What has always drawn me to TOOL and fueled my fascination with the band is Maynard's ability to grab an audience by the balls as if he was two feet in front of you speaking these words directly to you in all honesty. As much as this song may have funny bits to it ( i.e shitting the bed) IMO it should be looked at with a more theatrical eye. The protagonist of this story has been given an awesome secret that can not be remembered and no one believes him. His whole expereince is filled with very real reactions and common phrases that could be coupled with such an experience. I find the song is much more effective if you let the journey take you and allow a sense of empathy for the character.By using a sense of empathy the journey becomes that much more theatrical and leads to a more entertaining experience. In theatre you can have a humorous protagonist go through an experience and still draw meaning from it. If anything this song allows us to feel clearly a sense of drug riddled frantic hopelessness, and in that it is a success in my books. It doesn't matter to me whether or not he actually was given a grand secret from an alien race, the struggle to deal with such information with a head full of LSD is enough for me.....for now.

It's a sci-fi rock opera of sorts.

Listening to this song is like your on something, but the music is what your on.

Yup you got it. This song is also an amazing starting point for a full length sci-fi rock opera. On the other hand if it was ever produced the world as we know it may implode...

The problem with this being turned into a sci-fi rock opera... is that I don't believe anyone can sound enough like Maynard to satisfy me live. Maynard would definately have to play the part... hmm.... can you picture Maynard in stage makeup on Broadway???

;)