Tool: Forty Six & 2 Meaning
Song Released: 1998
Forty Six & 2 Lyrics
Shedding skin and
I've been picking
Scabs again.
I'm down
Digging through
My old muscles
Looking for a clue.
I've been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could've been.
I've been wallowing in my own confused
And...
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Submitted another post previously; this is a more straightforward interpretation of the song.
The evolution of any individual person, or species as a whole, is accomplished at the expense of many other individual members of that species. Thus the references to killing and other such vile acts in the part about "doing what it takes to step through." The "evil" are juxtaposed with the good because people rationalize their behavior in order to achieve the ultimate personal end, evolution to a higher plane. Remember the message delivered more recently in Vicarious: "the universe is hostile, so impersonal, devour to survive, so it is, so it's always been." So it stands to reason that if "devouring" is required for mere survival, more extreme action must be taken to thrive to the point of evolving. Remember that evolution goes hand in hand with the notion of the survival of the fittest...if the fittest individuals survive to reproduce and gradually evolve, that's good for them, but the other individuals which are not as fit must be wiped out...it's a cold, heartless process, really.
So the person(s) who succeed(s) in attaining what Jung theorizes is the next stage of human evolution will do so at the expense of others, perhaps without realizing it...not because of some innocent, excusable naivete, but because the person is so consumed with his/her own quest to achieve the genetic and perhaps spiritual riches of the next stage. Human disease may not exist in Jung's world inhabited by the higher beings, but it is in fact essential to wipe out the people who are not going to get there. The cruelty of life.
Peace, Matt, Cutthemullet1@aol.com -
alright. I don't need someone making statements saying that God isn't real. Basically its interesting the term "46 and 2" isn't it? BUT I think its obvious what the actual gist of the song is saying. Its about evolution. Not literally, but mentally and to be set free and have full understanding. I am seeing the link to the chromosomes theory though. I am liking that theory. Well anyways, don't think too hard. Maynard doesn't want to tangle you up, he wants to free your mind.
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hey guys, I discovered this place right after the radio talk about Tool and there were SO many secrets to the CD that I didn't even know about! (like when you leave your CD running u'll get crickets chirping for like 7mins and then a man talking about something)
all of these theories are very interesting, I do like them all..but I think that the one I like most is...
"46&2 isn't really what is going to happen when we evolve, Tool just said that to represent the change in evolving.
In the unconscious part of your mind there lays a shadow. It is often in conflict with your conscious mind, and is the part of your mind that provides you with hunches and instinct. It is irrational, but is nessassary evil although it may appear to be so.
What Tool is trying to get across is that you must enter into this shadow and discover all there is to discover, then come out the other side. It is then when you will take the next step in evolution.
46&2 are just ahead of me..."
posted by an anonymous person, I believe that Maynard was talking about fighting all the negativity around you, to not run away from it but to actually face it head on and through this process, should you live to tell about it and not be consumed by it, you'll reach the 46&2, state of enlightenment..
"I choose to live and to
Grow, take and give and to
Move, learn and love and to
Cry, kill and die and to
Be paranoid and to
Lie, hate and fear and to
Do what it takes to move through.
I choose to live and to
Lie, kill and give and to
Die, learn and love and to
Do what it takes to step through. "
It seems to me like he is just ABOUT to step into the shadow in the first part...and when his feeling and mind changes he is IN the shadow and fighting! and with the last line "46&2 just ahead of me" he is fighting and fighting and to reach that state of inner and mental enlightenment is the next step and Just ahead of him!
it's interesting how he used a snake to interpret all this, this could very well also be thoughts of the snake ya know.. To shed out of that old coil and have a fresh rejuvinating batch of skin...it would be the snake taking steps, peeling away its old experiences and pangs, to reach a whole new beginning...
hmmm...
Maybe Maynard wants to reach a whole new beginning?..to start over?.. -
I sorta thought that this song was about finding out for yourself who you really are, and that you don't have much time to do it, and that once we all do, we can really evolve as a race.
-
This thread was a phenomenal read. The dichotomy between knowledge and wisdom was evident here once again, most obviously in the exchange between the exclusively-book-educated doctor-to-be and the guy who sparred with him directly. Even though I am currently enrolled as a psychology student at a university, I will always side with the people that dare to spar with the almighty ivory tower. SMRT is almost a caricature of all that is wrong with academia...mindless accumulation of knowledge acquired through rote memorization or variations thereof that leads to no true learning. His adversary (excuse me for forgetting the name, I do remember it began with "Dj") appeared to embody the sort of ideals I cherish, those that straddle the line between empiricism and mysticism. SMRT appears to struggle enough even in the empirical realm with which he is perhaps all too familiar, but the closer he gets to that line, the more lost he becomes.
At the end of the day (pardon the cliche), we do not know. The abrupt ending to that sentence is intentional; we simply do not know. The more pieces to the puzzle we acquire, the more we realize how imposing the scope of that puzzle truly is. Life is a puzzle of infinite scope, in fact. So why bother with the minutia? Why throw eight years of life away in a futile and pointless pursuit of EQUALING the attainment of others' knowledge? Either try to exceed what's been done (a 46 &2 path, I suppose), or give up and, hell, revert to a 42&2 state of harmony. Because 44&2 isn't getting us too far, is it?
That's how I feel. I thus waver between nihilism and grandiose schemes of trying to solve a puzzle that I at heart know cannot be solved by one rational being. That's my intellectual conflict; but it's really a conflict that affects my entire life.
I suppose my shadow is learning to embrace this conflict if it cannot be resolved. Whatever the end may be, Tool will have a role in my arrival there. And I hope they (and all of us) ultimately arrive at that same destination, as well.
That is all...for now.
--Matt, you can reach me at Cutthemullet1@aol.com if you wish. Peace...investigating these matters while retaining one's sanity is not always a given. I speak from experience. Truly, peace. -
the song is telling you the Maynard wants to get to a high level in spirituality and god.
regular people do have 46 chromosomes take to away you will become mentally retarded of as they say you will have down syndrome and if you add 2 more you will have a high level of energy and closet spirituality toward god which is what he wants to do.
If you look at the songs on Lateralus they talk about the fact that he has gotten to that type of level. Here he wants to get there and hasn't yet. -
Wow, that was a crazy sequence of interpretations to read. I love the song, partly because I'm a geneticist and a fan of Jungian psychology. And... yes, I couldn't help but put in my humble two-cents.
Firstly, I admire the tension that Maynard creates between psychology and biology. The tension, and combination, was an interesting development in the early 1900s. TH Huxley described the period as the "eclipse of Darwin." The development of evolutionary theory is an interesting study... I think even our Doctor friend might be able to understand it.
The combination of perfecting the body and mind is an interesting way of looking at ourselves and our 'personal evolution.' Maynard uses the human physiology as a symbol for our state of being. We have these bodily things that influence our behavior, on top of this, we also have the Jungian shadow which influences our behavior, too.
To me, the song is definately about the painful process of breaking free and becoming ourselves. "Picking scabs" is definately a form of self destruction, however, it also represents a perpetual state of disturbance. We take away our "armor" by picking at ourselves and our nature.
Maynard seems to not only 'dig through his muscle' looking for things that influence him, but he actively explores his Jungian shadow. He steps through his baser instincts to understand them, 'crawling on his belly.' He sees himself thorugh the eyes of his own shadow.
I DO believe that there is an underlying assumption of transcendentalism in the song. It's very spiritual and reminiscent of buddhism. Consciously, or unconsciously, Maynard makes two statements with the song:
1. Self-realization is painful.
2. Enlightenment is achieved by casting off the base body and shadow that influence us. Freedom from these can help us to achieve a higher existence, represented by the old 46&2 theory of chromosomes.
But that's just me. Take it for what it's worth. -
There is an answer somwhere in here, but I do not beleive its in any mix of words strung together to express an "idea".
I would say some of you are closer than others. I know this because in my journey I have learned many important things that are subject to ingorance and fear of others that interpret them.
darwin coined the term 'Fit' ; meaning , best suited for survival.
I think this pretains to more than just mortal survival, I think it also means our thoughts are either "Fit" or "Unfit" for survival. meaning there is no ONE answer to solve things for us,there are many that will serve their purpose, it is up to us to decide which is fit for our survival, whether it is a vaccine that saves us, an idea that inspires us to keep moving or a car to get you to your 9-5. The point is to use better judgement and try to strive to reach something/somewhere no one has before to hopefully survive mentally/physically and play out what time has in store for us and what we make of it. Tool is basically self-help for those with sensitive ears and minds. If you are to obtain anything from 46+2 let it be this, you must brave the dark to see the light, but to brave the darkness you must become the dark , you must change into the dark and become it throughout your mind and body( You will never be more clean than after you have endured the dirtiest thing you can imagine)to become as light is. choose to live and to.........
P.S. for anyone to say that Maynard is not the most enlightened person on earth is one ignorant person.
P.P.S god does not exist he is a mental construct of what your mind needs to believe in to survive mentally/physically. without man there is no god, but without god we are free. -
hello, I actually joined this forum just to give a word of advice....please as fellow intelligent beings don't let small and insignifigant comments lead us down a path of not sharing our ideas just because we don't like each other. If one of us has an idea the others should carefully ponder it for long hours before discrediting it. After all, all of the most inovative ideas were thought to be crazy at some point. Please just let us discuss things in a calm and cival fashion. thank you for your time. and power to the brains!!!
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First let me state that I have no degree in anything, but the greatest ideas in any field will always come from outside the field. But, I have been reading a very very interesting book called Psycho-Cybernetics by maxwell maltz, which is based on scientific research and proven theories as well as the author's own theories on human conciousness. Its a must read and has changed my life, even every time I re read it. It scientifically explains why you are what you believe, and states that it has been "proven" that your "sub-concious" cannot tell the difference between whats real and what you imagine. In one study, they had 3 groups of basketball players. The first group practiced their freethrow for 2 weeks. The second group did not engage in any practice at all. The third group engaged in "imagining in realistic detail, like the feel of the ball and everything, that they were practicing their freethrow, making mistakes and correcting their shots in their heads" for about 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks. The results, group 1 improved their freethrow by 25%, the second, no improvement; the third improved by 24%.
Anyway, It also explains that in order for your creative mechanism(body) to work like its ment, you have to forget all negative past experiences and only, when remembering the past, the positive. It also contains research on what the aurthor calls "extra-physical" energy, connected conciousness, and such things like telepathy.
As far as this song, I love it, to death. It puts this electrical feeling around me, the hair on my neck stands up, because I do beleive that we humans, all of us, each have the access to a greater power that can only be acheived if you believe its there. You have to develope a theory, test it, keep whats true, abandon what doesn't work, and develope another theroy based on what you've learned. But you must always keep a main target goal in mind. Then lay out all the possibilities to get this goal, then comes the action part once you've decided the course. This is where "living in the moment" comes into play, because to be scientific and rational...the only real thruth for YOU is in the moment you are living in and you can only assume for so long before you must move foreward and find more truth. Then you correct your course to that goal, based off what you've discovered to be facts, and lay down more possibilities to your goal. Changing the way to the goal is necessary, and that goal will never be what you've imagined it to be, but if you have some idea of what it is, all you have to do is move foreward and let your body figure out shit on its own.
So, read this book, then compare it to what your theories and belief's on 46 and 2 are. Try not to buy into the truth on anything completely, but the ability to imagine is what makes humans so superior to all other species.
As far as what I think he means by the song, he's expressing his new self awareness of the truth he as found so far by casting off old beliefs, beliefs that are fed to people by other people. This is wrong, that is right. You have to figure it out for yourself whats right and wrong and to be honest there isn't much absolute when it comes to right and wrong. Everything is in the moment.. If lying is bad, then would it be bad if during the holacaust, a man lied about having jews in his attick? Then, at that moment, lying isn't so wrong anymore now is it. The truth is in the moment, nothing is absolute, everything is changing around you every second. The abandoning of old tradition and wandering off into new territory is what helps us evolve. He's saying "i'm sick of buying into this bullshit that I've been believing this whole time, and by realising this I can feel myself becoming free and aware."
One more thing, nobody is absolutly correct on any of this, unless Maynard himself were to put a thread in. Dont knock people's opinions, you could be just as wrong as them, no matter what little book you studied from. Eggs are bad, no no, eggs are good, no no, new discovery, eggs are bad. Even scientific facts are changing constantly. People need to be more open minded and atleast consider other's views. You don't have to believe what they think, but like I said, the best ideas come from those who arent experts in that area.
Dont get me wrong, there are arrogant,egotistic, ignorant people in the world and I think, if they arent contributing to the world in any way, they are cheating as far as life and need to be killed. This includes retards, I don't mean to sound cruel, but if I had a retarded child I would not love it. I would not keep someone around just so I could pity them and wipe their asses for them. Live strong or die. This is part of my shadow everyone...i hate retards. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I've done an interpretation a couple of months ago, and I'm even more obsessed with the song than the last time I posted. Here is what I have discovered sence then...
transcendentalism: any system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material.
what Tool is saying is listen to your mustle memory, your "gut", and the intuitive part in you. contemplate what you have been clinging to (your posesions) and realize that it is holding you back.
another huge part of transcendentalism is self reliance. I believe Tool put this fact across very clear in their lyrics: "MY shadow....I'VE been picking..I'VE been crawling..join in MY child...etc." and that they believe you evolve through self realization and self revelation in thought.
in this self revelation, in this "shadow", there is something beautifull that can come from it all. It is in this metamorphosis that we can evolve, and finally transcend. -
READ THIS:
i read this from "nothing in this book is true, but it's exactly how things are" by bob frissell. This is almost word for word:
There are 5 levels of consciousness. They are related to the # of chromosomes we have and they prescribe a range of height.
1) the first level has 42+2 chromosomes. Its harmonic with unity consciousness. collective consciousness operates such that if one person experiences something, its possible for everyone else to access this memory and relive it. The range of height is associated with this level of consciousness is 3 and 1/2 - 5 feet.
2) the second level is where we are now (44+2). we no longer have this unity consciousness; we are cut off and separated. The range of height is from 5 - 7 feet.
3) the 3rd level is christ-consciousness (46+2). range of height is from 10-16 feet. This brings us back to unity memory again but the 3rd level is no longer dreamtime but realtime so when you remember something its real. Its not just your memory but the memory of all christ-conscious beings who ever lived. There is only really 1 consciousness that moves through everything so its key is memory. This is what immortality is all about. If you are immortal you won't stay in a body for long because there is always a higher place to move. The key is to not have a break in consciousness (memory loss) as you move through the diff levels being able to leave when you want and continuing to know where you've been.
4) the fourth level has 48+2 and a height range of 25-35 feet. Its disharmonic like the second level but you have to go through it to get to the highest level.
5) 5th level has 50+2 and a height range from 50-60 feet.
If we all stay in the 2nd level for too long we could distory ourselves off the planet. anyways I don't think I really have to explain this much anymore. I'm pretty sure you can put two and two together from this.... ohhh!! and read that book its great and its so obvious Tool read it. -
I did not mean that the whole song is about evolution of consciousness, and agree that the song is about your past and moving on from old memories. But why is he moving on?
I think that this song is much more than most give it credit for. Overthinking, overanalyzing, seperate the body from the mind. Think outside of the box. Digging for a clue, clearing out what could have been, he is cleaning out the garbage from his psyche to find something. Feel the outide turning in, cleansing what he has endured.
It is two sided. One, he is getting rid of his old memories and turning a new leaf from regret and guilt.
Two, he is searching for something, the forty six & 2. Then when he finds it, he steps through his shadow, and the forty six & 2 is just ahead.
What is the forty six & 2? Previous posts including mine have stated all different opinions of it, mainly centralized around one big thing, so I don't think I need to regurgitate what 40 people have already said.
Blue tape
learn to swim -
The 46 and 2 reference isn't ment to be taken literally.
Tool writes about the same type of things over and over
again.... Think for yourself, overcome your own faults,
keep an open mind, be a dreamer and a realist.. So on and so on. 46 and 2 is about overcoming your own past, your own mistakes and faults to 'evolve' into your perfect self.
Take the first few lines for example... "my shadow's shedding skin, I've been picking scabs again" (picking scabs, to me means reliving painful memories from the past) I'm down, digging through, my old muscles looking for a clue (to me this means looking into the past at prevoius actions to determine why I continue to make these mistakes and looking for a way to stop)" the next few lines are basically talking about the same thing. "crawling on my belly, clearing out what could have been, wallow in chaotic insecure delusion ect ect"
for me clearing out what could have been means to quit thinking about the possibilites of making different choices in the past and their results.. After so much analyization this type of thinking is counterproductive.
Next few lines are the most important of the song for me.. All the realizations are there in the lines before.
Eyes have opened. Next is a vow to be a functional healthy person.. " I choose to live and to, grow.. Ect. Ect. Do what it takes to step through!!!" the final lines of the song sum up the way human has to overcome theirself. "see my shadow changing, stretching up and over me (to me shadow is the preception of self, self preception changing, expanding to cover the whole to love the self) soften this old armor(to me means ending self doubt), hoping I can clear the way by... Stepping through my shadow, comin out the other side, step into the shadow, 46 and 2 are just ahead of me. (to me means becoming the shadow or self one truely is, to look through the self onto a broader preception.
-antismob
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