This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
I honestly can't think of any album that closes better than AEnima with "Third Eye". The song epitomizes what the entire album has been getting at which is to push the listener to dig deep into their self and to form their own opinions with their own conscious versus being swayed by anything on the outside. This has been one of the best epics Tool has done (probably second only to the song "Lateralus" if you count that as an epic) and it's arguably their best song off AEnima (not my personal fav, but I'll admit it's the best track).
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
H. has always been and will always be my favorite song on that album. But, having said that, I couldn't agree more with your assessment. This is absolutely the perfect ending.
What's wild is that Third Eye is also a killer opener (see Salival, for example, or their most recent tour).
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
although i love the song, the aenima version leaves me hanging. which i believe is their intent. it takes you for a ride then the last few minutes you find the ceiling. either it be the limits of where psychedelic drugs go and meditation takes over.
As for the salival version. i always feel that in the end there is a frustration with the fact people are still trying to become one with themselves with the use of psychedelics.
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
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Originally Posted by Angel on the Sideline
H. has always been and will always be my favorite song on that album. But, having said that, I couldn't agree more with your assessment. This is absolutely the perfect ending.
What's wild is that Third Eye is also a killer opener (see Salival, for example, or their most recent tour).
Yeah, I've listened through Salival numerous times and the song is indeed a great opener, namely for a live audience. I really hope to see Tool someday, I've seen what they've done with Third Eye on their recent tour and it still is one of their best live songs. Not to mention the visuals they are using now make the performance better than ever!
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aegean_okra
closing aenima with third eye is brilliant. it seems to me that they could have ended the album with aenema + (-) ions... certainly after the last *zap* i'm left with a feeling of resolution following aenema's epic, ball-crushing ending. but then the bass drum kicks in, bill hicks enters the game and you know that the ride isn't quite over yet. third eye is such a massive fucking song, totally unlike anything they've done, and as brilliant as the rest of the album is, third eye as the closer leaves me with a feeling of "what the fuck just happened;" any conception i had about "the album" just crumbles. i definitely voted third eye over lateralus in the madness.
i love the salival version as an opener, but i do wish we got 11 "prying open my third eye"'s at the end, as well as some of the little trippy sounds on the album version that were left out.
I agree, I will always claim the studio version of Third Eye as being the heaviest simply because of the 9 times Maynard says that line at the end (sorry don't mean to call you out but I'm pretty sure it was 9 times he says "prying open my third eye") versus him only doing it 4 times on Salival which just didn't leave you with the same feeling of "oh my god this is paranoia at its climax", and I know the reason why he only repeats the line 4 times on Salival is because during the beginning of the AEnima tour Maynard would attempt repeating the line 9 times like in the studio version and his voice would just get weaker to the point where he was struggling to keep up with the song, so they must have decided to reduce it down to 4 times whenever they did it live to make it easier on him. And Third Eye is a very unique song, even for a band such as Tool. As far as I'm concerned it's the most "intense" song period.
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Yeah but I kinda like it the way tool plays the song live because it sounds organic with there being more emphasis on the instruments and the loud sounds. Plus I like the variety of switching between listening to each version :)
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
The first time Maynards sings "So good to see you, I've missed you so much." has always sent chills down my arms. And then when he sings it later with high intensity, it's like someone just kicked a hole in the sky and let the sunshine flood in.
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Yes i love that first "so good to see you line" and then the more intense line later. Hearing this song sober is psychadelic but it is a hell of a trip hearing it higher than a kite
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Speaking of the "so good to see you" line, what or who do you think Maynard was referring to with that phrase? I always pictured it being spoken to his third eye (which, according to interviews with Maynard, "Third Eye" refers to the pineal gland), since he had lost touch with it a long time ago and "wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye" is another indicator that he is speaking directly to his third eye. What do you guys believe it to be about?
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 62827
Speaking of the "so good to see you" line, what or who do you think Maynard was referring to with that phrase? I always pictured it being spoken to his third eye (which, according to interviews with Maynard, "Third Eye" refers to the pineal gland), since he had lost touch with it a long time ago and "wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye" is another indicator that he is speaking directly to his third eye. What do you guys believe it to be about?
I have always thought the narrator of this song is interacting with his former self. I view it as an adult, who has been through some trials and tribulations, finally gaining some sensibility after a tough mental/physical/spiritual journey or some sort of trauma (insert the trauma of your choice — drug abuse, physical abuse, bodily injury to a loved one, etc.). Basically, some modicum of acceptance has been found and, along with it, some resolve. Finally there's enough strength to endure the pain of looking back. When the narrator does look back, he discovers himself at the last point of happiness — likely pre-adolescent childhood ("came out to watch you play"...).
A big key to me landing on this interpretation is this specific line from the lyrics:
"...To see just who I might have been..."
It's like the narrator is wondering what he could have become, what he would have been, how he would be this day if only he'd done A,B,C instead of X,Y,Z in his past. It's like he's wanting to quiz the child, shake him by the shoulders and say "Don't do this ... what the fuck are you thinking? You have no idea what you're in for." (I know this is some "Back to the Future" shit I'm spewing out right here).
But since that is not possible, he just wants to watch the former self (the child) play and relish in the happiness before it's gone. As time flees, he asks "Why are you running away?"
Does this even remotely make sense to anyone else?
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Wow i never thought of it like that. I think your spot on. especially since this song is on the same album as jimmy and H. and other such songs about his past. I had always thought of it as his third eye speaking to him saying its glad that he finally opened his eye and wants to see the world through the eye. Its almost like its his higher self waking up and watching maynard live (vicariously).
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Wow, that's alot of deep analyzing. Angel I like the analogy you gave about the narrator reflecting on his past self and questioning his premature motives. Everything you guys are saying about this song gives me a new angle to look at and appreciate it :)
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Yeah, I've never tripped on acid before, and I still am not sure if I want to. Some people really love it and says it's the ultimate music enhancing drug while others say it just fucks with your mind. I've only smoked pot to Tool and it helps me figure out the rhythms easier and allows me to hear each individual part of their music more clearly, as if my brain can categorize the guitar, bass, vocals, and drums into four sections and I can distinctly hear how each part fits into the song. It's pretty awesome.
__________________ "Religion is the opium of the masses" -Karl Marx
Re: This song is probably the best closer to any album ever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aegean_okra
i think he's speaking to "the divinity within." i won't elaborate, cuz if you know what i mean, then you feel it in your balls, and if you don't, well, an intellectual argument won't convince you.
the line "spent so many years of questioning, just to find out i've known this all along" really resonates with me. so much fear, anxiety, and doubt have i experienced, and honest reflection reveals that i was just making up things in my mind, confused and uncertain about a deep truth that has always been accessible to me.
if they could have included one more bill hicks line in this song, i think it would be
"there is a LIVING GOD THAT WILL SPEAK DIRECTLY TO YOU." i really think that's all this song is about.
You have hit on the second part of my interpretation to some degree. I was rushed the other day and did not fully complete my thoughts. While we differ to a degree, we are both swimming in the same stream with this.
While I do believe the narrator in this song is looking back at his former self (which ties in with Jimmy), I think this reflection has been triggered by an inward "awakening" — a realization that there's a higher power at play.
Take the higher power for what you will. I'm not religious and therefore struggle with accepting the traditional theory of, say, a Christian God. I'm not convinced the narrator is embracing Jesus here, per se, but I do think the Third Eye has opened up to reveal a higher plane, a higher power, something that supercedes the earthly human existence that we all know and are experiencing. The narrator has come to the realization, inside himself, that we are a small thread in a larger quilt (think Right in Two). This has shaken him to his core. Has awakened him. Has opened up another world, has opened a third eye that he didn't know existed. This, in turn, has triggered him to look back at how far, emotionally and spiritually, he has come over the years in his individual evolution.
He's recalling a time when an uninformed and innocent belief in a higher power existed before experience and cynacism took it away.
Like you, the line "I've spent so many years in question, to find I've known this all along" is what has led me to this theory.
