The secret to Tool's "Lateralus"

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Oct 27, 2003
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The Red Tower
This was posted by a guy on one of the message boards I hang out at...pretty interesting

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To me, Tool's Lateralus is the most amazing piece of music ever composed. Not because I'm a goofball that has an affinity for the rockin' hard metal, and not because I want to latch on to their (in my opinion, unfairly applied) satanic reputation, but because I can say that it is the most intellectual, inspirational, and awe-inspiring material that I have ever been exposed to. Many reviews and commentaries of Lateralus on the internet mention that it was long-awaited, often saying that it eased Tool fans' desire for more. I think it was much more than that.

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.

I welcome any feedback. I would love to share interpretations of the songs via email - just too lengthy to post here. I would like to offer the following advice: DO NOT use MP3s to digitally reorder Lateralus. A lot of VERY IMPORTANT information is encoded on the actual cd.

Ever notice how everyone who has lost or broken that cd has IMMEDIATELY gone out and bought a new copy? I know I have. It's because there are things encoded on the factory pressing of the cd that are lost in the mp3 compression process and any direct copy onto a cd-r. If you want to do it, do it right - I can't stress how important this is. Use the cda tracks as you put it together and maintain all audio fidelity using professional mixing software.
 
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hmm, interesting. I've never been a very big fan of this kind of thing in music... I know it puts more purpose and meaning to the album and such, but as singular songs, I hate Tool's music and can't bring myself to listen to it no matter what hidden meanings there are within.
 
I read somewhere about the band supposedly binding a demon to the recording and anybody who listens to it in a certian order will release that demon. I obtained this order and listened to it (being interested in that sort of thing myself), and nothing happened. I was later told it's probably something more advanced occultists would be open to. Now i just think "yeah, whatever" pretty much. I can't remember where i read it, so i dunno how reliable it is. And i can't remember the sequence so i don't know if it's the same sequence given in that post. I wrote it down somewhere but i can't be bothered looking for it. I do remember reading something on Danny Carey's bio on the official website though:

Danny recommends as a device of protection and containment a thorough study and utilization of the underlying geometry of the Temple of Solomon for anyone purchasing their next record.

Now i don't know what the fuck that's all about, since the album was being released to the entire world and i'm sure many people haven't even heard of Solomon or his Temple, let alone know what it's all about. So it wouldn't be that important, if at all.

I'm going to listen to those "spirals" though and see what it sounds like.
All i know is that Lateralus is a kick ass album, no matter which order you listen to it in. I eagerly await Tool's next instalment.
 
Funny, I bet the whole Tool crew is at home reading posts like this and laughing at these stupid fanboys trying to fit all this senseless crap together......


PS I think Orchid is a concept album, and you have to waste 2 weeks of your life to rearrange and remaster the songs to find the "Holy Gift"....hehe
 
I think it is cool. Maynard said once that the lyrics and the meanings of Tool albums are all up to fan interperetation. thats one cool way of looking at it. oh, and thanks ggggggu for your valuable knowledge. once again, it enlightened this thread. i dont think that a thread would be complete without your criticism.
 
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"Funny, I bet the whole Tool crew is at home reading posts like this and laughing at these stupid fanboys trying to fit all this senseless crap together......"

I'm not jumping on you here, but they are not laughing. Seriously. Read any number of archived interviews with the band on the web, and you'll see what I mean. Tool does deliberately do stuff like this. Now, really there is no gaurantee that this guy's theory is exactly what they "did", but I think it's a fair attempt at finding something in this album. Truth is - call me loopy if you want - when a band packed with guys who care about altered consciousness (be it through drugs, yoga...what have you) make an album together....it's just plain gonna have some interesting elements to it. It's all in the perception. What I see from my vantage point (where ANY phenomenon is conerned) is slightly different (or widely different) than what you see, know matter how close we are standing to each other. Why then, would a record made by people whom explore that kind of reasoning NOT have some oddities about it. I've had some specifically strange experiences while listening to TOOL, most specifically that album. Say what you will. I'm not a nut job, and I'm not somebody who looks for odd stuff, per se, in the world around us. Only, the strange mathematic construction of the universe contains more possibilities for weirdness than you (apparently) can imagine. Just read about quantum mechanics, relativity, or even mysticism if you don't know what I'm talking about. Like I say, I'm not jumping your case....just....of all the people I know who take TOOL seriously....none of them idolize the band themselves....but rather the experience that the music seems to create in them. Opeth, to some extent, works on the same level. With TOOL it's deliberate....so it stands to reason that some people are gonna pick up on it. I don't think the original post quoted here is anything even resembling a waste of time, and in fact I'm gonna try this order out.....with an open mind.
 
^^^
what he said

i'm far more inclined to believe that Tool WOULD do this then they would sit back and laugh. The lyrics are already that deep, just go read some of the explanations that are out there for 46x2.

Thats amazing, just amazing. Gotta get that book you were refering to.