Forgive me if this has already been posted somewhere - there is alot of new content to go through on here, plus my internet has been acting horrible for the passed two days. I suspect someone had to have had this perspective on it by now, though.

It's about insanity/mental illness/dementia/schizophrenia/catatonia (possibly drug induced) - Something the likes of the Syd Barrett story. Of course the prelude being Lost Keys, and going into Rosetta Stoned, "what's happened, tell me everything?"...

Then it comes in with a bunch of almost noncoherent rambling, schizophrenic like. Very random disorganized thoughts. References to hallucinations that "seem so real"; if you've ever seen "A Beautiful Mind", you can see where I'm going with this. Also delusions of grandeur "they chose me, and I didn't even graduate from fuckin highschool". And eventually it builds up to complete loss of mind: the strapped down, eyes red "shitting my bed" part. Of course the Rosetta Stone was objectively just a primmer(sp?) to help under something else - I think he's using it in that context. It makes such perfect sense... once again it's inside the music too - the music is schizophrenic as well, or at least metaphorically so.

I love it - great topic to go with the rest of the album. Fits so well. Man the album is so fantastic... I am blown away all over again. Anyway though - I'd be willing to bet my interpretation is dead on (not to stand on a soapbox or anything), but it's good. Have at it.

edit: and I believe the title, is just a relativization regarding how complicated a human perspective can become. Or that the person in topic has become "stoned" out of his mind by whatever reason, and is relating to everything through some other perspective that is not understandable by anyone else. And the mystery behind why and/or how this happens to people. Something like that - I could go on and over analyze this for a long time. But I'm sure alot of you can add to it, or put it better than I can.

To me, factually, it reads like:

A guy went out to Area 51, took some mind-altering chemicals, saw a UFO and was abducted. The alien talked to him and told him that he's the chosen one to deliver a warning message to humanity of how we will come to an end, but also to provide a way to avoid that ending (the message of hope.) However, because the guy is a fuckup (shit the bed AGAIN) he forgot his pen, or forgot to write it down altogether, so humanity's only hope is lost. He then returns home and, because he's so terrified of what has happened, he goes to a hospital for help. The doctor offers some comforting words, so he opens up and tells the story of his abduction, which promptly lands him in a mental institution, strapped to a bed.

i think youre spot on there

yeah, that's basically how I understood it.

That is a very, very impressive interpretation. I like. I like.

Oh and it seems to be a fairly elaborate, well thought out, well written and well performed JOKE song... but with a HUGE underlying tone of doom and sadness.

Why does he have to take drugs? He could have just been like that because IT ACTUALLY HAPPEND to him. Not because he was on LSD or some shit.

I believe there are some subtle hints at drug use. For example "Deadhead chemistry" and the reference to orange slices, which I'm told supposedly help you come down from a high... or maybe it's enhance a high? I dunno... Anyway, I kinda assumed he took some shrooms. Maybe when we get the rest of the lyrics at the beginning figured out, we'll know for sure.

Ah thanks guys for the deeper perspective. I really hadn't listened to this song that much because I wasn't too happy with it at first impressions, but as usual it has grown on me dramatically, and is now one of my favorites... I cannot believe this album. It is THAT good. Anyway, I appreciate the insight. And so good to see likeminded people enjoying this so much... just don't forget to BUY IT!!! hehe...

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't buy it. Hell I just preordered mine at a Wherehouse Music store here in town for $5. $5.00 !! TOOL's artwork and packaging always makes it a worthwhile buy anyway.

But anyway, I couldn't go to Coachella NOT having heard the new stuff first. I HAD to download it. You understand... ;)

yeah, i think something happened that was real, but he was too high on his "need to know potion" to remeber what they said.

true story: the first time my and my friend ate shrooms, we figured out the meaning of life, and were sure of it. before the trip ended, we forgot it.

Yeah, from what I remember...orange(citric acid) enhances the ride...

most likely because the track has "stoned" in it.

Yeah that would be the obvious one...

the reason i think it's an acid trip is because of the preceeding track, "lost keys (blame hofmann)".. as pointed out elsewhere, albert hofmann is the man who first synthesized lsd..

also anybody who's had enough experience with acid can relate to the feeling of having some amazing revelation and then not being able to remember it.. i've even known people who tried to write down what they thought and when they read it sober it's either totally illegible scribbling or incoherent rambles (like those in the beginning of the track)..

It may have actually happened to him, but come on -- he's wearing Birkenstocks. What more do you want, a doctor's note that says "This man is on drugs"?

That's exactly how I saw it.

quoted for the truth...

That is correct although I don't think researchers or trippers know why yet.

NO WAY. NO FRIGGIN WAY.

no, but really - its not that complicated. "It's about insanity/mental illness/dementia/schizophrenia/catatonia (possibly drug induced)" - indeed, it is. How long did it take you to come to this conclusion?

lol.

I just think its funny how everyone keeps coming out and saying "Oh, I finally got it! This song has to be about..". Well, yeah, no shit. The whole ablum's pretty blatant. It doesnt take much thinking to get this one ;) . I just think its funny how everyone feels so mighty once they 'get' a song from XMdays (by putting 2+2 together..). I think it's quite more "accessible" than previous works. Idk. Perhaps its for the better.

listen to third eye... then listen to LK and RS... now tell me that isnt a great lil story told by tool music.

i hear third eye as good trip by lsd... RS is a bad one... and the LK is when the dude is found after tripping real bad and the doctor doesnt know whats wrong with him. listen to the music... and lyrics... all linked... and (blame hoffman) ... hoffman is the guy who accidently made LSD...

my 2 crappy cents..

peace

I don't see how Third Eye has to deal with a trip.

always the way i took it. glad u see it another way otherwise it wouldnt be tool music heh. using chemicals to get to a certain level of enlightenment then figuring out a way to get there without it... but apparently the guy in LK and RS just over did it a little.

just me

peace

I think if Tool started the show with Lost Keys when it is real dark, it would be incredible. You can hear that one or two notes by Adam while the doctor/nurse talk, and you cant see anyone or anything on stage, and then the infamous Tool feedback that joins Lost Keys - Rosetta Stoned kicks in and then you see the shadow of Maynard come on stage, while hearing that little outlaw sounding guitar intro of R.S by Adam, and then hearing Maynard say "Alrighty then, picture this if you will"(crowd roars) and then BAM!!!! right into the show.

I believe it would make me shit my seat.

I've been told that drinking orange juice or taking Vitamin C supplements enhances acid trips. I don't think it's the citric acid, I think its vitamin C.

"2am", "sky splitting open(?)", "never expected to see a place like this", "diamonds", "birkenstocks", "X-Files", "Like an apparition, he had me cryin' out 'Fuck me! It's gotta be....Dead-head chemistry.... (inaudible) Believe what you see (?)"... "Omniferous"

Perhaps this song can be seen as a sequal to Faaip De Oiad. A man trying to give a dire warning that he heard at Area 51, but nobody will believe him.

when i was a big tripper, i and my fellow acidheads always assumed it was because tripping sapped a lot out of you.. so if you loaded up on vitamin C (and it was the vitamin C, not citric acid per se, that was sought after) you wouldn't feel so dragged out by the end of the trip.. i heard a lot of people say that it actually intensified the trip, but i'm skeptical.. i think it's more like, being on acid makes you acutely aware of what's going on with your body and when you feel the effect of taking lots of vitamin C (not usually very noticable thanks to our reliance on stimulants like nicotine and caffeine to make it through the day) it just feels amazing..

just a theory, of course

Fuck, I just realized how much this song and Faaip de Oiad have in common.

this is all my conjecture:

it's an acid flashback that tells a story.

the inserted, slightly different, portions from prior songs make it feel even more like a flashback. the rambling, the odd subject matter, and clear drug references ("the bottom got on top of me" = losing your head, orange slices = enhance/subdue high, sinkist and sudafed = trip hangover cure) all contribute to this theory.

the story -- it's basically about a dropout hippie who presumably entered some kind of trance state which we are led to believe was caused by some kind of psychadelic (lipan conjuring is a clue here...peyote?) and ended up being abducted by aliens and explained the key to humanity's downfall. but like a dumb hippie forgot his pen and, figureatively speaking, shit the bed.

he freaks out so bad mid flashback and can't remember what the aliens told him. he goes insane and is strapped to a bed in a psych-ward...where he quite literally, shits his bed.

if he says "but i forgot my pen", you would have to assume that he was expecting to experience something like this in the first place, wouldn't you?

No, cause then he would have... you know... brought his pen.

the first time i heard this song, the only lyrics i really heard clearly, the only particularly "maynard" style singing, "overwhelmed as one would be when placed in my position, such a heavy burden now to be the one. born to bare and read you all the details of our ending, to write it down for all the world to see. but i forgot my pen. shit, my bad again, typical" i kinda got the feeling it was a fuckyou to toolfans... the ones that say shit like "maynard is the voice inside my head", i thought that one stanza especially in its context [i.e. clearly understandable and oldschool toolin] was practically maynard sayin "im not god, im just a dude who happens to be in a kicknuts band, leave me alone and go do your own thing"

i dunno, im too tired to eloquate my point properly.... blame hofmann

i agree that the's one level of it... not that he necessarily did those exact things, but its a reference to UFOs and tripping out and mental illness, each of which tool have used several times. For example songs like h, undertow, lateralus, and third eye all reference drugs, but in each case its applicable to so much more.

In this song, the speaker is at the most extreme level of isolation, paranoia, and self doubt possible- doubting reality and fearing madness. He's also frustrated that he's unable to communicate his reality to others... it seems so important and meaningful, yet when it comes time to put it into words, he shits the bed every time. By using extremes, its a kind of "catharsis" of these feelings, which in varying doses, are pretty universal.

Maynard is great at doing that, like all the great writers. No one else's lyrics are like that. I have a BA in English, so I've read all the "greats," and this dude is right up with the best

There are some good interpretations here tbh. I would like to point out a few things though: Firstly, I don't think Vitamin C either enhances or subdues a trip, but the citric acid in some fruit juices can help boost a mushroom trip, according to my sources. (Read the shroomery.org forums).

Also, I think the title is supposed to mean both that he (MJK) is tripping on something, probably acid, and that he can understand the message much clearer while being on acid. The Rosetta Stone was a tool for understanding ancient egyptian hieroglyphs, and being Rosetta Stoned is probably to be under the influence of a tool to understand whatever message MJK is singing about.

I agree. Very well put. Perhaps he is just using the UFO/Area 51/Drugs thing to better communicate the idea of an inability to share one's reality with others, however profound.

But perhaps there is another way of looking at this song. Perhaps it all goes back to blind faith. This dude went out in the desert and had this profound experience, and then comes back and begs, "You believe me, don't you??? You believe what I just told you, right?"- expecting everyone to believe something that they didn't see or taste or feel or hear. could be multi-faceted.

I kind of thought with the death of his mother, Maynard took drugs (with Lipan Conjuring) and had a fucked up dream of all of that. I see it as a person losing their mind after they've lost their love.

I hear it as the downside of the LSD Trip. Third Eye being about how goo the drugs can be, Rosetta Stoned being about how terrifyingly bad they can be, and that's why there are links in the music between the two songs.

To me, it sounded so obvious, but I'm really glad to see other people are interpreting it differently.

I definitely agree. That's why I qualified it by saying "factually, it reads like..." There are definitely more interpretations/ tie-ins to be made. But the obvious/ on-the-surface one is so fun... yet so scary at the same time.

Kinda reminds me of a Bill Hicks joke. Something along the lines of...

"It makes you wonder why aliens travel millions of miles to visit Earth, only to appear in front of a handful of hillbillies. It's like we're being visited by some sort of intergalactic Joad family. 'We just had a long trip. We wanna kick back and whittle some. We're gonna enter the mothership in the tractor pull.'"

Yeah that's not exactly it, but it is WAY too late for me to go researching it. Maybe tomorrow I'll edit it.