The "song" is the sound of a needle at the end of A record.
However, I don't think it was for members of Tool to get a good laugh... as some of you have suggested. I think Tool take their time (especially to put something on a CD) and space more serious than that. For the person that said their vinyl version of side 1 ends with Useful Idiot... and then ya flip it over for side 2 and Useful Idiot begins again... That's because Useful Idiot is the segue for 46 and 2.
(If something like this was on Opiate... then maybe your idea of a prank would be more reasonable...)
Do you think Tool actually had a vinyl record of Ænima at the time the CD was being made? I don't. Do you think they sat in the studio thinking about how to play a prank if they ever decided release a vinyl version of Ænima?
I think the needle repeating over and over is symbolic and very meaningful. What is the next track on the cd? 46 and 2.
What is 46 and 2 about? Evolution. His personal evolution and OUR evolution as human beings.
I think the needle repeating over and over and over and over and over and over... represents TIME.
I'm not sure how many times the needle actually repeats... I am guessing about 18-20...
I think each of those times the record repeats, represents X amount of years that we've been evolving as humans... which is the perfect way to segue into 46 and 2.
I would accept it as a prank, if the static sound didn't get louder and louder, and basically lead into 46 and 2.
I can see the time of static as time before something starts, but before what? It seems to be the time before something, before we began to evolve by ourselves, rather than in nature.
Couldn't they have just been sitting around jamming/chilling somewhere listening to some old vinyl when it stopped, they hadnt noticed, and then finally some says "Hey where's the music gone?", and then they realise whats playing and they said "That sounds cool!"
I know that in my band little fuck-ups and/or other auditory oddities occur all the time and we always think to ourselves "Man we should have sampled that!"
But I love how it leads into 46 & 2... it just works so damn well!
yea
tool are (as far as everyone here like to believe) a very "artistic" group....thus why there are hundreds of posts being posted about the most inane aspects of their songs that most likely miss the point entirely....
useful idiot: not so much as a prank....nor as "symbolic" and "meaningful" as might be argued
it sounds cool...and works well as an intro to 46 & 2.......the monotomous sounds contrasting well with the bass riff........tool are careful with their music....but i'm sure not everything has some deep philisophy backing it up...sure it may be basic symbolism such as repettition implying frustration or boredom but i rekon this was more for dramatic effects.....
i just rekon we're putting too much thought into this one....
__________________ think for yourself...
question authority...
You're looking at it from the wrong angle. Useful Idiot is an outro to H. and an intro to Forty-Six & 2. All three are linked by Useful Idiot.
However, the end of H. is cut off without Useful Idiot, but the intro to Forty-Six & 2 is complete with or without UI. Maybe they aren't connected as three.
wow, i never noticed that. it would make so much sense that it would be connected to H. if you view useful idiot as a commentary on how humans live their lives. 46&2 would be the next step (abstractly speaking) on this musical sequence.
__________________ I opened my third nostril when i smelled a huge container filled with boiling hazelnut coffee. thanks chris.
I think you are reading too far into this. Not everything Tool does is going to be meaningful and deep. I.e. Maynards Dick, Message to Harry Manback, L.A.M.C, and so on.
according to alex grey, and many others, humans are involved in a three step evolutionary process, the second of which is now currently at a close. I think the static right before the third stage of man is the current state. Useful, because it's the path for man, it's the vessel for which super man must travel through and use until the next stage is ready. Idiot, because we are ignorant of everything spiritual. We have gained super egos and lost our true ground and memory. It gets louder and louder, as the end of this stage draws near. The third stage, 46&2, starts rather abruptly.
I don't think too much thought has gone into this...
You say not everything Tool does is deep or meaningful.
Maybe not "deep," but certainly meaningful.
You mentioned Maynard's Dick, Harry Manback and LAMC as examples as to why you think Useful Idiot is merely a mindless way to more or less waste 38 seconds.
First off, I think Maynard's Dick is a great song. Just because we don't have to come to TDN to give our opinions on what it could possibly mean, doesn't mean it's less important than a Tool song that's shrouded in mystery.
Message to Harry Manback. Yeah, I agree that this isn't something that requires too much thought. However, it is meaningful. I think the "message" is the biggest top I've ever heard.
LAMC- Would they put this on one of their regular disks? Highly doubt it.. Is it excessive and annoying? Yes. Is that the point? Yes. It's a song that represents a sign of the times...
Everything has gone to automation, and it's frustrating.
The length of LAMC is indicative of the frustration level.
How bad is it when you call a COURT... and you can't reach a human-
Anyhow... I certainly think Useful Idiot is related with 46 and 2 and shouldn't be discounted. Nor should people assume it doesn't have meaning just because there aren't words and it's monotonous. That repetition is actually what makes it meaningul... not the other way around.
Last edited by ThreeDeviations; 12-11-2002 at 08:35 PM..
Originally posted by ThreeDeviations I'm not sure how many times the needle actually repeats... I am guessing about 18-20...
I think each of those times the record repeats, represents X amount of years that we've been evolving as humans... which is the perfect way to segue into 46 and 2.
hey man, im here for u. i feel sorry for u buddy, knowing that u cant count and all, or maybe u just cant be bothered ;) but im here for u man. i counted for you. how nice of me eh? theres 30 repetitions. does that conclude anything? maybe it represents 30 years... but then its 46 and 2 so i cant make a whole lot out of that, maybe its nothing....
']['ørpîd ]?rêÿ
by the way - the start of my post is a joke - dont get cut, k?
