Tool: Forty Six & 2 Meaning

Song Released: 1998

Forty Six & 2 Lyrics

My shadow's

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...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 5th 2006 !⃝

   It's all about the evolution, the last time we evolved we gained 2 chromosomes, and we now have 46, add two more and we are completely different.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 5th 2006 !⃝

   I don't feel like writing right now, but I am 100% sure it is about that: A male has 23 chromosomes and a female has 23 which = 46. When Maynard made the song he is refering to Jugs shadow theory (He has seven theorys) it is one of them. The 2 is meaning that if humans were to have an extra 2 added with the other 46 that you would have the ability to fight off diseases and shit, to be like the jesus type figure but not refering to that cartoon character. That is what I know from many many sources.
3. anonymous

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   Feb 1st 2006 !⃝

   It could always be both and that to achive a divine state we have to accept both our good and evil.
4. anonymous

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   Jan 27th 2006 !⃝

   Humans have 46 chromosomes, there is no evidence of primative tribal groups differing from this.
5. anonymous

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   Dec 17th 2005 !⃝

   Well this song does have an interesting meaning. A meaning so complex I could write an essay for a college psychology class. But in a nutshell it goes somewhat like this.
   
   There are 3 kinds of peoople on this planet. The first group in the kind that has a grouping of chromosomes called 42+2. These people are most notably aboriginal people in tribes in the jungle. These people believe everything in the world are connected, the Earth, the poeple, the water, the animals ,ect. The next type is 44+2 which is most people (including me and you). These people (us) believe we are each a separate being from each other and the world around us. We also believe that we are the sole rulers of the planet. The next group is reserved for a few (I believe so far only one person belongs in this catogory) This group has the chromosomes of 46+2 which is considered divine. This means that you are both divine and human at the same time (Jesus anybody) This means you can do things the average human can't do such as heal people and control things. Yet Maynard is talking about how he is trying to find the nirvana of 46+2 and if anybody could achive this state of body.
6. anonymous

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   Dec 16th 2005 !⃝

   Ah, finally. I've always wondered what that meant, the reference 46 and 2. At first I thought it was an astrological reference, like the grudge, but I was never sure. Well, thanks for the informative gratification.
7. Zaq

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   Nov 12th 2005 !⃝

   Amazing song. Definitely one of my top five. Extremely complex, but here goes nothing...(Listen to the song while reading and contemplating this and it will make more sense. It's not really in order, by the way)
   The referance to a snake should be fairly obvious. "Crawling on my belly," "My shadow's shedding skin." Snakes are usually seen as evil. Your shadow can be called your "evil" side, it is the part of you that gets angry, wants to kill, lies, steals, hates and fears. The other part of you is the part that you embrace, the part that loves and gives.
   
   "Listen to my muscle memory" = Do what comes naturally, not what you think you should do. Not that you should do this all the time, but you need to know the "evil" side of yourself as well as your "good" side.
   "Contemplate what I've been clinging to" = Think about what you normally would have done.
   "I've been crawling on my belly" = I've been acting like a snake/"evil".
   "clearing out what could've been" = Acting evil, doing the morally "wrong" thing, getting it out of my system.
   "I've been wallowing in my own confused and insecure delusions" =Delusions of sinning, doing all the things considered the "wrong" thing to do.
   "For a piece to cross me over/ Or a word to guide me in" = been waiting for anything to come along and convince me to go into my shadow.
   "I wanna feel the change consume me/ feel the outside turning in" = I wanna fell the bad take over/ Feel the shadow coming out.
   
   He chooses to do the good along with the bad, the right along with the wrong. To simply, "Do what it takes to move through."
   
   "See my shadow changing,
   Stretching up and over me.
   Soften this old armor."
   
   = See the dichotomies become one, each one softening the other.
   
   "Hoping I can clear the way
   By stepping through my shadow,
   Coming out the other side."
   
   = Hoping that by seeing and experiencing the evil, I will move past it, and come out the other side.
   
   "Step into the shadow.
   Forty six and two are just ahead of me."
   
   = Actually do it. A brand new, improved you is right around the bend.
   "MY SHADOW/ CHANGE IS COMING THOUGH MY SHADOW."

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