What?? was that a typo?? eating empty a??

shouldnt it be "eating a empty"??


I hear "10 to 2 am, and im still eating an emptied out box of crispy cremes" ... meaning he's licking the box clean... he must really like crispy cremes, or he's got the munchies bad.

I think what they mean by "eating empty" is eating the entire contents of the crispy creme box. Another way to say it would be "eating until its all gone or completely empty"... if that is what MJK is singing "eating empty" he may have just simplified it.

Yeah, thats what I think. I can't hear anything between 'eating' and 'empty' and am almost certain that they are the words there.

This makes way more sense:

"Ten-to-Two AM and actually eating a damn box of Krispy Kremes"

It's just that "eating empty box" makes no sense, where has anyone heard that in a sentence?

I haven't actually slowed down the track like you all but what if this tripped out guy in the story is actually eating the empty box from a full box of Krispy Kremes...you know he's all tripped out anyway. I might be convinced to eat a box if it was sugary enough like KK donut boxes are...I haven't eaten one yet but with enough blotter and paranoia I might...just a thought.

I like my version better, but I am biased.

Honestly, it's so fucking hard to tell what he's saying with the music and the speaker box..who really knows for sure..

'10-to-2-AM and actually eating a cleaned out box of Krispy Kremes'

That line is pretty easy to hear in my opinion. All the syllables and phonetics are in place and listening on headphones cleans it up a bit to understand.

What peaks my interest is the lines afterwards that noone has come up with a really good translation for.

"I did radical donuts on a dime and something right on my birkenstocks and you were yelping - Holy fucking shit'

That *sounds* like what he says, though it makes no sense and therefore is likely not correct.

well in one of my live versions i could swear the ending says something to the effect of elevated or elevator instead of yelling or yelping

I did radical donuts on a dime and something landed on my birkenstocks and i was elevated - Holy fucking shit'

but who knows?

oh and i just played it back in the live version and he says... holy flying shit!!

that either goes with elevated or with the flying ufo

...and actually eating a STALE box of Krispy Kremes...

i'm pretty sure it's "...and in the opening...HOLY FUCKING SHIT"

Maybe 'into the opening' ... assuming it is then the part right before it should be talking about how he got to the opening or what happened immediately preceeding his lift into it. Suddenly diamond sundaes make less and less sense.

listen to the one from Amsterdam... he says "holy flying shit."


I never heard in the opening, but again listen to the amsterdam performance, it sounds like elevated.

So I separated the audio and I can't hear different things in different channels. I know you are 110% sure but it's just not coming out that way. It's Peanuts Parents as I hear it in both channels. What makes me so sure? He never says "it was a..." which is required for the whole theory on "repeat experience" he always says "I listen to my...."

Just my 2 cents.

I hear what LetGo is talking about. I have a hard time seperating them using software, but I've a delicate ear for musical detail and can usually make out anomolies and such. I'm pretty sure one of the three vocal tracks at that point says 'it was a repeat experience' but the way it ties into the other two vocal tracks make it sound garbled and thus you think that's all he says.

The line would sound, phonetically, like this 'can anyone tell me why ihwussar peat expeeryunse?'

It's not that he's not saying it, but slurred vocals, mixed with two other tracks that say something different, make it hard to hear.

And it's one thing to say you don't hear it, that doesn't mean it can't be there. It's another thing for someone to say they do hear it and you just don't personally.

For instance, there is a VERY fast drum roll at the end of Reflection that no one I've ever let listen to it could hear, but I hear it clear as day. Eventually a few people I showed could hear it, others never could. Does that mean it's not there because some people didn't hear it?

And we're not talking about interpretation, here. We're talking there either is another line being sung or there isn't. You don't/can't prove something isn't. So the fact that some people (people that I believe really go the extra mile towards finding the real lyrics) hear something is all the evidence I need to validate that something else is being said, even if everyone else can't hear it.

how can you hear "I listen to my..." when the line clearly says "and can anyone tell me why, they all sound like peanuts parents" ?

Yup I realize that now. So repeat experience is out the window completely.

Beginning of the Birkenstock line: "Alien Grey"?

"Breath that reeked-up the delicate, chocolate air"

I can't hear this. Only if you think he's speaking in a micro-machines fast voice would you hear this :P

I believe the line is:

"I did radical donuts on a dime and something landed on my Birkenstocks"



There is a lot of really good information as well as a collection of many ideas from various fans. Please read my following post for a collection of all ideas, into what I believe is the closest format of the lyrics yet.

I've been listening to Tool a long time. This song has resonated with me since the first time I heard it. It has all the elements of a 'new' Tool song. It also contains many elements for those of us who came to love Tool the most through the 90's. This song delivers Tool in a new light, rather than its purest form like perhaps The Pot does.

This song has an incredible build up, right before the climax of the song, there is an entire minute of intense instrumentals (which reminds me of my other favorite Tool song, Third Eye) and you're just WANTING to hear the amazing lyrical buildup "Born to bear..." that for me will likely never get old.

I have spent countless hours of time, collecting ideas for lyrics, analyzing endless perspectives from other people, never discounting one idea of that. When I thought I had a lyric nailed down, I have never failed to overlook what I THOUGHT was irrefutably the correct lyric. Keeping an open mind has allowed me to change perspectives on many things and I haven't felt comfortable posting what I believe to be the correct lyrics up to this point. Will these change? Likely they will, but based on everyone's ideas here, this is my interpretation of the lyrics thus far.

-----------

Alrighty then,
Picture this if you will:

10 to 2 AM and actually eating empty a box of Krispy Kremes,
at my need-to-know post just outside area 51,
contemplating the whole chosen people thing
When just then a flaming stealth banana split the sky like one would hope,
but never really expected to see in a place like this.
I did radical donuts on a dime and something landed on my Birkenstocks
And yelping holy fucking shit.

Wachen Sie Auf (wake up, in german) x8

Then the x-file being who looked like
some kind of blue-green Jackie Chan
With Isabella Rossellini lips and breath that reeked
They did a wicked jump there in slow mo making this sound:
"a-banana-da-banana"
So when I opened up my bug eyes,
my gaping jaw and my sweaty L. Ron Hubbard upper lip
And all I could think was
I hope Uncle Martin here doesn't notice
that I pissed my fucking pants

So light, in his way...
Like an apparition he had me crying out.
Fuck me!
It's gotta be deadhead chemistry.
Blotter got right on top of me!
Got me seein'
E mother-fucking T.

And after calming me down with some orange slices and some fetal spooning
ET revealed to me his singular purpose he said, "You are the chosen one,
the one who will deliver the message. A message of hope for those who choose
to hear it, and a warning for those who do not."

Me, the chosen one?
They chose me, and I didn't graduate from fucking high school?!

You had better...
You had better...
You had better...
You had better listen.

Then you looked right through me,
With somniferous almond eyes.
Don't even know what that means.
Must remember to write it down.
This is so real.
Like the time Dave floated away.
See, my heart is pounding.
Cause this shit never happens to me.

I can't breathe, right now!

It was so real,
Like I woke up in Wonderland.
All sort of terrifying.
I don't wanna be all alone,
When I tell the story.
And can anyone tell me why,
You all sound like peanuts parents?
Will I ever be coming down?
This is so real.
Finally it's my lucky day.
See, my heart is racing.
'Cause this shit never happens to me.

I can't breathe right now.

You believe me don't you?
Please believe what I just said.
See the Dead ain't tourin,
And this wasn't all in my head.
See they took me by the hand.
And invited me right in.
Then they showed me something.
I don't even know where to begin.

Strapped down on my bed.
Feet cold and eyes red.
I'm out my head.
Am I alive? Am I dead?
Can't remember what they said.
God damn, I shit the bed.

High.
High.
I, I....
High. (x4)

Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position.
Such a heavy burden now to be, the one.
Born to bear and read you all the details of our ending.
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen.
Shit the bed again. Typical.

Strapped down in my bed.
Feet cold and eyes red.
I’m out of my head.
Am I alive? Am I dead?
Sunkist and Sudafed.
Gyroscopes and infrared.
Won’t help the brain dead.
Can’t remember what they said.
Goddamn, shit the bed.

I can’t remember what they said, to me.
Can’t remember what they said, to make me out to be a hero.
Can't remember what they said.
God help me!
Can't remember what they said.

Don't know, won't know, don't know, won't know, don't know, won't know.....
God damn, shit the bed.

------------


I am always open to analyze new possibilities. That being said, let me explain why I've chosen certain lyrics here. This will be in chronological order:

"10 to 2 AM and actually eating empty a box of Krispy Kremes,"

While eating empty may not be "technically" correct in English, this to me sounds very close to what is being said and is plausibly good English.

"When just then a flaming stealth banana split the sky like one would hope,"

My newest addition to the lyrics, this sounds extremely feasible and while I do not hear every syllable here, "one would hope" I barely hear "would" this lyric fits great and I can almost hear if I listen closely enough.

"I did radical donuts on a dime and something landed on my Birkenstocks"

I can't take credit for figuring this one out, but I can't see how this is NOT the lyric being said here. Kudos to the person who did. This was likely where I had the most difficulty in the song.

"They did a wicked jump there in slow mo making this sound:"

Keep your mind open to this possiblity, it's there.

"I hope Uncle Martin here doesn't notice"

Figuratively we're talking about an alien abduction. IMDB.com seems to think the character in a show called "My Favorite Martian" was Uncle Martin. Maynard is cleverly alluding to this "martian" metophorically as Uncle Martin in this song. It could be Marvin, Martian, whatever, but this is the basic premise.

"So light, in his way..."

This is clearly "light" rather than "alive". There is no "v" sound in the song and the line to follow talks about an "apparition" which would flow literally "lightly".

"And after calming me down with some orange slices and some fetal spooning"

Yeah who knows here. I like fetal spooning as it makes the most sense in this context. Could it be something like "meal" spooning or "beetle" spooning? Sure could. I hear the "b" at the beginning of the word, but I do believe it's fetal.

"Like the time Dave floated away."

Blair posted on Toolband.com that the protagonist of this song is someone named "Dave." This is an open and shut case.

"It was so real,"

I'm not sure where people hear "surreal" but I definitely have never heard it even once, while trying to hear it.

"You all sound like peanuts parents?"

Discussed plenty in this thread, the person who is having this "experience" is clearly referring to the Doctor who is helping him, that he can't understand a word he's saying, which would explain why the Doctor has to ask multiple times if he's ok. He might finally understand him once. Peanuts parents were instruments played with mufflers in the bells (trombone, trumpet, et al), and were clearly inaudible to the kids on the cartoon show Peanuts. E.g. They were not listening to the parents just like kids do in real life.

"See the Dead ain't tourin,"

I definitely did not get this on my own, but comparing the studio version versus live versions, this is definitely the lyric and makes sense. I'm sold and plenty of others are as well.

"Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position."

I swear on the studio version I hear "IF placed in my position" but i don't on any live versions. In any account, I'm willing to eliminate the "IF" simply because no one else seems to list it here. I think it sounds fine either way and I am inclined to believe this is a minor inconsistency among listeners.

"Born to bear and read you all the details of our ending."

Definitely not "read to all". There is a VERY clear "you" in this line. Listen again several times if you don't agree.


------------


I think that hits all the major points that may still be in controvery at this time. Please contribute here, let's get some real discussion/finalization going here. This thread is long enough and needs real contribution from other insightful perspectives.

Chad

The top part: Why would the protagonist of the song, while telling a story of himself, refer to Dave (himself) in the third person? Not saying it isn't 'Dave' he's saying, but if Dave is the protagonist (to which I've still not been shown a link with that clearly referenced to like everyone seems to think) why would the narrative arc change from first to third person and then back to first with no allusion or warning... and in the same stanza? I don't think so. Either Dave isn't the protagonist or 'Dave' is not what's being said.

And to the bottom part: I've been wrestling with that for a while now. I can hear either depending on what I'm trying to hear. I'd say that one is still not a definite.

until you get a few live concerts of this song, i would not stand so strongly on Read YOU all... cause its very clear and distinct live, as well as the cd, Read To All

and blanket, i was confused on that part too, my conclusion is, there is no way it can be dave with the berkenstocks in the beginning, since he refers to the actual dave later in the song. I'm still not conviced its berkenstocks either.

three parts bug me on your lyrics thirdeye ... the first "I did radical donuts on a dime and something landed on my Birkenstocks
And yelping holy fucking shit." Now does that even sound like a complete sentence? That is not a perfect sentence. what was yelping? maybe if you wrote "and had me yelping" ... then i would buy it.

the second one is
"They did a wicked jump there in slow mo making this sound:"
So from the beginning of the second verse... then the X-files being... i believe he is refering to one in particular, so how you got the whole gang of aliens leeping in the air is beyond me."

And lastily, this line doesnt make any sense... "so when i openned up my bug eyes" . Why would his eyes be shut?? why would he have to open his bug eyes? were his bugged out eyes shut??? i dont know about you, but if i just saw a flaming stealth banana split the sky and x-files being in front of me, my eyes would be far from shut... so i dont believe that line at all... and for the record i hear "hovered above my bug eyes, my gaping jaw, and my sweaty L ron ...."

I have 2 live versions and still hear You quite distinctly. If you'd like to supply me with more examples, please PM me.

EDIT: After listening again, you can honestly trick your brain into hearing either of these two things. Try it yourself. You can also make your brain hear "Born to bear in ritual, the details of our ending." I like that one the best but I'm not sure which of the 3 it is. All 3 are plausible in my opinion.

Go back to the beginning of the paragraph. The narrator says "Picture this if you will." Why would it be so unreasonable to recall "yelping holy fucking shit?" I don't find this out of context at all. To each his own.

When did you get the impression there might only be one alien present here? Just because only one is abducting him, doesn't necessarily mean there are not others present. From most accounts of alien abductions that I have heard about, there are generally multiple beings involved. I don't think you can count this possibility out, as this is what it sounds like he says. I understand your confusion though.


I don't know why his eyes would be shut. Maybe he was scared? Knocked out? Came to? Many possibilities here. Listening to various live versions and the studio version yield my same conclusions and those of countless others.

They dont yield a whole lot, very hard to descifer... but i dont go with what i think i hear just cause i hear it, if it dont make sense.

Really?

How about this one then?

Waiting like a stalking butler who upon the finger rests.

This is not proper grammar. There are more examples, but I only needed one to prove this point.

That's improper English? Maybe it is, but it seems valid to me.

I was thinking something more like

'Kangaroo done hung the guilty with the innocent' - that's not exactly proper syntax.

But I do agree that in general, unless for specific effect, Maynard doesn't use improper grammer structures. Not that I can think of, at any rate.

Actually, "Waiting like a stalking butler who upon the finger rests." is correct grammer, you just hadn't added the right commas. Here is how it is written origionally:

" Waiting, like a stalking butler, who, upon the finger, rests." The butler is waiting on the finger (master), hence: Rests upon the finger : Saying " Who, upon the finger, (he) rests." Once disabled, it makes it still sensable for lyrics, and understandable if put into the right context of the way you choose to read it. It flows as a song though, which makes it seem masked that way.

Maynard adds a twist in certain song lyrics to help flow with the song better, creating a more, "creative balance", but, still leaving the lyrics understandable, and in the right order.

-Andrew

I concur 98% of the time, he's spot on grammatically.

Way too much explanation to try to make this right. Just admit that Maynard does not use proper grammar 100% of the time. In this instance the lyric was made to fit the song and not vice versa. Humans don't speak in Yoda verse.

Thirdeye11 - you could have given me credit for the line "a flaming stealth banana split the sky like one would hope but never really expect to see in a place like this"
considering i seem to be the only one on the planet that knew it besides the band

I put in roughly 8 hours reading this thread, and I loved your explanation. Sorry for not giving you credit, it's certainly due you.

Let's analyze the lyrics again, you really shouldn't be calling people out about 'pulling a whole gang of aliens out of thin air' when the song VERY clearly refers to a group of them.

Examples below:

(1)

Me, the chosen one?
They chose me, and I didn't graduate from fucking high school?!

(2)

See they took me by the hand.
And invited me right in.
Then they showed me something.
I don't even know where to begin.

(3) Perhaps the most compelling of all:

I can’t remember what they said, to me.
Can’t remember what they said, to make me out to be a hero.
Can't remember what they said.
God help me!
Can't remember what they said.


Our singer repeatedly says they throughout the song. Think before you stick your foot in your mouth.

^ Gotta defend Ranger dude here. All of your examples above come AFTER the point where he claims you pulled multiple aliens out of thin air. As I hear the lyrics, there's no indication of multiple aliens until the "They chose me ... high school" line.
In your earlier lyrics post you go from "THE X-file being" to "THEY did a wicked jump" and there is nothing mentioned prior to this for the pronoun "they" to refer to.

well said :-)

btw i think it's "MOM help me"

It has to be introduced at some point. Just because it's not mentioned before this doesn't mean it isn't what's said. If it was said no where else in the song, I'd take both yours and Ranger's standpoint.