"Think for yourself, question authority" Many know this quote from the beginning of Third Eye on Tools forth album Salival and its the basis this piece is written on. If you think things are black or white and nothing else or that Tool are just some band then you might as well stop reading now, this isn’t for you. For those still here I hope you find this theory at the least interesting, hopefully more.
Most know Maynard James Keenan is a stage name for James Hubert Keenan but it is not just a cosmetic name change. It is because Maynard is an act, a persona,like Ziggy Stardust was for David Bowie. Maynard’s role is to become a martyr figure the 4 the fans until they realise this fact, like a puzzle. Eulogy is Maynard’s Eulogy, h. stands
for Hubert, his real middle name. jimmy is his real first name but isn’t a capital because to Tool fans this is his middle name. Prison Sex’s line "Release in sodomy" is actually "Release inside of me"
The fans are his "Lamb and Martyr" In effect the fans need to understand and destroy the Maynard persona because he is James and most the songs are about the struggle between Maynard and James over control of the one person (Pushit, Third Eye) No wonder people say he's schizophrenic.
All of the symbolism I’ve found will be gone into in much more detail in later posts, there is too much to post here all at once, a couple more things I’ve noticed. Here is my take on the end lyrics in Reflection. What has to be remembered is that all Tools work can be interrupted in many ways, what I’m saying is that there is one common thread which links it all
So crucify the ego before its far too late" - The ego being the Maynard persona.
"Leave behind this place so negative, void and cynical" - The platform Tool currently hold.
"When you come to find, that we are all one mind" - That Maynard is a "Reflection" of the four members.
"Capable of all this, imagine it all conceivable" - That what I’m put across here as being conceivable?
Let the light touch you and the words spill through" - The light being Tools visual work and the words being there music
"Bringing out our hope and reason" - Tools hope for mankind and there reason for why they’ve done this.
And then you have Schism "I know the pieces fit" and Disposition’s "Mention this to me and watch the weather change" Ticks and Leeches is for all the people who have questioned Tools intentions while they built this puzzle. "Hope this is what
you wanted, hope this is what you had in mind, cause this is what your getting"
I don’t know how many of you know about the true track order for Lateralus but here it is. It revolves round the number 13. Which is the track number of the garbled message Faaid de Oiadd, the key to working out the order...
It runs on two spirals revolving around track 13, they are -
6,7,5,8,4,9 then 12,1,11,2,10,3 making the full order,
6,7,5,8,4,9,13,12,1,11,2,10,3.
Listen to the timing of the last bit of guitar in Parabola going into Schism and the drums coming out of Schism going into Ticks and Leeches and you should be able to hear why this order is correct.
There's so much more but I just want to see peoples reactions to this first before I try to explain further.
Peace Fifth
__________________ Knowledge is useless without application...
after reading your insightful ideas, i was left with ideas manifesting in my head. i dont no the truth factor of what you say but from my point of view, i have thought similar things. not in such depth but on thre journey taked through the tool albums. for me, opiate was when the maynard persona was in full controll to some extent, in undertow the james persona was starting to break through, with references to a shadow in sober, etc. aenima was a battle field, full of intenal and external conflicts about who he really is in this ocean of chaos. then on salival, being a live album is is sort of an outlier but i see it as a part of the journey where james provides the maynard persona a new insight to old ideas, in the new versions of pushit and 3rd eye. finally on lateralus it shows a more dominant emergence of james as he trys to take hold and fing an internal harmony, piecing together who he is. they albums are a journey through an internal struggle and lateralus is the looking back on the ordeal and a look to the challenges ahead.
i look fwd to a new tool release as to what it holds because of the way the existing albums have evolved and changes.
i have yet to test the new song configuration but i have noticed similar rifts near the end and start of songs so i will definitely try this
perhaps it is not the maynard persona, but society as a whole, the collective unconscienceness, rebeling against conformity and the intellectual constraints of society as a whole.
This is what I have always gotten out of it.
I often see their albums as different parts of freeing your mind.
Opiate I see as a response to religious pressure, and the need of people to control each other, the beginning stages that contain angst and misdirected anger, full of quick, tension-filled emotion, a lot like the songs on opiate.
Undertow, with lines throughout the album that many see as being pulled back by addiction, I think the true meaning is derived from the lyrics to flood that talk about climbing higher to find a new place (leaving what you were made to believe behind) and then "this ground is not the rock I thought it would be" being in reference to the fact that just leaving all of that behind does not give the answers, just frees the mind.
Aenima seems to me to be about some odd things, much like a discovery of many new ideas, and ethos, and also about shedding what I had to find something new, which then ends on third eye, that becomes the goal, to pry open the third eye and open up to the psychic senses, and a new spirituality, which takes us to .....
Lateralus, as maynard has described it, is about taking what you have learned and applying it to yourself, application of knowledge to gain experience. and to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be human so to speak.
with all of that being said, I wonder where the next step will take us.
one thing I have to say is... this is a big theory may be true... thats why i want to hear more... but as of right now.. im still 50/50 and need more convincing
If you've read the link to the "Tool Enigma" and want further info check out www.deadohiosky.net and download from there audio section, Lateralus from Birmingham and Flood from Brixton, these both have very intresting 'clues' relating to this.
In flood some lyrics have changed and they are.
"This ground (crowd) is the not the rock I thought it to be, thought I was high, thought I was free, thought that I was there divine destiny..."
.. and at the end of Lateralus when Maynard is singing "Going.." he actually ends it with saying "Kill me" three times. There is alot of stuff like that in there live performances, I was at the gig where they played Flood and you would never pick up on the changes in that moment your standing watching them...
__________________ Knowledge is useless without application...
i wholeheartedly agree with evolving your mind by any means neccesary, but at this juncture i must step in and say, these are just people, they play GREAT music and everyting they do in relation to said music is absolutely FANTASTIC. but you still have to realize that maynard adam danny and justin are just people like us with real problems and feelings, dont put them on a pedestal and spend all your time thinking about them, think for yourself and discover what lies in YOUR mind.
hmm..i will say one thing, the idea is original. i dont remember hearing anyone suggest that maynard was the subject of eulogy...
BUT, imo, the songs are more universally applicable than you credit them for, especially in lateralus...
i think thattit is very important to remember the subject matter of aenema. there is alot of jungian psychology in it. lateralus is, in a way, an extension of jung's ideas, but personalized on the part of the band.
what was really really amazing for me was that in the 5 years between aenema and lateralus, not only did i evolve my own philosophies about life with aenema as a starting point, but my philosophies ended up being essentially identical to what tool presents on lateralus.
so, think of it like this. the term 'ego' is not so much the 'self' as it is the illusion of the individual being totally seperate from all surroundings. We are beings of energy: we are electricity/nuclear powered and built of energy at the vibration required to form 'matter'.
We have now learned that matter/energy is 'intertwined' and is therefore possible to influence point 'B' by influencing point 'a'...
So, through quantum mechanics, it is possible to expand the basic concepts to fit into our place in the universe. It is vital to remember that what we define as the 'physical sciences' are not actually physical sciences, they are the sciences of describing the way our consciousness forms patterns of the external universe (assuming it actually exists, of course).
Now, i take lateralus to be a much more externalized grouping of pieces when compared to earlier works. There is a definite progression of maturity that can be plotted out over the course of tool's works... Through this progression, you can visualize the way that they have become less and less self-absorbed, and more aware of just how interrelated we all are.
So, if that is true, then the references to 'we' in the music are addressed to all of humanity, and the songs are therefore impassioned pleas for us to recognize our true state of being, and to work within our true potential for power...
the lines of reflection:
So crucify the ego, before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical,
And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable
these lines must be taken as a single expression, not as seperate ideas. They convey a profound message that has been communicated for thousands of years.
By crucifying (and i believe that this word was intentionally placed to bring to light the religious connotations and assumptions that people have) the perception of 'self', we are able to leave behind this place of illusion that is blind and cynical to our true existence. (The idea of us all being connected is considered by many/most to be an idea borne out of insanity, and quite possibly evidence for psychosis. We have 'defined' through psychology, our way out of our true nature). When we are able to let go of ourselves as being seperate, you come to realize that we are all interlinked, sharing one consciousness (remember bill hicks, anyone? and this is very jung too, the idea of the collective unconscious). And, with this realization, we are able to let go of our doubts, our fears, and our insecurities, and through that, we can put our minds to their full uses, which would allow us to manifest anything that we can imagine. Because, as quantum mechanics has showed us, the simple observation of a system actually influences the system. And, imo, this is evidence that consciousness has more influence than simply providing us with the illusion of awareness of our surroundings...
So anyway, that's my thought for the moment... I hope it makes some sense.
__________________ "The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along." -Douglas Adams
Thats very interesting, the split persona idea. I've had it go through my head before, but now that i think about it, maynard always chooses the right words to hide that that is infact what he's talking about, not that he's actually hiding anytihng, just that it makes it more ambiguous. He's a clever guy, as are the rest, i really emjoy the fact that it's music you can think about, some peole dig music because they dont have to think about, but im the opposite, and tool is the best at what i love.
to me, this song again symbolises a theme found in a few other songs by tool. it is about expanding your mind to new ideas through the use of drugs. to me its pretty obvious in parts.
a few things i wanted to point out "Crucify the ego" is something that people achieve through the use of psychedelic drugs where who you know you are and what you think you know kind of gets tossed out the door and you "see things for what they really are" - without the crap that comes with your jaded mind thinking the way you normally do. maynard sings about enlightenment that comes from stepping outside of your mind and realizing "that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable." "So let the light touch you and let the words spill through. And let them pass right through, bringing out our hope and reason before we pine away" - this to me sounds like 'take a trip and you can realize that the world isn't as fucked up as it seems to be'.
Theres a lot of "trippy" meaning to be found in other parts of the song too.
"And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping, the moon tells me a secret.A confidant as full and bright as I am. This light is not my own and a thousand light reflections pass over me. The source is the light and endless sheen." - this to me just sounds like some kind of crazy night halucination. you could interpret this as deep as you want, but on the most basic level it seems like something you'd see while tripped out.
"She resuscitates the hopeless. Without her we are lifeless satellites dreaming dreams. And as I pull my head out, I am without one doubt. Don't want to be dwon here feeding my narcissism." - "She" seems to be a tab of acid or mushrooms or something, a gateway to deeper thinking and uplifting emotions that are far beyond the regular day to day negative thoughts.
these are just things that immediatly came into my mind while reading these lyrics. this is coming from a guy who's never done acid or shrooms yet either..
these are all some very interesting and complex thoughts and i enjoyed reading them very much so i figured what the hell ill tell you all what i think lateralus is all about
first and foremost i agree with fifth in thinking that this whole album revolves around the number thirteen because it almost certainly does, why else would the thirteenth track be entitled the voice of god? if you research something called concordance astrology you will see that it is based on (coincidentally?) thirteen "hits" in the solar system where at certain points things in the universe align to conjunct and show the mysterys of the world to those perceptive enough to decipher the code. the thirteenth "hit" is where the North Node conjuncts the self with Part of Wisdom this is ironic as it parallels the voice of god. also if you continue to read into concordance astrology you will come to find that it is all about self empowerment. could this be a tie with the fact that maynard is trying to become james? who am i to say for sure? another thought is that lateralus's first twelve tracks are the paths leading under the earth that must be decipher before one can attempt to decipher the final and thirteenth path the emerald tablets of thoth. i find it highly entertaining that the name aleister crowley surfaces time and time again in tool related areas and it is his most famous book "the book of thoth" according to legend it is only when you have found your way through the thirteen paths that thoth will apear to you. is the reference to ufos and the voice of god an allusion to finding the path to thoth. well once again who am i to say but it makes one heck of a cool parallel. anyone interested in crowley sacred geomtry rennes le chateau or the knights of templar and the effects these things have on the music of tool feel free to post a reply as i would thoroughly enjoy talking about such subjects
