is that they do a great job of making what maynard's saying ironically clash with the feel of the music to reinforce the point of the song. the intro and that first verse-chorus part actually feel good to listen to, at least to me, they're kind of hypnotic and pleasant musically. but what maynard's saying is almost sadistic and he's talking from the perspective of us, not him. he's saying it feels good for us watch people die through the music. then he gets angry and accusatory with the music in the middle. then the brilliant part is that tool plays the good feeling part again and slowly turns it angry and accusatory towards the people vicarious addresses. if you don't like this song it probably doesn't work for you, but it definitely enhances the song for me. and the best part is, it gave tool an excuse to make music that was just sweet to be sweet rather than artistic, so the parts made to feel good are ridiculously good music.

Yeah I think it's cool how Maynard plays a character in this song. I think Maynard as a person is a really sensitive, and compassionate individual and he is probably just sharing his feelings on how cruel and mean our world has become. I can definitley agree with him too.

yeah he seems to play a character in a lot of songs
even though the outisder is an APC song he's definitely singing from the point of view of a persona rather than his own point of view..

I remember an interview with MJK where he said that some of the inspirations and introspective views come from what he sees and dislikes most in other people. everything just gets turned around and he takes the other point of view. just like the title and theme of the song - Vicarious -