Tool: Lateralus Meaning
Song Released: 2002
Lateralus Lyrics
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Over thinking,...
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the song has to be about the connection and the balance between our physical bodies and our souls. it could also be about becoming enlightened or maybe even discovering that there is more than what you can see. like with a DMT trip, people say that on a DMT trip the soul leaves the body and goes to other dimensions.
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listen to the lyrics. everyone who has tried interpreting this song is doing exactly what he advise's not to do. its about not over thinking situations that way you are always open to oppurtunities. embrace the random? im thinkin maybe he is picking people out our trying to prove a point by putting the fibinocci seqcuence randomly in this song. if you've noticed a lot of his songs incorporate a kind of budhist ideal with the spirals and third eye. if you look at budhism you will realize that it is all kind of metaphorcal in a way. and a lot of maynards lyrics are metaphorical. maybe the spiral means life. if you embrace the random and feed your will to feel your moment you will take more chances more oppurtunities and go were no ones been a place called life. maynard is very spiritual but i dont think he is unreal. he speaks about reality and everyday life and i think he is just heling people find a way to deal so that they dont miss out or go down a bad road....his music is his advice hints the name tool.
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I don't know if anybody's made this analysis yet.
He says "Black then white are all I see in my infancy. Red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me, lets me see."
I believe the Black then white part is referring to black: the absence of all color, color that allows us to 'see', and white: the combination of all of colors in the visible spectrum that we can 'see', or that allow us to 'see'.
He's referring to being simplistic and dealing with 'seeing' and 'not seeing', or rather 'knowing about something' and 'not knowing about something'.
For instance, our first approach to the idea of God is: Is there a God? (Is there nothing or everything out there? Black/white) Red and yellow are said to be the colors that evoke emotion the most. With that applied, he's saying "At first the question was simply is there or is there not a God? But now I understand myself on a deeper level and the question is of another spectrum. (I mean, if it's interpreted this way, black/white and red/yellow aren't a part of the same metaphor but two complimentary metaphors)"
In my honest opinion, the closest thing to God that we can understand is ourselves. Meaning, God isn't some supernatural being, but rather the eventuality lying within all of us, collectively. Singularity, etc. This was an epiphany to me. Upon accepting this, the black/white question is irrelevant, really, and a new style of question emerges. Actually, I'd say more of an answer emerges in that sense. The red and yellow is the depth of the self, understanding of one's self and the divinity within. That understanding reaches out to us, lets us see. Also, in the album artwork, there's the nice "God" written on a brain which could easily be a representation of the idea that this "God" exists within our minds, our minds being the key to understanding our "self". -
"Black then white are all I see in my infancy / red and yellow then came to be"
This line in particular is about a child growing up and learning to recognize and understand different colors. Basically, this means that the child is no longer viewing life through the naive perspective of 'black and white,' but is instead viewing the world in color and is thus being more open to differing points of view.
Lateralus is all about lateral thinking (which means thinking with an open mind), hence the album's title. This song is about living open-minded, or laterally, instead of narrow-mindedly, or linearly. -
This song, along with many other pieces they have written, and will continue to write, deals directly with a peak experience, transcendence, a self actualized moment, religious experience, or however you'd like to label the state of mind. These things are all one and the same depending on the literature you've fallen back on, and it's jargon.
Medically (not metaphysically, or religiously) it occurs when the ego, in some form, is damaged. This can occur from an accident or illness (ex. "My Stroke Of Insight", a great book). Or from taking drugs which cause the collapse of the ego, like hallucinogenics. From meditation (allegedly, there is no evidence) or from mastery of the self through a healthy psychological and physiological lifestyle as Abraham Maslow has suggested in his field work. His books are easy to read, and are classic pieces of popular science works.
On the subject of popular science, Carl Sagan purported in Bocca's Brain (Dragon's Of Eden as well) that physical damage to the mind can cause Nadir or Peak experiences, although not in so many words. The effects he describes are congruent with work in other fields, leaving many to believe that it may be a condition of the mind, which is why drug use can trigger it.
A mild seizure or simultaneous carvings of radical new neuro pathways can and will cause either to occur.
Also, in respect to the comments above, and the wonderful list of symptoms, Third Eye is a reflection of the Nadir Experience, or a bad 'trip'. Not a good trip, like Lateralus. The locality of the damage may to blame, although state of mind is also a viable option. They may not be mutually exclusive either, but in tandem and on a spectrum.
Interesting enough, a whole generation was effected by this phenomenon when the youth culture of the nineteen sixties exposed themselves to this process repeatedly. It has not been studied sufficiently, but many of the social changes during this time, may be a result of multiple people experiencing multiple episodes.
Much the literate is now used in economics, and oddly enough in the entertainment industry to better business practices. Geographically, the area of effect is similar, California primarily, but the motivation and methods used by the study appeal to peoples desires for financial gain, and not their spirituality for social change.
_White Goddess -
I wouldn't even know where to begin w/ LATERALUS. It's crazy to say, but I actually have a favorite Tool song, and LATERALUS is it. To me that's crazy because I give 100 percent of tool songs a 11/10. Goes to show how amazingly powerful this song is. Shit it shouldn't even be called a song, it should be called a WAY.
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Imagine what the experiances was like when you first discovered color... Imagine what overwhelming pleasures your innocent mind must have felt when the development of color in your brain allowed you to see the world around you. I believe thats what this song is about. Our vision and how it completes us. Colors and shapes are something we now take for granted but man, what it must have been like to branch out from black and white and had that first rush of red and yellow, allowing you to see.
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Alright guys here my interpretation of what Maynard is talking about in this song.
First off I state that I do not know if they were or were not on LSD or any-other mind altering drug at the time and I do not really care too much so I will not go into detail on thew drug part.
Second I am breaking down each part of the song you can better understand it and thirdly yes I do have a very high agreement with those that say it IS about spirituality but from what the lyrics say it seems like it's from maynards first hand experience
1-i
1.At the end of the first paragraph of this song Maynard says "push the envelope. Watch it bend."
What Maynard is revering to is the "envelope" of the auras around people and how if you try nd watch the envelope it will eventually bend into your vision and you will be able to see it.
1-ii
Now at the beginning of the same paragraph He says "Black then white are all I see in my infancy.red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me. lets me see."
The colors black and white are to some the first basic colors someone sees when beginning to see auras around their-self or others and that this is in his "infancy"
means this is what he saw when he was only new to such an experience.When he states "red and yellow then came to be,reaching out to me,lets me see" he is stating that he has finally begun to see a higher level of auras and this lets him see more than the average people do.
1-iii
In the middle of this paragraph Maynard says "as below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn beyond the lines of reason.
what I think he is saying here is since he has seen these auras he is no longer certain about what is above him or below him,and that he is far beyond the line of reason I.E he cannot explain how or why these auras are here or why he can see them he just can
2-i
In the second part of this song Maynard says "Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind." meaning only by doing such a thing can you really begin to see the other planes between the body nd mind and also the plane of the mind itself"
2-ii
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines. I believe what he is trying to say here is that only now has he realized that he has been missing so many opportunities and he has to "feed his will to feel that moment of seeing way beyond what is in the physical plane of existence.
2-iii
In the third part he sings "lets me see there is so much more and beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities" I believe he is talking about everything that has been opened up to him and that there are still all these other possibilities that he still has.
3-i
In the forth part of this song he states "Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind. Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.."
I think he stating the fact that there are still some possibilities that he would prefer to leave behind and that now his subconscious is urging him to cross the line even more.
3-ii
Now in the fifth part of this song he says "I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow to feel inspired to fathom the power, to witness the beauty" what I believe is happening here is since he has begun to see these envelopes of aura he wishes to "feel the rhythm to feel connected yet disconnected at the same time again separating the body and the mind.
That rhythm he describes is in the rhythm of the syllables which this song is played(the Fibonacci sequence).
3-iii
Now this is where things get really interesting for he states "to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral to swing on the spiral to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human. What I think he is saying is the fountain of human evolution which is out lust for knowledge that one day we will swing on the spiral of evolution(ascension)being the next supposed step upward but yet still be human in the sense that we still have our physical body.
4-i
the final part of this song Maynard says"
With my feet upon the ground I move myself between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
What I beleive he is saying here is that when his fet are on the ground he wishes to feel the sounds(vibratons)of the world and let it suck be sucked in meaning to see nd too feel the entire earths envelope of aura. He wants to reach out to anything that still does not understand and begin to understand it and only by following his own will not some gods will,will he be able to understand more.
well guys that's What I think.I have no idea how close it is or how wrong I am but who cares isn't that fun of tool songs,they always have that little sunrise no one can ever seem to find -
As a summary to my other post.. basically the song is saying. DON'T ACCEPT LIFE AS IT IS GIVEN TO YOU. learn to embrace everything you see and/or can/cant accept. It means to do what he did.. look at life with all the colors not just black and white like when you are a child (metaphor for how perfect the world really is). If you use all your colors to look you will better understand what ISNT there. use the ungiven as a basis to live your life and try to earn/obtain it by any means necessary. like they say. "Spiral out, keep going."
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I saw the world as a wonderful place
But then reality hit.
I saw how everybody did the same routine
I wanted more..
I wanted individuality
So I experimented
Everything i looked at was completely torn down so i could understand it better.
It taxed me and wore me down but I
Pushed myself to further my knowledge of everything.
I saw the world as a wonderful place
But then reality hit.
I saw how everybody did the same routine
I wanted more..
I wanted individuality
So I experimented again
Again I over examined everything
I pushed myself but realized I lost it all somewhere
I kept pushing myself so I wouldnt go back to nothing
I held tight all I could and couldnt see
I accepted what I needed to survive.
I allow myself the pleasure of lust
that life has to offer so that I may
understand how others emotions are tested.
I did it to remain human
Now as I stand and think I realize that all I needed was the music
So I allow it to flow
I allow it to take over
I go back to my overthinking self and experience a pleasure as everything collides
I know now that it shouldnt be thought about but felt
So use yourself to find it too
Together we will reach the end and make it all better
DO NOT STOP.. Do what I couldnt see. Continue on your way and find the end. And you too will be where no one's been. -
Don't over think it.....Maynard is saying (in my opinion)... Separate the body from the mind......forget what this body is supposed to be capable of, we are capable of so much more....the possibilities of our minds are endless..... we are all physics....we are all gods in our own rite....we all know the future before it happens....our collective unconscious makes our fate.....forget what your body is supposed to be capable of, use your mind to push the envelope and watch it bend......we are only limited by our own boundaries. our minds are limitless.
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None of you know what your talking about unless you've takin' mushrooms, acid, LSD, or mescaline while listening to this. You'll do more than understand. You'll literally see red and yellow reaching out to you. You'll see below, above, and beyond. While shrooming to this song I relized everything he was saying I was seeing or doing. I found myself overthinking, over analyzing. Withering my intuition. Watching oppurtunities pass me by. And the spiral is basicly the world you see only with your third eye AKA the invisible eye that only opens when on a phsycadelic trip. This is maynards mind. Most of their songs are written in a way that phsycadelic drugs make even that much better. Better yet I guarantee every one of the band members are under the influence of some sort of pshycadelic while writing this. LoL I even bought this wierd Tool dvd that came with these wierd pictures and 3D glasses. And it was the vicarous video. Watched it shroomin' with the glasses. Never tripped so hard in my life. Anyways. This song is about his experience in another world in which our third eye can only see (If opened). Lovin' it Maynard. Keep the drug free people from knowing what you really mean. L8tr peeps...
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Contrary to what you guys all think, I don't think there is any genuinly spirituality or supernatiral element to this song, or any other song by Tool.
I don't think MJK would be the kind of idiot to believe in souls and supernatual etc. No offense to the guys who do, I'm just saying, I don't think it's about spirituality.
I think it's about intellectual transcendence.
This is seen very easily in the music video.
There is the half of the human physical being of instinct and barbarity, and conversely there is the half us of intelligence and sentience.
The song represents a journey from instinct towards sentience. This journey can be called transcendence, evolution, etc. We see in the songs lyrics and music video the progression of man along his evolutionary journey. The human journey from nothingness, to a comprehending yet instinctual animal, to a half sentient- half instinctual human, to a completely sentient superhuman, and beyond.
The spiral theme repeated within the song (and seen often in the music video too,eg: on the sentient human's head) symbolizes the infinity of this journey. That is to say, the journey has no destination, man is to "go where no ones been". And then we have the repitition:
"Spiral on, keep going
Spiral on, keep going
Spiral on, keep going..."
It is a spiral that man must "embrace". He might as well ride the spiral and embrace the random, meaning, he should embrace his changes, and the changes he sees around him/herself.
So, that's my interpretation. Once again I have to say I don't agree with interpretations of Tool lyrics which involve the band holding actual beliefs in supernatural events, aliens, spirits, souls, freemasonry conspiracies etc. Saying that Tool believes in that kinda stuff when they have never expressed that is just putting your own beleifs on them. -
i am not sure what this song is about other than reading the other interpretations, but I have a question why is it called lateralus, is it because that is a muscle in your leg, and maybe like you can use your legs to walk into like spiritual whatever?
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i think this song is about trying to overthink an artistic medium to the point it makes you sound like a rambling, pretentious flake. a + b = c
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