The part of the lyrics in quotation marks and the "child's rhyme" are different.
What Maynard says is, "A child's rhyme stuck in my head. / It says that life is but a dream." The child's rhyme here is "Row Row Row Your Boat" and there is nothing in "Row Row Row Your Boat" that corresponds to the lines quoted in the lyrics of this song.
That said, I can't figure out what exactly Keenan is quoting. I have looked, but can't find a reference for it. The best suggestion I can make is that this section of the lyrics is indicative of a sort of dialogue between two realms of consciousness (one with the third eye open, one without the third eye open).
This idea is supported by the fact that when we Hear Keenan sing the quoted lines we don't actually know that he is quoting anything! We only know he is quoting something when we read the lyrics on the internet. So I think it is absolutely necessary to consider the content of these lines in the context of the rest of the lyrics and pretend that there are no quotation marks around them at all. And when I look at the song this way it really DOES look to me like the quoted lines are coming from an interlocuter with whom Keenan is dialouging. There is a definitely a change in voice here.
I don't necessarily think that its a quoted child's rhyme. I think its the fact that its playing back in his head (a child's rhyme stuck in my head) is the reason for it being in quotes. i could be totally wrong though.
my opinion is, it's the conversation between 2 levels of conciousness. the human, rational side,where everything is put into focus and perspective, and the..well...other side."so good to see you once again, i thought that you were hiding" its kinda like when you go back to that place you were on psycadelics or whatnot and remember you were there before, and why you came back. which also brings 46&2 to mind, "recalling all of the times i have died..i don't mind" thats about it for now, so, lets continue chasing the trail of smoke and reason and keep coming up with posts where we all learn a little. and just keep in mind, time will tell.
I always interpreted that as his true inner-self (him with his third eye open or whatever) talking back to him. I thought it just meant my true self is talking to me about how it's missed me because I left it for so long. I'm not the best at explaining things, but that's how I understood it.
