LA TE RA LU S
"
Tool's Lateralus is the most amazing piece of music ever composed. I
think Tool deliberately wanted to give their fans something truly
amazing, but wanted them to find it on their own. "Recognize this as a
holy gift..." At first, I thought that the song Lateralus was about
tripping acid - discovering true color by seperating the body from the
mind. At first listen, I imagined the bending envelope as an intense
visual. After becoming more familiar with the track, however, I had
reformed my interpretation to something broader: think deeper.
Lateralus, perhaps because it is the album's "title track", serves as
the central clue for a puzzle that a friend of mine had read about
somewhere on the internet. "All I know is that there is a different
order for the songs - something about two spirals.
Oh yeah,
and thirteen is in the middle." After scavenging through endless google
search results, I gave up on finding more about this 'alternate order'.
Intent to figure the album out, and very curious about the spirals - I
put on the proverbial 'thinking cap'. I understood how the spirals
could have a lot of significance, in that the album's title track
offers the inspiring, "swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be
a human..........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." In my internet scavenging, I had read one review,
written by a drummer, who mentioned that Danny Carey's drum beat formed
a fibonacci sequence during the song Lateralus. A drummer myself, I
decided to get out the graph paper and follow Danny. I can't play like
he can, but at least I can hear everything he's doing, and thus was
able to construct the drum tabulature.
Sure enough, Danny
repeats a Fibonacci sequence through the number 13: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13.
After 13, he starts again with 1. Bringing in my Algebra 2 knowledge of
the Fibonacci sequence, when the equation for the Fibonacci sequence
(which I don't actually know) is graphed, it forms a sprial whose
vertex depends on the number at which the sequence begins. Coincidence?
I began to think not. I had already known of Danny's obsession with
sacred geometry and am familiar with Bob Frissell's book, Nothing in
This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are , so the
significance of what I had stumbled upon had actually begun to settle
in. This is where I just had to play with Lateralus. I had doodled a
few spirals in the corners of my graph paper, and in doing so made the
first important connection to Lateralus. I knew that if the tracks were
in fact intended to be heard in a different order, "Parabol" and
"Parabola" would have to go together. In drawing my spirals, I had
begun with a vertex and 'spiraled' outwards.
After writing
the numbers 1 through 13 linearly, I could immediately see that Parabol
and Parabola would have to be the middle of my spiral (in that 13 / 2 =
6.5). I drew a simple arrow between 6 and 7 and then pondered the next
pair. At first, I actually drew a spiral connecting pairs of numbers
whose sum equaled 13 (the number of songs on the album). This, however,
left the last track in the same position and without anything to
connect to. At this time,
I had used my copy of Lateralus
and Cool Edit Pro to take out the silences between tracks and put the
songs in the following order: 6,7,5,8,4,9,3,10,2,11,1,12,13. The
transition from Parabola into Schism blew my mind, as the plucks,
probably dismissed by listeners as a drawn out rant of an ending,
perfectly transition into the beginning of Schism. When you count out
beats as the strings are plucked, Schism resumes with the same time
signature and tempo - mirroring the progression of notes. The
transition from Schism into Ticks & Leeches is equally intriguing.
Schism ends with strong double-kick bass and tom smacks, and Ticks
& Leeches begins with what many would call a 'tribal' drum beat.
The beat at the very start of Ticks & Leeches is slightly different
every subsequent time it is repeated - the measures are two beats
longer. Yup - you guessed it - those two beats are ACTUALLY the last
two beats of Schism.
I can honestly say that I never
understood the album's fourth track, Mantra until reordering the
album's songs. What I had originally heard as whale calls now had begun
to resemble the worst imaginable dry heaves - or a stylized choking.
Fitting, seeing as how the last line in Ticks & Leeches is "I hope
you choke." After this transition, none of those following it really
seemed to make much sense. I certainly didn't like that Disposition and
Reflection had been seperated - as they sound quite good when played
sequentially on the album. This was the only real roadblock in my
disciphering of the Holy Gift. Then I had remembered what my friend had
told me - 13 was in the middle. At the time, probably just wanting to
believe that there was more to this cd, I had equated this to the
positioning of the song "Intermission" on the previous release, Ænema.
For
the song to be in the 'middle' of the album it would have to be the
seventh track in sequence, here having six tracks on either side of it.
So I inserted Faaip de Oiad after Lateralus, and almost peed my pants
when I discovered that (ever-so-faintly) the fading tone of the last
note of Lateralus could be heard in beginning of Faaip de Oiad, and how
the distortion of the guitars at the tail end of Lateralus resembled,
and later transitioned seamlessly into, the static at the beginning of
Faaip de Oiad. The lyrics of Lateralus justify this break in the
spiral, almost instructing: "spiral out, keep going, spiral out, keep
going." I went back to Lateralus to find the next clue. In Danny
Carey's amazingly competent Fibonacci sequence, he had stopped at 13
and gone back to 1. This is what I chose to do to finish the sequence.
A second spiral was now constucted, and the order for the Holy Gift now
became 6,7,5,8,4,9,13,1,12,2,11,3,10. Already many of you are probably
fascinated at what I have revealed to you, but I can not even begin to
tell you what this new order has opened up for me.
The
beauty of Lateralus is very, very fragile and has to be viewed with a
very open mind. It can also be different when looked at from different
points of view. Aside from the fact that the new order of the songs
places them in an order where they flow together nicely - often ending
and resuming on the same notes or within the same progression, and some
times - in the case of Lateralus into Faaip de Oiad and The Grudge into
Triad - even overlapping (though admittadly sound much better when
actually electronically overlapped, this is kind of cheating. Consider
this a hint, however, if you plan on doing this yourself), the two
spirals help to tell a story that every Tool fan should hear. In the
interest of not boring the only casually intrigued, I will try to keep
this very brief. I would also recommend familiarizing yourselves with
Frissell's book (yeah - the one I mentioned earlier). I consider
Parabol and Parabola to be quite expository. Maynard wants us to know
that no matter what happens, we must all know that this is not our only
existance. Our very minds and the contents of our subconscious are
intended to be immortal, and if we accept this into our lives (be it
because of personal or religious reasons), it will be so. As such, pain
is an illusion. At first, I called it "The Lateralus Prophecy" (for
reasons you will soon understand), but I have since decided to call the
'reordered' version of Lateralus "The Holy Gift". As Maynard says,
"Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive
and breathing," I take the word "this" to mean much more than just his
simple cautioning.
Since Parabola is the second track of
the Holy Gift, it can be considered at the beginning (esp. considering
the context of it's duality with Parabol), and as such, I interpret
Maynard's words as more than just clever lyrics in a song. They are a
plead for his listeners to listen to everything he has to say and truly
celebrate the chance of immortality offered throughout. I would be
lying if I said that each song has a specific translation. On the
contrary, Tool's music is designed to make you think, not say something
specific. It must be treated like great literature - much is hidden
contextually. I will elude to Geometric-Drumming's previous post, where
he explains the time signatures of Schism: "It represents the
title...it's arranged in 12/8 time which is SPLIT into 5/8 and 7/8 -
which only really FITS as you PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER." Where
Geometric-Drumming claims Schism as his favorite Tool song, I have
heard some fans say that it was a retched pick for the album's only
single - but I think it was brilliant. Not to downplay the
interpretations of those who have posted before me (in fact, I agree
with much of what %BlueSoulRobot% has to say), but I think that to the
casual listener who knows nothing of Tool, it can be a powerful
invitation.
Think about it - a lot of dingbats with MTV
and a radio would walk around with the words "I know the pieces fit" in
their heads. I wonder how many of them took the time to put the pieces
back together to (re)discover what is trying to be communicated
There's a Fibonacci in Maynard's lyrics, specifically the syllables:
black [1]
then [1]
white are [2]
all I see [3]
in my infancy [5]
red and yellow then came to be [8]
reaching out to me [5]
lets me see [3]
there is [2]
so [1]
much [1]
more and [2]
beckons me [3]
to look through to these [5]
infinite possibilities [8]
as below so above and beyond I imagine [13]
drawn outside the lines of reason [8]
push the envelope [5]
watch it bend [3]
I suppose it's not actually a true Fibonacci, since it does reverse itself. "
Found here by deusdiabolus.
Tool's Lateralus is the most amazing piece of music ever composed. I
think Tool deliberately wanted to give their fans something truly
amazing, but wanted them to find it on their own. "Recognize this as a
holy gift..." At first, I thought that the song Lateralus was about
tripping acid - discovering true color by seperating the body from the
mind. At first listen, I imagined the bending envelope as an intense
visual. After becoming more familiar with the track, however, I had
reformed my interpretation to something broader: think deeper.
Lateralus, perhaps because it is the album's "title track", serves as
the central clue for a puzzle that a friend of mine had read about
somewhere on the internet. "All I know is that there is a different
order for the songs - something about two spirals.
Oh yeah,
and thirteen is in the middle." After scavenging through endless google
search results, I gave up on finding more about this 'alternate order'.
Intent to figure the album out, and very curious about the spirals - I
put on the proverbial 'thinking cap'. I understood how the spirals
could have a lot of significance, in that the album's title track
offers the inspiring, "swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be
a human..........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." In my internet scavenging, I had read one review,
written by a drummer, who mentioned that Danny Carey's drum beat formed
a fibonacci sequence during the song Lateralus. A drummer myself, I
decided to get out the graph paper and follow Danny. I can't play like
he can, but at least I can hear everything he's doing, and thus was
able to construct the drum tabulature.
Sure enough, Danny
repeats a Fibonacci sequence through the number 13: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13.
After 13, he starts again with 1. Bringing in my Algebra 2 knowledge of
the Fibonacci sequence, when the equation for the Fibonacci sequence
(which I don't actually know) is graphed, it forms a sprial whose
vertex depends on the number at which the sequence begins. Coincidence?
I began to think not. I had already known of Danny's obsession with
sacred geometry and am familiar with Bob Frissell's book, Nothing in
This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are , so the
significance of what I had stumbled upon had actually begun to settle
in. This is where I just had to play with Lateralus. I had doodled a
few spirals in the corners of my graph paper, and in doing so made the
first important connection to Lateralus. I knew that if the tracks were
in fact intended to be heard in a different order, "Parabol" and
"Parabola" would have to go together. In drawing my spirals, I had
begun with a vertex and 'spiraled' outwards.
After writing
the numbers 1 through 13 linearly, I could immediately see that Parabol
and Parabola would have to be the middle of my spiral (in that 13 / 2 =
6.5). I drew a simple arrow between 6 and 7 and then pondered the next
pair. At first, I actually drew a spiral connecting pairs of numbers
whose sum equaled 13 (the number of songs on the album). This, however,
left the last track in the same position and without anything to
connect to. At this time,
I had used my copy of Lateralus
and Cool Edit Pro to take out the silences between tracks and put the
songs in the following order: 6,7,5,8,4,9,3,10,2,11,1,12,13. The
transition from Parabola into Schism blew my mind, as the plucks,
probably dismissed by listeners as a drawn out rant of an ending,
perfectly transition into the beginning of Schism. When you count out
beats as the strings are plucked, Schism resumes with the same time
signature and tempo - mirroring the progression of notes. The
transition from Schism into Ticks & Leeches is equally intriguing.
Schism ends with strong double-kick bass and tom smacks, and Ticks
& Leeches begins with what many would call a 'tribal' drum beat.
The beat at the very start of Ticks & Leeches is slightly different
every subsequent time it is repeated - the measures are two beats
longer. Yup - you guessed it - those two beats are ACTUALLY the last
two beats of Schism.
I can honestly say that I never
understood the album's fourth track, Mantra until reordering the
album's songs. What I had originally heard as whale calls now had begun
to resemble the worst imaginable dry heaves - or a stylized choking.
Fitting, seeing as how the last line in Ticks & Leeches is "I hope
you choke." After this transition, none of those following it really
seemed to make much sense. I certainly didn't like that Disposition and
Reflection had been seperated - as they sound quite good when played
sequentially on the album. This was the only real roadblock in my
disciphering of the Holy Gift. Then I had remembered what my friend had
told me - 13 was in the middle. At the time, probably just wanting to
believe that there was more to this cd, I had equated this to the
positioning of the song "Intermission" on the previous release, Ænema.
For
the song to be in the 'middle' of the album it would have to be the
seventh track in sequence, here having six tracks on either side of it.
So I inserted Faaip de Oiad after Lateralus, and almost peed my pants
when I discovered that (ever-so-faintly) the fading tone of the last
note of Lateralus could be heard in beginning of Faaip de Oiad, and how
the distortion of the guitars at the tail end of Lateralus resembled,
and later transitioned seamlessly into, the static at the beginning of
Faaip de Oiad. The lyrics of Lateralus justify this break in the
spiral, almost instructing: "spiral out, keep going, spiral out, keep
going." I went back to Lateralus to find the next clue. In Danny
Carey's amazingly competent Fibonacci sequence, he had stopped at 13
and gone back to 1. This is what I chose to do to finish the sequence.
A second spiral was now constucted, and the order for the Holy Gift now
became 6,7,5,8,4,9,13,1,12,2,11,3,10. Already many of you are probably
fascinated at what I have revealed to you, but I can not even begin to
tell you what this new order has opened up for me.
The
beauty of Lateralus is very, very fragile and has to be viewed with a
very open mind. It can also be different when looked at from different
points of view. Aside from the fact that the new order of the songs
places them in an order where they flow together nicely - often ending
and resuming on the same notes or within the same progression, and some
times - in the case of Lateralus into Faaip de Oiad and The Grudge into
Triad - even overlapping (though admittadly sound much better when
actually electronically overlapped, this is kind of cheating. Consider
this a hint, however, if you plan on doing this yourself), the two
spirals help to tell a story that every Tool fan should hear. In the
interest of not boring the only casually intrigued, I will try to keep
this very brief. I would also recommend familiarizing yourselves with
Frissell's book (yeah - the one I mentioned earlier). I consider
Parabol and Parabola to be quite expository. Maynard wants us to know
that no matter what happens, we must all know that this is not our only
existance. Our very minds and the contents of our subconscious are
intended to be immortal, and if we accept this into our lives (be it
because of personal or religious reasons), it will be so. As such, pain
is an illusion. At first, I called it "The Lateralus Prophecy" (for
reasons you will soon understand), but I have since decided to call the
'reordered' version of Lateralus "The Holy Gift". As Maynard says,
"Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive
and breathing," I take the word "this" to mean much more than just his
simple cautioning.
Since Parabola is the second track of
the Holy Gift, it can be considered at the beginning (esp. considering
the context of it's duality with Parabol), and as such, I interpret
Maynard's words as more than just clever lyrics in a song. They are a
plead for his listeners to listen to everything he has to say and truly
celebrate the chance of immortality offered throughout. I would be
lying if I said that each song has a specific translation. On the
contrary, Tool's music is designed to make you think, not say something
specific. It must be treated like great literature - much is hidden
contextually. I will elude to Geometric-Drumming's previous post, where
he explains the time signatures of Schism: "It represents the
title...it's arranged in 12/8 time which is SPLIT into 5/8 and 7/8 -
which only really FITS as you PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER." Where
Geometric-Drumming claims Schism as his favorite Tool song, I have
heard some fans say that it was a retched pick for the album's only
single - but I think it was brilliant. Not to downplay the
interpretations of those who have posted before me (in fact, I agree
with much of what %BlueSoulRobot% has to say), but I think that to the
casual listener who knows nothing of Tool, it can be a powerful
invitation.
Think about it - a lot of dingbats with MTV
and a radio would walk around with the words "I know the pieces fit" in
their heads. I wonder how many of them took the time to put the pieces
back together to (re)discover what is trying to be communicated
There's a Fibonacci in Maynard's lyrics, specifically the syllables:
black [1]
then [1]
white are [2]
all I see [3]
in my infancy [5]
red and yellow then came to be [8]
reaching out to me [5]
lets me see [3]
there is [2]
so [1]
much [1]
more and [2]
beckons me [3]
to look through to these [5]
infinite possibilities [8]
as below so above and beyond I imagine [13]
drawn outside the lines of reason [8]
push the envelope [5]
watch it bend [3]
I suppose it's not actually a true Fibonacci, since it does reverse itself. "
Found here by deusdiabolus.