Danny describes this track as the feel-good song of the record. Here's my take on why:
The track before (-) Ions, Aenema, is an attack on modern Western culture, and represents the purging of all the shit that is injected into our lives through the near omnipresence of the corporate, lowest common denominator mass media. It urges people to learn to swim, ostensibly the people in L.A. who are about to fall into the ocean due to an imminent apocalyptic event but metaphorically to anyone who wishes to escape our self-toxified culture and find inner truth (a message of hope for those who choose to hear it, and a warning for those who do not).
(-) Ions represents the next step in the soul-cleansing process. After the shit has been flushed out of the system, the body, mind and soul need re-charging before the last leg of the journey. I think (-) Ions is the soundtrack to a thunderstorm. A naturally occurring event that still has the ability to humble nearly any technologically-inspired hubris of modern man. Standing on the earth experiencing the immense power and ferocity of the world around us can be a powerful experience, almost like having sex with nature. Storms have the same structure as a sexual experience: a slow build in power, the climax and then the euphoric comedown. In the same way that the body releases pleasurable chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin, after orgasm so to does a storm release negative ions after climax. These negative ions are said to help induce a peaceful and spiritually uplifted state of mind in some people. It's like nature is communicating and connecting with her children, which can inspire deep feelings of wonder, awe and reverence for the eternally mysterious power and beauty of the world we live in.
(-) Ions attempts to re-create this experience: the gradual build of intensity, the addition of low-frequency rumbles of thunder so characteristic of storms, the calm after the storm. I can almost hear the negative ions flooding towards me when I listen to this, that beautiful keyboard melody that peaks at a higher pitch after every repetition, and the ouraboric buzzing sound that could represent the interaction of the mind with nature, the awareness of the inner and outer dimensions of our reality continually interacting to create the whole. It also acts as a prelude to Third Eye, a brief meditation before the main event, the calm before the storm.
Finally, cleansed and purged by the water of evolution and humbled by the power of nature, we are ready for the final, deepest journey into the soul, the soundtrack of a chemically induced mystical experience.
Last edited by endless_nameless; 10-16-2007 at 04:33 AM..
"storm" or "weather" = endogenous release of DMT?
(and this could be through psychedelics or DEEP meditation ..."yogi DMT"?)
lustmord's weather contributions (10,000 days: wings part 2), track 12 on lateralus (triad), "mention this to me ...and watch the weather change" (disposition), the storm (- ions)*, "without the skin, beneath the storm, under these tears the walls came down" (h.), "and i feel this coming over like a storm again" (h.)
* which leads into "third eye" quite nicely, mind you.
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and the "rain" or "crying" that results = the endogenous release of dimethyltryptamine?
the guitar solo (10,000 days: wings part 2), "blood like rain come down, drum on graven ground(?)" (vicarious), "to weep like a widow" (lateralus), "if it keeps on raining, the levee's going to break" (a led zeppelin cover of "when the levee breaks"), "'cause i'm praying for rain, i'm praying for tidal waves" (aenema), a baby cries (cesaro summability), "i choose to ...cry" (forty-six & 2), "i could have cried then. i should have cried then" (h.), "don't cry or feel too down" (eulogy), "it brings us closer than dying and cancer and crying" (4°)
[btw, tmv makes mention of a "lachrymal cloud", and i've theories that "purple onion" by les claypool has something to do with all of this as well - "weep in shades of indigo" purple onion = third eye? (i thought it was interesting...)
concerning sacred geometry:
presented as the “building blocks of creation” within plato’s timaeus, tool seems to develop their music through an intricate weave of the five (western) elements: fire, earth, air, water, and æther. these energies, characterized specifically through what has become known as the five platonic solids, offer an archetypal dimensionality understood throughout both the human condition and nature. in fact, within geometry, the measurements of the tetrahedron (fire), hexahedron/cube (earth), octahedron (air), icosahedron (water), and dodecahedron (æther) allow for a ‘nested symmetry’ in which each shape can repeat its own image inside and outside of itself – forever.
fire (tetrahedron), representing many inherent properties of creation, burns of passion, courage, intention, and willpower. within nature, this may symbolize flames, storms, lightning, stars, volcanoes, and high noon. athough electrical impulses of the brain and heart appropriately represent fire within the human condition, the sensory applications of sight, as a receptor of fire’s illumination, is utilized frequently throughout Tool’s music and prose - perhaps, even more likely, as an overlap of the two ...suggesting a sight of the mind. is tool, then, working to influence an actualization of unity and truth? of "crucifying the ego .. before we PINE away..." ??? PINE, pineal...
check out the other elements. water's a fairly important one ...especially within undertow. the isocahedron presents itself as an eloquent flow of fresh ideas, dreams, emotions, intuition and imagination. throughout nature: the oceans, floods, streams, and rain. the human condition: crying, blood, sweat, tears, and the pineal gland’s entheogenic release of dimethyltryptamine (DMT).*
* consider, then, the flaming pinecone. the ancient eqyptians apparently knew of this power. and aleister crowley's book of thoth and thoth tarot deck (which is found within the 10,000 days liners) involve the flaming pinecone. (thoth is that guy who's also associated with mercury, the messenger god, hermes, hermes trismegistus, and enoch - see: "FAAIP DE OAID"
so i was in my car yesterday and i felt really tired. I was on my way back to school for the second time and so when i parked my car i decided i'd take a nap. I left the music on and i think i started with pushit. anyway by the time - ions comes on i'm half asleep and the whole time i'm thinking this sounds really nice like i could definitely use this to fall asleep to more often. unfortunately it started to skip and i woke up but i felt really focused on what i needed to do next in the day. I could not disagree with anything you said there endless_nameless.
Danny describes this track as the feel-good song of the record. Here's my take on why:
The track before (-) Ions, Aenema, is an attack on modern Western culture, and represents the purging of all the shit that is injected into our lives through the near omnipresence of the corporate, lowest common denominator mass media. It urges people to learn to swim, ostensibly the people in L.A. who are about to fall into the ocean due to an imminent apocalyptic event but metaphorically to anyone who wishes to escape our self-toxified culture and find inner truth (a message of hope for those who choose to hear it, and a warning for those who do not).
(-) Ions represents the next step in the soul-cleansing process. After the shit has been flushed out of the system, the body, mind and soul need re-charging before the last leg of the journey. I think (-) Ions is the soundtrack to a thunderstorm. A naturally occurring event that still has the ability to humble nearly any technologically-inspired hubris of modern man. Standing on the earth experiencing the immense power and ferocity of the world around us can be a powerful experience, almost like having sex with nature. Storms have the same structure as a sexual experience: a slow build in power, the climax and then the euphoric comedown. In the same way that the body releases pleasurable chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin, after orgasm so to does a storm release negative ions after climax. These negative ions are said to help induce a peaceful and spiritually uplifted state of mind in some people. It's like nature is communicating and connecting with her children, which can inspire deep feelings of wonder, awe and reverence for the eternally mysterious power and beauty of the world we live in.
(-) Ions attempts to re-create this experience: the gradual build of intensity, the addition of low-frequency rumbles of thunder so characteristic of storms, the calm after the storm. I can almost hear the negative ions flooding towards me when I listen to this, that beautiful keyboard melody that peaks at a higher pitch after every repetition, and the ouraboric buzzing sound that could represent the interaction of the mind with nature, the awareness of the inner and outer dimensions of our reality continually interacting to create the whole. It also acts as a prelude to Third Eye, a brief meditation before the main event, the calm before the storm.
Finally, cleansed and purged by the water of evolution and humbled by the power of nature, we are ready for the final, deepest journey into the soul, the soundtrack of a chemically induced mystical experience.
Or, maybe he said that because it's a simple, quiet, relaxing song with no lyrics to make you think?
Inteligent free-thinking individual posts up idea. Another inteligent free-thinking individual comes along and expands on this idea. Result = confusion.
@ iAMtheMA! - there's got to be a way to bite-size it, because they won't swallow what they have to chew. Kinda like when you figure it all out and write it on the napkin but it makes no sense the next day...
"i don't even know where to begin" ...i think that's my problem atm. (actually, try connecting da vinci's vitruvian man to the construction of the great pyramid: that'll definitely send you on your way. keep in mind the alchemical process of "SQUARE-ing the CIRCLE. hint hint. oh, and re-read the first tool newsletter concerning sirius and the dogon tribe's discovery.)
__________________ i know, shit!
Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 12-29-2007 at 08:51 AM..
phone message: "hands were sticky"
stinkfist: "finger/knuckle/elbow/shoulder deep within the borderline"?
parabola vid: tree of life(/doom) vs. the guy's hand.
think trees. think fibonacci. think phi.
again, google: phi "human proportion"
hey, we're all one! wow!
__________________ i know, shit!
Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 12-31-2007 at 07:20 AM..
Danny describes this track as the feel-good song of the record. Here's my take on why:
The track before (-) Ions, Aenema, is an attack on modern Western culture, and represents the purging of all the shit that is injected into our lives through the near omnipresence of the corporate, lowest common denominator mass media. It urges people to learn to swim, ostensibly the people in L.A. who are about to fall into the ocean due to an imminent apocalyptic event but metaphorically to anyone who wishes to escape our self-toxified culture and find inner truth (a message of hope for those who choose to hear it, and a warning for those who do not).
(-) Ions represents the next step in the soul-cleansing process. After the shit has been flushed out of the system, the body, mind and soul need re-charging before the last leg of the journey. I think (-) Ions is the soundtrack to a thunderstorm. A naturally occurring event that still has the ability to humble nearly any technologically-inspired hubris of modern man. Standing on the earth experiencing the immense power and ferocity of the world around us can be a powerful experience, almost like having sex with nature. Storms have the same structure as a sexual experience: a slow build in power, the climax and then the euphoric comedown. In the same way that the body releases pleasurable chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin, after orgasm so to does a storm release negative ions after climax. These negative ions are said to help induce a peaceful and spiritually uplifted state of mind in some people. It's like nature is communicating and connecting with her children, which can inspire deep feelings of wonder, awe and reverence for the eternally mysterious power and beauty of the world we live in.
(-) Ions attempts to re-create this experience: the gradual build of intensity, the addition of low-frequency rumbles of thunder so characteristic of storms, the calm after the storm. I can almost hear the negative ions flooding towards me when I listen to this, that beautiful keyboard melody that peaks at a higher pitch after every repetition, and the ouraboric buzzing sound that could represent the interaction of the mind with nature, the awareness of the inner and outer dimensions of our reality continually interacting to create the whole. It also acts as a prelude to Third Eye, a brief meditation before the main event, the calm before the storm.
Finally, cleansed and purged by the water of evolution and humbled by the power of nature, we are ready for the final, deepest journey into the soul, the soundtrack of a chemically induced mystical experience.
Interesting idea. This isn't entirely what I thought, was that AEnema was as important to (-) Ions as was Third Eye. BUT. Here's what I's got about (-) Ions and its importance to the third eye and, by extension, the theme of the album.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schema
...Look at the back of the case. You'll see an eye. This might by our third eye, perhaps? Here's an interesting fact about the eye...
"The eye is very unhealthy according to the study of iridology. The lighter area around the pupil is a sign of dropped transverse colon. The darker green areas in the iris are a sign of drug use or chemicals in the body. The dark green circles are tiny deposits of the substance. The texture of the iris, the harsh waves in the background of the iris, are a sign [of] a body of low resistance and poor inherent ability to overcome difficulties. The starting of the second iris is screwed up too, but I don't think that iridology has anything to do with that."
“Watching television is like taking black spray paint to your third eye.” - Bill Hicks
“...and my squeegeed third eye...” - Bill Hicks
“[I'm] prying open my third eye”
The eye on the back is the third eye. With the iridology information, it could be interpreted either of two ways, depending on where you stand. The first could imply that, because of substance abuse to open the third eye, it has been corrupted heavily. However, this missed a single detail – the fact that the eye shows a poor inherent ability to overcome difficulties. The other interpretation is that, as a result of not trying to open – or see with – your third eye, because you've exposed yourself to what you have – you've watched television, you've listened to the industry, you've corrupted your third eye. Because you just do what the media tells you to, your body is unable to overcome difficulties by itself – because you keep taking pills for all your illnesses, because, hey, the media told you to – and, because you've sat in front of your television, you've absorbed a lot of positive ions, resulting in poor resistance. The chemicals could very well be the pills you've been taking, or the “radiation,” the positive ions, you've absorbed from your television. Side 4 is entirely an exploration of opening your third eye, apparently.
This is a small piece of something I've been writing about the album as a whole.
