TOOL – Lateralus

I’d recommend reading this along with listening to the album, following it song by song. Bear in mind this is simply my interpretation.

I’d recommend you read my TOOL write-ups in order, from Ænima onwards. This is because I explain concepts in those pieces that are pretty important to go over, and also link the albums in a way that only makes sense if you read them chronologically.

I’m excited about this one. This album is legendary amongst fans of progressive music, and is one of the best ever written. If you know TOOL, you know this is gonna get deep.

Before we move on I’d like to explain one concept that will be pretty important going into this album – Jungian Alchemy. Carl Jung was a psychoanalyst, and one that TOOL has based some of their work on before. The song “Forty Six & 2” from their previous album Ænima was based on Jungian ideas of consciousness, and his theories come up again on Lateralus. On a basic level, alchemy the process of transmuting lead into gold, but psychoanalyst Carl Jung used this as the basis of his understanding of human consciousness. Transmuting the consciousness into gold means to elevate it from basic thoughts into a higher understanding of the personal and collective unconscious. This concept is used throughout the album, so I thought it’d be important to run through it briefly before we got into the album.

The Grudge

Many people hold grudges against others. We decide what we won’t tolerate, and choose who we accept according to this. We want to be able to control everything in our lives, including the people, and we are unable to forgive people who’ve wronged us. We clutch onto these grudges, justifying them because we don’t want to be proven wrong.

As a person matures they must choose between continuing to wear their grudges, or shed this immaturity and be humbled by their wrongdoings. This idea is referencing the Saturn Return. This is the term used to describe the process of Saturn returning to its astrological place once every thirty or so years, which also marks an age in the human lifespan where many people reach a higher level of maturity.

Gripping hold of grudges is damaging to the person and the people around them, and is a negative force in life. Growing more mature lets people choose to leave this behind. Some people will be able to do this easily, but others will find it a difficult time in their life. This is an idea based on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which is made up of ten stages that take a person from unenlightened to fully enlightened. The first stage of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is Crown, and the tenth stage is kingdom.

In the end, we all must let go of our grudges in order to elevate our consciousness beyond a simple understanding of life.

The Patient

This song is written from the perspective of Maynard’s mother, who was paralysed when he was 11. She’s now a few decades older and still in the same state, and is growing confused and fearful. As a woman of God she chooses to believe that this was his plan, and that it must be a test for her to overcome. With this knowledge she keeps her faith. Without this, and without the support of her loved ones, she doesn’t know if she could go on. She wants to be patient and heal spiritually so that she can one day reach heaven.

Schism

This is TOOL’s second song about a difficult relationship, this time focused on the importance of communication. One person in the relationship knows that things could work out because before things started to fall apart, it did. However when fundamental differences are uncovered between the two people in a relationship, things become more difficult. They had pure intentions going into it, but things started to fall apart, testing their ability to communicate with one another.

Communication between partners can be difficult when the two fundamentally disagree on certain things. They both know that there isn’t one person specifically to blame, but this doesn’t stop them from wanting to. They both know, however, that they must talk with each other instead of fighting. Without this, things will never work out. There is passion in their relationship, but shown in the wrong way.

There can also come a point where a person begins to desire other people. This will doom a relationship unless the two are willing to communicate in a mature fashion. They shouldn’t hold grudges against each other. If communication isn’t established, and one person stays silent, this can mean that compassion in the relationship is lost. Without showing love, it can fade.

Parabol/Parabola

This song is based on the belief that our bodies as we know them are merely vessels. Our souls existed before our mortal body was inhabited by them, and they will continue after it breaks down. Our bodies can be seen as warm and familiar to us, and they allow us to experience life in any way we consciously choose. We don’t remember what came before us, and we don’t know what will come after. All we can do is live in the moment safe in the knowledge that we are all sharing the same experience. Our bodies are temporary, but our souls are eternal. This means that physical pain we endure is just an illusion.

Life as we know it is a holy gift, and we should be present in it. We all share the same limitations and desires, and this is comforting. We should welcome new experiences, and recognise them as part of the holy gift of life. It’s a miracle that we’re alive, breathing and conscious. Celebrate that.

Ticks and Leeches

TOOL were told by their record label that they needed to add a heavier song to Lateralus in order to sell to a wider audience, since heavy music was popular at the time. The band were angered by this, believing that their album should be considered as art as opposed to merely a product to sell. This song is the one they were asked to add, and they wrote it about the very people who told them to.

In TOOL’s eyes, record labels attempt to suck everything they can out of artists, and describes the people who work for them as fat little parasites. The band’s music shouldn’t be mistreated in order to profit even further. Maynard tried to show compassion towards them, maybe persuading them to change their mind, but this didn’t work. So in response to this greed, TOOL wrote something they hoped the record label would enjoy, albeit hoping they choke on their own ignorance.

Lateralus

Before we delve into this track properly, a cool thing about this track is that it uses the mathematical concept of the Fibonacci sequence throughout. The song is written in bars of 9/8, 8/8 and 7/8 repeating, and 987 is the 16th number in the sequence. The first section of the song runs at 01:12, the first four digits of the sequence being 0, 1, 1 and 2. The first verse starts at 97 seconds, or 1.618 minutes – the Golden Ratio. Each verse is 55 seconds long, 55 being the 11th number in the sequence. Finally, the syllables in the verses follow the first digits in the sequence. Now we’ve discussed that, let’s look at what this song is actually about.

Going back to Alchemy, there is the concept of the Magnum Opus – the pinnacle of spiritual transmutation. There are stages towards this, labelled by colours. The first and second stages are black and white, where a person is only conscious of very opposing ideas such as good or evil. The third and fourth stages are red and yellow, where the person begins to understand that there is often not such a distinct line between two opposites. Maynard talks about initially only seeing things in black and white – the first two stages on the way to the Magnum Opus. Red and yellow come to him later, letting him see more clearly how the world works. His consciousness has begun evolving. He realises that in many ways what used to be ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in his eyes are actually equal. This concept is something not everyone has a grasp on.

Another idea from Jungian Alchemy is that the body and the mind are meant to operate in unison, and that when one uses more mental energy than they need to, communication between body and mind is weakened. This song states that over-thinking separates the two, and that this leads to missed opportunities in life. Instead of analysing everything, we should live in the moment and accept whatever comes at us. We need to embrace the random. This leads to infinite possibilities.

If we live life in this way we will feel more connected to the world around us, and to other people. We will be more in tune with our emotions, and more able to notice the power and the beauty of life. It means we can be aware of our divinity, in that our souls will live on after our bodies die, yet by living in the moment, still be human.

Letting go of control can be an overwhelming experience. Opening wide to the world and allowing it all in, good and evil is bewildering. It can lead you to places nowhere has ever been. Spiral out. Keep going.

Disposition/Reflection/Triad

To me, this track represents what happens if you live life in the way Lateralus, the song before this, says we should. It’s normal to want explanations for everything, but this is unproductive. If we did receive these explanations, they would only present more questions. Live in the moment and search for meaning yourself, instead of wishing answers to come to you. Observe life’s beauty. Watch the weather change. It’s hypnotic.

By observing the world, it’s easy to succumb to the darkness it presents and feel defeated. Sometimes it seems as though there is peace in giving up. However with the knowledge that we’re all connected in body and mind, light returns to us. We need to realise that we’re all fighting the same fight in order to live life, instead of hopelessly drifting through it. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we need to let our ego die and move into the unconscious. We’re all one mind, and we’re capable of anything we can conceive.

–

Another heavy-hitting one from TOOL. I’ve really enjoyed writing about these albums so far, and I’m learning things about Carl Jung and Alchemy… even though I personally think a lot of it is bull. It’s interesting nonetheless, and definitely has some valid points – things like the idea that we should be more connected to each other, and this leading to a more harmonious world.

As I said, TOOL’s albums seem to tell a story as you go through them chronologically. Where Ænima was about the flaws of people and how we can overcome life’s trials through evolution of the consciousness, we see here that the band have expanded on that idea. Lateralus is about growing more mature and elevating your thoughts. It talks about what comes after death, and how we need to live in order to make the most of it – even with the knowledge that this life might not be the last. It discusses the emotional turmoil that everyone encounters in this process.

Think of Ænima like it’s the first step on this journey, only just learning about how hard life can be and reacting in a negative and angry way, but also learning that there is a process of maturing that must be experienced. Carrying on from that Lateralus is putting those ideas into motion as we approach the age of thirty. It’s thinking more seriously about elevating the conscious and living life harmoniously as we should.

10,000 Days, the band’s next album, expands even further on these ideas. In the same way Lateralus is to Ænima, it’s sort of a conceptual sequel.

Anyway, come back next week cause there’ll be a write-up of the band’s fourth album. See you soon!

– Kane