Tool
is an American
progressive metal
band from
Los Angeles
,
California
. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer
Danny Carey
, guitarist
Adam Jones
, and vocalist
Maynard James Keenan
. Since 1995,
Justin Chancellor
has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist
Paul D'Amour
. Tool has won three
Grammy Awards
, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping the charts in several countries.
- See also: "
A Dream Within a Dream
" by
Edgar Allan Poe
- Sweating, and breathing
And staring, and
thinking
Sinking deeper
And it's almost like I'm
swimming
- I'm trying to
remember
when, but it makes me dizzy
- Seems like I've been here before
Seems so
familiar
Seems like I'm slipping
Into a
dream
within a dream
- And I'm sweating, and breathing
Staring, thinking
Sinking deeper
And it's almost like I'm swimming
- It's the way you whisper
Drag me under
Takes me
home
- Fuck you!
- People tell me what to
say
What to
think
and what to
play
- I
know
you well, you are part of
me
I know you better than I know myself
- You are just a part of me
"Cold and Ugly"
(live)
[
edit
]
"Jerk-Off"
(live)
[
edit
]
"The Gaping Lotus Experience"
(hidden track)
[
edit
]
- I had a
friend
once,
He took some
acid
Now he thinks he's a fire engine.
- I don't
want
to be hostile
I don't want to be dismal
But I don't want to rot in an
Apathetic
existence
, either
- You
know
it
hurt
me
But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still
alive
Even if
signs
seem to tell me otherwise
- Do unto others what has been done to you
- There's a
shadow
just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every
promise
empty
Pointing every finger at me
- Jesus
, won't you f****** whistle
Something but the
past
and done?
- I am just a worthless
liar
I am just an
imbecile
I will only
complicate
you
Trust
in me and fall as well
I will find a centre in you
I will chew it up and leave
I will work to elevate you
Just enough to bring you down
- Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over
Why can't we
sleep
forever
?
I just want to start this over
- I
want
what I want
- My
compassion
is broken now
- So smell my
soul
is
burning
- If I let you, you would make me
destroy
myself. In order to
survive
you, I must first survive
myself
. And I can sink no further. And I cannot
forgive
you. There's no
choice
but to confront you, to engage you, to erase you. I've gone to great lengths to expand my threshold of
pain
. I will use my
mistakes
against you; there's no other choice.
Shameless
, now.
Nameless
, now. I'm
nothing
, now. I'm no one, now. But my
soul
must be
iron
'cause my
fear
is
naked
. I'm naked and fearless. And my fear is naked!
- These lines constitute Henry Rollins's spoken-word portion of the song; Maynard resumes singing while Rollins is speaking the last three words.
- Dead
inside!
- Twice as
clear
as
heaven
Twice as loud as
reason
- How could I let this bring me back to my knees?
- I'm helpless and I'm
awake
- Constant over stimulation numbs me
But I would not want you any other way
- I said, "I don't
want
it. I just
need
it.
"To breathe, to
feel
, to
know
I'm
alive
."
- I'll keep digging
Until I feel something.
- I've been wallowing in my own
confused
and insecure
delusions
- I've been wallowing in my own
chaotic
, insecure delusions
- I
wanna
feel
the
change
consume
me
- Hoping I can clear the way
By stepping through my
shadow
Coming out the other side
Step into the shadow
- I
sold out
long before you ever even heard my
name
- All you read and wear and see or hear on TV
is a product begging for your fat-ass dirty dollar
- Shut up and buy my new record
send more money
fuck you, buddy
- What was it like to see
The face of your own stability
Suddenly look away,
Leaving you with the
dead
and
hopeless
?
- Dreams
are fading
Carry my ancient
soul
Carry me into the
light
"Die Eier von Satan"
[
edit
]
- Bei zweihundert grad fur funfzehn minuten backen und keine
eier
- Saw
the gap again
today
- Take care not to make me enter
If I do, we both may
disappear
- What is this but my
reflection
?
Who am I
to judge
or strike you down?
- Yeah, I'm slipping back into the gap again
I'm
alive
when you are
touching
me
Alive when you are shoving me down
But I'd
trade
it all
For just a little
Peace
of
mind
- If when I say I might fade like a
sigh
if I stay
You minimise my
movement
, anyway
I must
persuade
you another way
- There's no
love
in
fear
- I'm staring down the hole again
- See,
I
think
drugs
have done some
good
things for us?I really
do
. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favour: go
home
tonight
, take all your
albums
, all your tapes, and all your CDs and
burn
'em. 'Cause, you know what? The
musicians
who made all that great
music
that's enhanced your
lives
throughout the years?
real
fuckin'
high
on drugs.
- Today
, a
young
man
on
acid
realised that all
matter
is merely
energy
condensed to a slow vibration?that we are all one
consciousness
experiencing
itself
subjectively. There's no such thing as
death
,
life
is only a
dream
, and we are the
imagination
of
ourselves
. Here's Tom with the
weather
.
- It's not a
war on drugs
, it's a
war
on personal
freedom
is what it is, okay? Keep that in mind at all times, thank you.
- A
child
's
rhyme
stuck in my
head
It said that
life
is but a
dream
I've spent so many years in
question
To find I've
known
this all along
- Black
as holes within a
memory
- I stick my
hand
into the
shadow
- But the
eyes
seem so
familiar
- Prying open my
third eye
"Third Eye"
(live)
[
edit
]
- Think
for
yourself
.
Question
authority
.
- Throughout
human
history
, as our species has faced the
frightening
, terrorising fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of
chaos
, it has been the
authorities
?the
political
, the
religious
, the
educational
authorities?who've attempted to
comfort
us by giving us
order
,
rules
,
regulations
,
informing
, forming in our
minds
their view of
reality
. To think for yourself, you must question authority and
learn
how to put yourself in a state of
vulnerable
,
open-mindedness
; chaotic,
confused
, vulnerability to
inform
yourself.
"Part of Me"
(live)
[
edit
]
- I know you well, you are a part of me
I know you better than I know myself
- So, we need you to find a
comfortable
space that's not only comfortable, but
vulnerable
. I want you to shut your
eyes
and go there, and we'll meet you on the other side.
- Maynard's spoken-word introduction
- What are you but my
reflection
?
Who am I
to judge
or strike you down?
- But you're pushing
And I'm shoving you
And you're pushing me
And I'm shoving you
- And I'm slipping back into the gap again
I
feel
alive
when you touch me
I feel alive when you hold me…down
Slipping back into
Slipping back into you
- Painless hours of
wasted
motion
- The original Peach line was "Painless hours of endless motion"
"Merkaba"
(live)
[
edit
]
- Locked in a place where no one goes
- The original Led Zeppelin line was "They choose the path where no one goes"
- If you are calling from a secret
spy
phone, please press 5.
"Maynard's Dick"
(hidden track)
[
edit
]
- But I'm still right here
Giving
blood
, keeping
faith
And I'm still right here
- And if there were no
rewards
to
heal
No
loving
embrace to see me through
This tedious path I've
chosen
here
I certainly would've walked away by now
And I still may
- I know the pieces fit 'cause I
watched
them fall away
Disintegrating as it goes,
testing
our
communication
The
light
that fueled our
fire
then has burned a
hole
between us so
We cannot seem to reach an
end
, crippling our communication
I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them tumble down
No
fault
, none to blame?it doesn't mean I don't
desire
To point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication
The
poetry
that comes from the squaring off between
And the circling is worth it, finding
beauty
in the
dissonance
There was a
time
that the pieces fit, but I watched them fall away
- Cold
silence
has a
tendency
to atrophy any sense of
compassion
"Ticks & Leeches"
[
edit
]
- See also
Fibonacci numbers
.
Black
Then
White are
All I
see
In my
infancy
Red and yellow then came to
be
Reaching out to me
Lets me see
There is
So
Much
More and
Beckons me
To look through to these
Infinite
possibilities
As below, so above and beyond, I
imagine
Drawn outside the lines of
reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend
Over-
thinking
, over-
analysing
separates the
body
from the
mind
Withering my
intuition
, leaving all these
opportunities
behind
I embrace my
Desire
to
I embrace my
Desire to
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
, to
Bathe in the fountain, to
Swing on the
spiral
, to
Swing on the spiral, to
To swing on the spiral of
Our
divinity
and
Still be a
human
With my
feet
upon the ground I
Lose
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…
- According to
Danny Carey
, the voice in this song is a person who called the
Art Bell
syndicated radio programme on 11 September 1997.
[1]
However, a YouTube video containing the original transmission can be found with an upload date predating the date provided by Carey.
[2]
A caller admitted some point later that he was the caller and that his original call was fraudulent.
[3]
- I'm a former
employee
of
Area 51
. I-I was let go on a
medical
discharge about a week ago and, and...
- What we're thinking of as?as
aliens
, uh?they're?th-they're extradimensional beings that an earlier precursor of the, um, the
space programme
made contact with. Uh, they-they are not what they
claim
to
be
.
- The
government
knows
about
them. And, th-there's a lot of
safe
areas in this
world
that they could begin
moving
the
population
to now. They are
not!
They
want
those major population centres wiped
out
so that the?the few that are left will be more easily
controllable
.
"Wings for Marie, Pt. 1"
[
edit
]
"10,000 Days (Wings, Pt. 2)"
[
edit
]
- Listen
to the
tales
as we all rationalise
Our way into the arms of the
savior
- Who could deny
You were the one who illuminated your little piece of the
divine
?
- Ten thousand
days
in the
fire
is long enough
you're going home
- You're the only one who could hold your head up high
shake your fist at the gate saying, "I have come home now"
Fetch me the Spirit, the Son and Father
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended
It's time now
My time now
Give me my
Give me my wings
- Set as I am in my ways and my
arrogance
Burden of
proof
tossed upon the
believers
You were my
witness
, my
eyes
, my
evidence
Judith Marie, unconditional one
- Judith Marie Keenan (22 November 1943 ? 18 June 2003) was Maynard James Keenan's mother
- Ten to two a.m.,
X
, Yogi
DMT
, and a box of
Krispy Kremes
- E.T.
revealed to me his singular
purpose
. He said, "You are the Chosen One, the One who will deliver the message. A message of
hope
for those who
choose
to
hear
it and a warning for those who do not."
- This is so
real
- It was so real
Like I woke up in
Wonderland
All sort of
terrifying
- You
believe
me, don't you?
Please believe what I just said
See the
Dead
ain't touring
And this wasn't all in my head
- I can't
remember
what they said to me
- The Deceiver says, he says:
"You belong to me. You don't wanna breathe the light of the others.
Fear the light. Fear the breath. Fear the others for eternity."
But I hear them now. Inhale the clarity. I hear the venom, the venom in what you say.
Inoculated
.
Bless this immunity.
- Pneuma
.
Reach out and beyond.
Wake up, remember.
We are born of One Breath, One Word.
We are all One Spark, eyes full of wonder.
- Tears in my eyes chasing
Ponce de Leon's
phantoms.
So filled with hope I can taste mythical fountains.
False hope, perhaps, but the truth never got in my way before now.
Feel the sting. Feeling time bearing down.
- Free fall through our midnight, this epilogue of our own fable.
Heedless in our slumber.
Floating
nescient
we free fall through this boundlessness, this madness of our own making.
Falling isn't flying. Floating isn't infinite...
"Culling Voices"
[
edit
]
- Judge, Condemn, and banish any and everyone.
Without evidence.
Only the whispers from within.
- Psychopathy.
Misleading me over and over and over.
- [Keepin it calm. Keep calm. Keepin it calm. Keep calm. Keep calm. FUCK. Here we go again]
- Control, your delusion. Insane and striking at random.
Victim of your certainty, and therefore your doubt's not an option.
Blameless, The 7empest will be just that.
So try as you may, feeble, your attempt to atone. Your words to erase all the damage cannot.
- A 7empest must be just that.
- Opening strong with their first hit, 1993's "
Sober
," the crowd - predominantly made up of younger fans, rabid with anticipation - was rushed into a hot frenzy. Lead singer Maynard James Keenan, as is customary for the
enigmatic
frontman, loomed in the background with his back facing the audience for most of the show. And as the first few
songs
let their last few notes fade away, Keenan disrobed, removing various parts of his ensemble, leaving him with nothing more then
black
underwear and a stripe of black paint on his face.
- Tool has the goods and puts on a blinding display of
heavy metal
energy
mixed with
cerebral
art
focus.
- Keenan…wore an all-black leather outfit, had his face painted black and stood on a spinning platform some distance from the front stage; he never seemed to look at the crowd.
- Gavin Engler
, "TOOL Concert 101,"
Law Society Gazette
(1993).
- We always try to think of something that's never been done before, you know, as far as album packaging, and I've been a fan of
stereoscopic photography
my whole life and belong to the Southern California Stereoscopic Club.
- And we thought if we could get this to work with our budget, you know, and put this out, it'd be really unique and reflecting, you know, a lot of the artwork that I appreciate from the '70s.
- In an interview with
Rolling Stone
last
July
, Jones reiterated how the
lawsuit
was affecting the band. "It's costing millions and millions and millions of dollars to defend us. And the fans are all going, 'We want a new Tool album. What the fuck?'" Jones said. "But the point is, we're fighting the good fight. We're going to
trial
and we want to crush them. But every time we've gotten close to going to trial, it gets postponed and we've wasted
money
and
time
and it has just drained our
creative
energy. We bought an insurance policy for peace of mind, but instead we would have been better off if we never had it and just dealt with the original lawsuit."
- Tool is a fascinating anomaly.
- The video presentation…offered a stunning visual complement to the band's furious sonic assault.
- In the popular musical climate of today, which seems to favor the blandness of processed
rap metal
or the redundancy of uninspired readymade
pop
outfits, it is refreshing that a band such as Tool exists to add some much-needed freshness to the contemporary musical landscape.
- Wrath
and
pain
,
desire
and self-loathing, ferocity and
meditation
all find a
complicated
balance
in Tool.
- Avoiding self-glorification, the band played in near-
darkness
under video screens on Monday. Maynard James Keenan, Tool's lead singer, stood on a platform behind Adam Jones on guitar and Justin Chancellor on bass, with his face in
shadows
, while Danny Carey on drums toiled meticulously by his side.
- Its
songs
hammer and seethe, melding the lowdown
guitars
of
grunge
, the odd meters of
progressive rock
and the whiplash stops and starts of
thrash
. Mr. Keenan's sustained, almost androgynous
voice
hovers within the
music
, desolate but impervious to the tumult around him.
- Tool's songs encompassed sullen
calm
, rapid-fire onslaughts, spacious
chords
and nimble-fingered counterpoint. Standing room sometimes became a
mosh pit
. But midway through its two-hour set, Tool chose stasis with a
patiently
tolling guitar vamp like a
mantra
. Its
fastest
music also had a
ritual
quality, pounding and repeating like drummers in a
trance
ceremony
. Songs that rev up and end abruptly on Tool's albums only accelerated further, riffing harder and harder as if, through furious
motion
, they could somehow break through Tool's
perpetual
tension
to reach a long-denied
release
.
- The
music
of Tool is the
dark
slime
of a warm,
black
night
. Tool is an
escape
, a
subtle
revolution
of
sound
and
perception
. The musical landscape this band crafts…is the fulfilment of
life
,
surreally
black and
purely
haunting
.
- "This
song
goes out to," vocalist and songwriter Maynard James Keenan began slowly. And then he paused. And he paused still. And he finally finished, "
Joey
and
Dee Dee
." The band jumped into
an extremely heavy cover
of the
Ramones
' "Commando," baffling some fans and driving others into an approving fit of
screams
.
- What can I say about
10,000 Days
, really? It sounds exactly and precisely like a Tool album. They might as well have not have released it at all, because anyone who's ever heard Tool could simply imagine what a new Tool album would sound like, and this is exactly what they'd imagine.
- First up, "
Vicarious
": a
Dateline
Special Report on
violence
in the
news
media featuring guest commentator Maynard James Keenan. Excellent! I've been hoping to hear Maynard weigh in on the hottest issue of
1990
.
- Particularly impressed was I with "Lipan Conjuring," which was so thoughtful an addition to the album that I feel as if it were included just for me. You see, I went to the record store with only fifteen dollars in my pocket, and I had a devil of a time deciding between
10,000 Days
and
Native Moods: A Pathway to Peace
. On one hand, I love rockin' out to some ten-minute chugging shuffles, but there's another part of my
soul
that
craves
the inner
harmony
that can only be brought on from some high-quality chanting. It was with a heavy heart that I left the store carrying only one of these two things?
or so I thought!
Imagine my immense
pleasure
when my
hard rock
album was interrupted? no, that's too harsh a word? when my hard rock album was
magnificently bolstered
by exactly the sort of
stupid fucking crap I might hear on some grocery store counter impulse buy CD of
New Age
chanting
bullshit
!
Bravo! I can have my cake and eat it too, and while I eat my cake I can listen to some
total crap!
- Tool are one of the few bands who have made themselves famous by disregarding all
expectations
of them.
- A strangely chatty Maynard James Keenan broke his self-imposed
exile
and spoke casually to the crowd, inciting them to a cheer of "Yes!" and sometimes sharing his
thoughts
, most of which were unashamedly eccentric to say the least.
- With their
feet
firmly planted on their spot on the stage and their faces obscured by their
long hair
, the players simply let their instruments
communicate
, and made no attempt to try it any other way. Adam Jones in particular was a foreboding figure ? his sheer stillness contrasted drastically by the strained and pained
sounds
he forced from his
guitar
.
- [T]he band were as impeccably precise on their
instruments
as they are on record, with every dynamic, subtlety and thread of
power
displayed flawlessly.
- As
esoteric
and arcane as their
music
tends to be, there's no doubt that this unique group of
musicians
weave their
magic
to
everlasting
effect.
- The
album art
was a unique design created by artist
Alex Grey
. The art is different layers of patterns with the different layers of the
human
body
. In Alex Grey's book "Transfigurations" he says the "saw blade" made of eyes "represents the
primordial
spirit
of
emptiness
and
awareness
. The next layer was a
vajra
emitting
energy
, the subtle essence of
soul
around which the physical
body
coagulates. The next several layers detail the physical systems of
viscera
,
skeletal
,
muscular
,
nervous
, and
cardiovascular
systems."