John X Smith

A band is a group of people, and as such they can be as evil as any other group. Of course most aren't, and I'm sure Tool isn't either. I think Tool is a band of very bright people whose intelligence allows them to dig very deeply into the bad premises they never checked. The name allegedly comes from the insult Maynard received (or hurled?) when in military school. It's become common as an insult. Maybe I should look it up some day and see what the hell people mean by it... Anyhow. Maynard may SAY he wants people to interpret his lyrics (if they were what you were referring to) however it suits them, but he doesn't write that way. Most lyricists who say that kind oif thing are intellectual cowards who deliberately write indecipherable crap because they are afraid to say anything. Maynard is no such coward, and usually makes crystal clear exactly what he is

Aenima is an "enema" for the planet when "the big quake" flushes LA out to sea. Which is neither tectonically realistic nor very nice to the people of LA. And I could do without the Gaeia-speak. But it's a brilliant lyric, nonetheless, and clearly meant to be more of a humourous spleen-venting than anything else. ("I have a suggestion to keep you all occupied: learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim...") And as someone in this thread pointed out, Maynard does air quite the laundry list of people he thinks should be flushed down. I would've included many of them myself. He gets away with stuff like that. I'm still trying to figure out how the hell he does. John X Smith www.myspace.com/voxliberorum

Ah, another interesting OLD thread. Oh well... This transcription of Vicarious seems mostly right: http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/tool-lyrics/...ous-lyrics.html It's not about "mystics and attilas". It includes them, yeah, but barely touches on them. It's about all of humanity allegedly needing the death of other people for some reason that's never mentioned, and about most of humanity being too dishonest to admit it. Maynard doesn't like those 'facts', but he accepts them, and explicitly justifies his acceptance with the malevolent universe premise. The words are clear on that much. And yeah, I'd guess he actually believes them. His examples seem to be common news stories, not TV "entertainment" in general. I doubt he's including fiction becsuse 1) in fiction, actual people don't die, and 2) fiction gives a greater example pool to draw from, thus his examples would be less mundane and more rhymeable. I write lyrics that have been sung by others, and lately have been crudely demo'd by me, and I can tell you that it's sometimes hard to fit your intended meaning into the unavoidable constraints. (His line "ultimatum prison cell" in The Grudge REALLY strikes me as one of those. I feel his pain.) Maynard's examples seem like he was working with what he had available, rather than what he could invent. Vicarious is nihilistic, but Maynard himself is a naturalist, which means he is the VICTIM of nihilists, but not necessarily a true soul mate. Nihilists like Marilyn Manson willfully create ugliness, and relish in the delight of doing so. Naturalists like Maynard just dutifully report it if they come across it. Yes, reporting on ugliness expands its reach, but reluctantly reporting it isn't the same as gleefully creating it. BTW, like many naturalists, Maynard is factually incorrect: most people (and me and probably you) do NOT "feed on" or need or otherwise enjoy the death of innocent people, either vicariously or in person. And accusing us of being in denial about the 'fact' that we do is just an argument from intimidation, and conveys no evidence that the 'fact' is actually true. Maynard may have been a psych student - or a patient - and certainly has a clear interest in the subject. (I once saw a psych major post an analysis of 46 & 2. Very mystical and pseudo-sciency. Only a setp or two up from Scientology.) Nearly all his lyrics include psychological issues, and are almost clinical in their reporting on them. He's always floating above, slightly detached from the action, trying to spell out a bigger picture than what he'd see if he were merely one of the combatants, although he often is one of them as well. Hmm. This may be a conscious technique. It almost seems like an exercise he was once taught... Could that be? I dunno. Either way he's an occasionally brilliant lyricist, insofar as his premises allow. John X Smith www.myspace.com/voxliberorum