I must agree with xyu. Songs take on greater meaning when you look inside yourself. Now to contradict myself, and post more about Jimmy.

the 11 refers to state route 11 in Ohio. Maynard lost a close friend on that road when he was much younger. Listen to the song once again with that in mind. As always, Tool includes several double-entendres and dual meanings. Love all their stuff.

can you link where he says he lost that close friend?

Here are the whispered lyrics in Jimmy.

Go to Jimmy Here.

http://www.vanillacircus.net/book/tool_book.pdf

I wish that I could see you
Turn and run to play
Dreams are fading
Carry my ancient soul
Carry me into the light
Aim your body heavenly
Enduring a memory
I’ll come to your light
Hold your light
Hold your light where I can see it
Hold it
High

best thread in here.

i thought everyone already knew what jimmy and judith were about? i dunno maybe i just figured this out before everyone else...

wonderful thread... Jimmy was always a great song.. i used to (and still do) get chills at the "When one and one become one, eleven.." part.. and now, having a better understanding about it's connection with his mother and lil Maynard having to deal with him mummy being paralyzed... very touching... the song has taken on a whole 'nother level of resonance with me...

I always had a feeling one of the meaning of the lyrics to Jimmy related to MJK and his mother put for some reason had a hard time finding info on it. With 10,000 days and a little research I think you guys have pinned it down..Judith does bring a lot of this to light. This snippet from wikpedia helped clear things up as well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Marie_Keenan

Wow. Cool link to that about her. I guess I never paid enough attention to the details in each of those songs. (Judith, Jimmy, 10,000 Days) It makes more sense than ever.

Dude, Wings/10,000 Days is a eulogy to his dead mother. Individual and personal interpretations and implications drawn from this song are all well and good- but they are still inextricably linked to Maynard's personal life. I might agree with your point as it relates to "Stinkfist" or other songs of that nature, but "Jimmy," "Judith" and "Wings/10,000 Days" are autobiographical works reflecting Maynard's most personal relationships and demons. I might even go so far as to say that a personal interpretation of these lyrics that does not ground itself in Maynard's specified experiences lacks foundation.

dont forget about orestes...so heartbreakingly beautiful...

Notice in the Artwork 11 is seen alot there. The candles, The roses make an 11 on the desk, The clock in Maynards one of the hands is point to the 11. (Awesome.) The CD came out May, 2 ,2006

5-2-06

5+2+6= 13 Minus two. (Because it's just right to minus two.) 11.

(I may have stretched a bit with the last one, but other then that 11 is seen alot.)

People express what they know... And I am pretty sure MJK has spent a lot of time thinking about his mother's situation... But I don't think MJK wrote these songs for us to corelate and align and pout some half-hearted sympathy. It is obvious in retrospective that these songs are related... If we would spend half the time figureing out what MJK is experincing on actually relating to what we hear, these types of songs would stand twice as clear. If I were Maynard and I shared this experince with everyone like this, I would not want a scury of ants figureing out the logisitics, I would want everyone to take and absorb and make is something personal.

I guess we all know the facts, and now its time to do something with what you know...

It might be, it might not be, but "This Little Light of Mine" is actaully a sunday school kid's song well rooted in the Bible. Maybe it's a song she quite frequently sang to him when he was a child. Who knows!

The verse:
Matthew 5:16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The song:

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine!

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine!

Don't let Satan blow it out,
I'm gonna let it shine.
Don't let Satan blow it out,
I'm gonna let it shine.
Don't let Satan blow it out,
I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine!

Let it shine til Jesus comes,
I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine til Jesus comes,
I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine til Jesus comes,
I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine!

in back-reading all of this....jimmy...lateralus....10,000days(wings I & II)....
Alot of what jimmy and the elevens is in fact about the age when this happened to Judith Marie...(but there's a lot more to the 11-thing) But, if you apply Lataralus, and how we are to embrace this moment and the random, then you also embrace the passing of your loved ones....then it becomes more evident...
...move to heal....so we can reunite and both move on together....(thats not so far from what Lateralus is showing us...2 spirals...one striving to reach symetry with the other...the metaphor of her (1) being part of the golden mean now, and he (1) being the fibonicci....I think if you try, you can correlate ALL the songs together...

Can you purchase this book somewhere?

Edit: Nevermind I'm stupid, I found it. Good thread ^^

Not sure if anyone thought of this, but I also see the Judith connection in The Patient and definitely in Disposition and Reflection.

Reflection always bugged me cuz I didnt know who he was referring to when he mentioned, "she resuscitates the hopeless"

I know a lot of people think that Maynard is a godhater and is anti christian; I always felt maynard is more antireligious than anything....I find Maynard always pouring out his soul and to me, carries a ton of faith with it.

To put it clearly, I think he applauds his mother's faith and in reflection he overcomes his struggle with reminder toward how strong she is.

I very much disagree with anyone saying, well, maynard is antigod/jesus and he wrote 10000days just to bullshit and give judith a eulogy and thats it; but really, lied and hated what she believed.

all my ideas....i just see now where maynard is going with other songs of his now.

First of all she didnt just get sick... it is my understanding that she had a stroke which caused her paralysis... second i am actually shocked that it has taken you all this long to put it together... "under a dead ohio sky" he grew up in ohio... yes i think it is probably safe to assume that they called him Jimmy.. and there are so many ways to connect the rest of the song that i cant understand how you can say it doesnt fit in... in his 11 year old state what was happening didnt make sense and a part of him was locked in that place.. it took growing up and really looking at his mother and her life and the life he has led since then surrounding her that made him release the pain and finally gain an understanding

I consider it highly likely that Jimmy is about both his mothers stroke and the death of a friend (as suggested earlier) happening at relatively close periods in his life. Playing the three songs together in sequence live would be fantastic.

there is a christian song "this little light of mine....im gonna let it shine." basically stating that the spirit is in me and i am not afraid to show it.

I could be right, or wrong, but that is my interpretation.

November - the eleventh month....

Yay, we solved the puzzle!

...

...


Now what?

hhmmm. i figured everyone had caught on to this one.

I had this all together about the time 10,000 Days came out. Sent my mom a CD of Jimmy Judith and Wings 1 and 2 for mothers day, she loved it. I also sent her the Lyrics to 10,000 Day and she said that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever read.

seriously. i wonder why too many people haven't yet made the connection to actually LISTEN to these wonderful compositions - they're no tool fans to me, that's for sure.

I have been listening to Tool for many years, but am new to this site. Having browsed through various threads on various topics, I think that the connections made and explicitly stated here make it one of the best threads I've read, whether or not these connections have already been made by other fans.

Regarding whether or not we should be looking inside ourselves for our own meanings, ours and the author's don't have to be mutually exclusive. To apply a small bit of literary theory, we should perhaps have regard for both intrinsic and extrinsic criticisms of the lyrics, or as Kenneth Burke says the "criticisms of criticisms", so that we can be aware of what the author intended, yet still make our own connections based on our own circumstances.

Sorry if this hasn't really added to the debate, but I am a noob

Get out of here with your hate crime.

HATE CRIME!

I have to agree with dvarim10_12 on this when he says:

"To put it clearly, I think he applauds his mother's faith and in reflection he overcomes his struggle with reminder toward how strong she is."

If I were to make assumptions, I would say that in the light of the alleged stroke, she focused on her faith to keep her sane, as most people do in that situation.

He saw the hypocricy in the church at even a young age (11?) and wondered what the hell she was doing believing in that crap. This caused them to have a difference of opinion, and forced them apart. Until one day, when he decided to head back home to her (Jimmy?), and one and one were now one. (a reference to both finding themselves and finally being whole on an individual level?... reunite and both move on together)

Now, when she died, I think Judith was a cry saying "you believed in him, and yet he took you anyway." (praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed)

So here you have a song saying, you didnt belong... you were an angel among liars, thieves, cowards. You kept your faith shining bright throughout your 10,000 days, when most would have given up. So go beat down the doors of St Peter, and demand your wings, for you have earned them.

Assumptions...

There has to be something else behind the eleven however. I think he refers to her as Eleven. In numerology, the number Eleven is a master number, representing enlightenment, or a connection to the ethereal. A person may have Eleven as their birth number. Anyone have a clue what her birthday is?

iAMtheMA!, where did you get the top line from? I don't recognize those lyrics...