, or laterally, instead of forward. Schism is about just holding it together. When you scramble to hold it together you can't possibly be moving forward. In The Grudge, you must give away the stone or be dragged down with it. By the end of the album, it has become clear that life is worth living after all and that we must embrace whatever it brings and make the best of it. I would almost go so far as to call Lateralus a concept album. While it doesn't necessarily have the running narrative of a traditional concept album, the songs are all held tightly by the underlying theme. What do you all think? Am I on to something here or way off?