There's no doubt that the two songs are connected since they segue right into one another- a few people have said as much already. The immediate first impression that I got from listening to them was that the mystery patient in Lost Keys was the voice in Rosetta Stoned.

A few other people have tried to assert that the song(s) are related to a psychotropic drug induced experience or some sort of alien encounter (or, both). But on my first listen, and without the lyrics, I couldn't really speak to that aspect of it at all.

In any case, the experience from Rosetta Stoned clearly isn't an entirely warm or pleasurable experience and it seems somewhat possible that Lost Keys happens after Rosetta stoned on the timeline. Just a thought- what do you all think?

on a timeline it goes lost keys -> rosetta stoned because rosetta stoned is a flashback that ends with the narrator strapped to a bed

but i guess youre thinking the right way because the events he describes would precede his visit to the hospital

To sum up:

The Rosetta Stone = a stone tablet that allowed Eqyptoglogists to intepret hieroglyphics because the stone contained Hieroglyphics, Ancient Greek, and a third language. So in one sense, The Rosetta Stone is itself a key.

However, the Rosetta Stone contained a key within a key. The way scholars broke the code of the Rosetta Stone was through the matching up of cartouches (pardon spelling) - oval 'monograms' for the names of the pharoahs and major egyptian people.

Now - to tie it to Tool - much of Tools music revolves around the opening of the Third Eye - an act which by the nature of the description necessitates a key. In the case of Tool's music, the key is an act of will- an examination of self that allows an introspection to break down the barriers that divide the conscious from the expanse of the unconscious.

Hence the conversation with a 'psychotherapist' in Lost Keys.

In Rosetta Stoned, if you think about the play on words in the titled, to be Rosetta Stoned is twofold in meaning:

1) To be placed in a situation that requires a Rosetta Stone

2) To be the Rosetta Stone yourself.

Tool's trend of introspection and "prying open my third eye" suggests the second intepretation, but the Rosetta Stone, as I mention above, sort of needs another Rosetta Stone (the cartouches). I think that the references to Aliens, religion, philosophy, drugs etc refer to the different languages on the stone, and suggest that in order to unlock them one must find the key that connects them - possibly the self.

However, as I mention in another post - one could call a parallel reference from the movie "Pi" - looking for a pattern in the stock market that is also the name for God that is also a master code, etc. The main character of pi physically tortures and abuses himself mentally in order to obtain this code only to realize that the code was not worth the path - resulting in him lobotomizing himself.

In this case we see a character who has not reached the solution, who also has not broken, but has reached such as state that he has "shit the bed."

Curiously, while pi leaves the viewers with the feeling that the overall message might be that there are some things we are not meant to know, Rosetta Stoned seems to suggest that the pursuit is still undergoing.

However, I do not understand all the lyrics and haven't had as much of a chance to think about this song as I have some of the others, so if anyone has any comments or better ideas or corrections, let me know.

damn anajberg you in knox? im in johnson city.

Gotta love East Tennessee