The thing that put me off listening to Tool for ages even though I liked some of their stuff was lots of people telling me all they sing about is drugs. However after listening to them for almost 3 years I don't think I can find 1 song about drugs. Always anyone I talk to or any site online that comments on the song "Undertow" says it's about drug addicition. Here is the core primary meaning of each song from my perspective. Reflections are encouraged.
sweat: ??
hush: censorship
part of me: psychology
cold and ugly: psychology
jerk-off: religion
opiate: religion
stinkfist: society
euology: religion
h: psychology
forty six and 2: jungian psychology
hooker with a penis: society
jimmy: psychology of the self
die eier von satan: cooking
aenema: spiritual evolution
third eye: ??
Lateralus Album: all songs: spiritual evolution
vicarious: society (and duality)
jambi: duality
wings: judith
10k days: judith
the pot: hypocrisy (and duality)
lost keys: ??
rosetta stoned: ??
intension: spirituality
right in two: politics (and duality)
lol, i dont think that all songs are about drugs, but i dont think that lumping all the songs like that into such vague categories works either. i dont think its true but by reading that just then it seems to me that uve not quite given Tool the chance to express themselves before your even analysing it and summing up what they mean.
i guess my main problem with what your sayin is about Leteralus. spiritual evolution, is way too general, and belittles the album. how are songs like disposition and the patient ment to be summarised as spiritual evolution? perhaps there are aspects of that in the songs. but that is all open to enterpretation.
sorry btw, im in a severe depressing mood so im just rambling.
Drugs and Tool are obviously a factor, but not to the actual music, the drugs come in when u want to use the music to reflect upon urself, or when u want to see if a new perspective comes to u. not that im a drug user so to speak, i have my occasions but i wouldnt say im the stereotype drugged up deep soul searching new age hippy alot of people think.i hate that stereotype to. but anyway i can see many of the links uve made with each one word assesment above, but perhaps being more specific about each song would be nicer.
over and out
__________________ A Groan Of Tedium Escapes Me
Don't get big ideas, they are not going to happen.
It's pretty useless to argue over every song here, so why don't I just try the Opiate-EP:
sweat: this is probably about a psychedelic experience
hush: I agree, this is about censorship
part of me: something with the unconcious and the Ego
cold and ugly: check my thread ("long" story)
jerk-off: this ain't about religion, it's about (un)ethical conduct
opiate: a connection between apects of drug use and the state of mind of society
We need to stop catogorizing songs as "drugs-song" or something like that. Even when people talk about drugs, they tend to pile them all together and say: 'Drugs are bad, mmkay, so don't do drugs mmkay'. This is so narrow-minded. Every drug is different and every drug-experience is different. People know way too little about drugs. Being objective about drugs is the first step towards understanding people who use drugs and since a lot of people use drugs, it's important to understand them.
__________________ Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame.
-Buddha
[quote=Him;1701821]
Lateralus Album: all songs: spiritual evolution
Everyone takes music differently, and categorizing in such a way is simply futile and idiotic, especially when even trying to judge TOOL. A song might be letting out one word, but meaning another.
As we all know, TOOL isn't our average rock band. By their videos and their music, it's obvious that they want us to delve into a part of us, and from there, do something about it. Learn from it, and from it, find out what kind of person we truly are.
There are several songs that, at one point, tend to really just be easily laid out, but if you listen to it again, you'll eventually see that more to it. Maynard's admitted that we're always so far off in our interpretations. And if we keep labeling them in such a shallow manner, then I can see why he believes that.
For one---TOOL is something that changes the listener. Whoever says TOOL is all just drugs really needs to open their eyes and start to listen to it rather than judge it firsthand.
It really stuns me that you can think of Lateralus in such a shallow way. Lateralus is the album that moved me the most, and though spiritual evolution was evident in Lateralus, it really went past the border of that, and also entered pits of dismay, tedium, pain, and fear.
What must you say about Parabola? Not only does it cover a sense of spiritual evolution, but also the topic of birth, sight, and the fascination of life itself. And that doesn't even begin to cut it.
And one song alone would not work without the other to create the overall image that you so carelessly dub as "spritual evolution". It's a lot more than that, and if you think otherwise, I suggest you jam some Lateralus in your ear while you sleep.
Music has never been definite. If it was, we wouldn't even be having any sort of music discussion on our threads. So, really, all I ask is for us to just look things over again. Let's try to put aside the entire stereotypical thing about TOOL relating to drugs, and start seeing it through a deeper perspective that crosses the borderline.
