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Tool 'Rosetta Stoned'

pearljammin41pearljammin41 Posts: 465
edited January 2007 in Other Music
Can anyone tell me what the hell this song is about?? I am in med school and the intro to the song is in an ER or whatever and this guy comes in saying all this jazz.. Does anyone have a clue or is this an acid trip gone bad?



This is what they should be. Thanks.

All righty then. Picture this if you will.
10 to 2am X, yogi, DMT and a box of Krispy Kremes,
in my need-to-know pose just outside area 51
Contemplating the whole chosen people thingy when
just then a flaming stealth banana split the sky like one would hope but
never really expect to see in a place like this
Cutting right angle doughnuts on a dime and stopping right at my Birkenstocks
and me yelping... HOLY FUCKING SHIT
Holy fucking shit
Fucking shit
Holy fucking shit
Holy fucking shit
Holy fucking shit...fucking shit...fucking shit

Then the X-Files being,looking
like some kinda blue-green Jackie Chan
With Isabella Rossellini lips and breath that reeked of vanilla chig champa
Did a slow-mo matrix decent outta the butt end of the banana vessel
and hovered above my bug-eyes
My gaping jaw
And my sweaty L. Ron Hubbard upper lip,
And all I could think was,
I hope Uncle Martin here doesn't notice
That I pissed my fucking pants.

So light in his way
Like an apparition,
He had me crying out,
Fuck me!
It's gotta be
Dead head chemistry!
The blotter got right on top of me
Got me seeing E motherfucking T!

And after calming me down with some orange slices and some fetal spooning
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.
Me, the chosen one
They chose me
And I didn't graduate from fucking high school!

You better
You better
You better
You beter listen

He looked right through me
With somniferous almond eyes
Don't even know what that means
Must remember to write it down,
This is so real
Like the time Dave floated away
See my heart is pounding
'Cause this shit never happens to me!

Can't breathe right now

It was so real
Like I woke up in Wonderland
Also a bit terrifying
I don't wanna be alone
When I tell this story
And can anyone tell me why
ya'll sound like peanuts parents
Will I ever be coming down?
This is so real
Finally it's my lucky day
See my heart is racing
Cause this shit never happens to me

Can't breathe right now

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.
See they took me by the hand
And invited me right in
Then they showed me something
I don't even know where to begin

Strapped down to my bed
Feet cold and eyes red
I'm out of my head
Am I alive am I dead
Can't remember what they said
God damn shit the bed
High eye (repeated)

Overwhelmed as one would be
Placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and bring to all
The details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen
Shit the bed again
Typical

Strapped down to my bed
Feet cold and eyes red
I'm out of my head
Am I alive am I dead?
Sunkist and sudafed
Gyroscopes and infra red
Won't help
Brain dead
Can't remember what they said
God damn shit the bed
IIIIIII can't remember what they said to me
Can't remember what they said to me
To make out to be a hero
Can't remember what they said

Don't know, won't know (repeated)
God damn shit the bed!
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • sadprofessorsadprofessor Posts: 1,034
    They are big fans of UFO stuff, and I know they have used clips from Art Bell's radio show "Coast to Coast" (which deals with UFO stuff, paranormal, etc) before, so honestly, my take on it, is that it is a half mockery, half montage of the typical so-called UFO abduction experience.

    Honestly that sounds like it could very well be a transcription of an average call to that radio show (at least back in the day when Art Bell was the host).

    But it is Tool, so God only knows what is really supposed to be going on there.
    The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their mission in this world is Bad Shit.
  • pearljammin41pearljammin41 Posts: 465
    sadprofessor wrote:
    They are big fans of UFO stuff, and I know they have used clips from Art Bell's radio show "Coast to Coast" (which deals with UFO stuff, paranormal, etc) before, so honestly, my take on it, is that it is a half mockery, half montage of the typical so-called UFO abduction experience.

    Honestly that sounds like it could very well be a transcription of an average call to that radio show (at least back in the day when Art Bell was the host).

    But it is Tool, so God only knows what is really supposed to be going on there.


    thanks man... that may make more sense... i am studying (or looking for ways not too..) and this song just came up on my ipod and i was trying to get answers... i will roll with what you say... thanks again
  • Marie CurieMarie Curie Posts: 1,250
    I know nothing about Tool, but the title of this song is quite interesting! Have you heard about the Rosetta Stone?
    “Life is life everywhere. Life is in ourselves and not outside us. There will be men beside me, and the important thing is to be a man among men and to remain a man always, whatever the misfortunes, not to despair and not to fall - that is the aim of life, that is its purpose.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • pearljammin41pearljammin41 Posts: 465
    Marie Curie wrote:
    I know nothing about Tool, but the title of this song is quite interesting! Have you heard about the Rosetta Stone?


    hmm no fill me in
  • pearljammin41pearljammin41 Posts: 465
    well i just did a wiki on it.. seems interesting enough... not too helpful in this case tho' except for the fact that it is hard to understand!
  • rmnsf936rmnsf936 Posts: 58
    The prelude track to this is tittled "Blame Hoffman". The guy who created LSD. This song is about a guy tripping on LSD.
  • mr_selfdestructmr_selfdestruct Posts: 20
    here let me help you....

    http://www.echoingthesound.org/phpbbx/viewtopic.php?t=17078
  • darthvedder88darthvedder88 Posts: 1,023
    rmnsf936 wrote:
    The prelude track to this is tittled "Blame Hoffman". The guy who created LSD. This song is about a guy tripping on LSD.

    Yeah that's what I figured the song was about.
    "Darth Vader would say 'Impressive'."

    -Eddie Vedder

    6/24/06 Cincinatti, Ohio
    6/14/08 Manchester, Tennessee
  • Marie CurieMarie Curie Posts: 1,250
    pearljammin41 wrote:
    hmm no fill me in

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone
    “Life is life everywhere. Life is in ourselves and not outside us. There will be men beside me, and the important thing is to be a man among men and to remain a man always, whatever the misfortunes, not to despair and not to fall - that is the aim of life, that is its purpose.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • lalalalaaaaaaaalalalalaaaaaaaa Posts: 2,445
    Best song on the album.
  • darthvedder88darthvedder88 Posts: 1,023
    Saturnal wrote:
    Best song on the album.

    Highly agreed!!
    "Darth Vader would say 'Impressive'."

    -Eddie Vedder

    6/24/06 Cincinatti, Ohio
    6/14/08 Manchester, Tennessee
  • reversedarwinismreversedarwinism Posts: 1,151
    very interesting information on rosetta stone. i know about the rosetta stone computer program that is supposed to be the best. i am going to use it and can't wait to learn (latin)spanish.
    bombs, dropping down, please forgive our hometown
  • BetterManningNYGBetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    rosetta stoned is amazing, especially when paired with the intro track (lost keys).

    lost keys/rosetta stoned is actually about a DMT trip (notice the reference in the second line). for those of you who live normal enough lives to not know what DMT is, it is a VERY intense hallucinogenic drug. an interesting note for the person who brought up UFOs: many people who claim to have had alien encounters are actually just DMT users.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine

    it has been widely theorized that rosetta stoned is actually somewhat of a sequel to the tool song third eye (Ænima, 1996). specifically, it is viewed as a criticism of the super-obsessive tool fans who took third eye's message a little too seriously and ended up spending their whole lives doing acid, mushrooms, DMT, etc. this can be a common side effect from listening to tool, and we all know how much maynard hates his fans.
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    BetterManningNYG wrote:
    rosetta stoned is amazing, especially when paired with the intro track (lost keys).

    lost keys/rosetta stoned is actually about a DMT trip (notice the reference in the second line). for those of you who live normal enough lives to not know what DMT is, it is a VERY intense hallucinogenic drug. an interesting note for the person who brought up UFOs: many people who claim to have had alien encounters are actually just DMT users.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine

    it has been widely theorized that rosetta stoned is actually somewhat of a sequel to the tool song third eye (Ænima, 1996). specifically, it is viewed as a criticism of the super-obsessive tool fans who took third eye's message a little too seriously and ended up spending their whole lives doing acid, mushrooms, DMT, etc. this can be a common side effect from listening to tool, and we all know how much maynard hates his fans.

    This is it entirely. Basically I think it's a tongue in cheek response to the fans who took third eye a little too seriously. Sometimes I question Maynard's apparent lack of respect for his fans but in this case it's probably justified.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • IgottagoIgottago Posts: 483
    BetterManningNYG wrote:

    it has been widely theorized that rosetta stoned is actually somewhat of a sequel to the tool song third eye (Ænima, 1996). specifically, it is viewed as a criticism of the super-obsessive tool fans who took third eye's message a little too seriously and ended up spending their whole lives doing acid, mushrooms, DMT, etc. this can be a common side effect from listening to tool, and we all know how much maynard hates his fans.

    speaking of Tool fans I can't stand these halfwit goth kids who think they are huge Tool fans, but fail to understand...they don't get the irony or even the comedy in some of Tool's stuff, they are just too busy taking it so seriously they have to paint their nails black and draw pentagrams all over themselves.

    Tool are great, and I get a real kick out of Rosetta Stoned..I think its hilarious..i'm pretty sure there is no intense deep meaning intended.
  • intodeepintodeep Posts: 7,228
    interesting i was reading the DMT on wiki and it mentioned that a form of DMT is orally ingested in the amazon called ayahuasca...

    Isn't that he drug that Severed Hand was written about?
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  • intodeepintodeep Posts: 7,228
    intodeep wrote:
    interesting i was reading the DMT on wiki and it mentioned that a form of DMT is orally ingested in the amazon called ayahuasca...

    Isn't that he drug that Severed Hand was written about?


    I'll answer my own question lol. I just was nosing around a little more on wiki about DMT and found this

    The Tool song "Rosetta Stoned", off of their album 10,000 Days, tells of a person who takes DMT and ecstasy, claiming to have been visited by aliens that give him an important message to mankind.

    Danny Carey, drummer of the band Tool, is known to use DMT along with meditation.

    The song "Severed Hand" by Pearl Jam involves DMT usage.

    Thought it was interesting how the first point kind of incorporates the alien abduction and the DMT usage that has been talked about in this thread
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  • BetterManningNYGBetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    This is it entirely. Basically I think it's a tongue in cheek response to the fans who took third eye a little too seriously. Sometimes I question Maynard's apparent lack of respect for his fans but in this case it's probably justified.

    this is why i could never justify joining tool's fan club. why pay $40 a year to specifically be labeled as someone who the band doesn't like?

    but in some ways i can understand it. it's funny how so many tool fans manage to fall into such stereotypical social cliques. definitely not what the band is about.
  • BetterManningNYGBetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    intodeep wrote:
    Danny Carey, drummer of the band Tool, is known to use DMT along with meditation.

    The song "Severed Hand" by Pearl Jam involves DMT usage.

    well whatever danny carey is doing, it's working. speaking of aliens, i think he might actually be one. no human could play the drums like that.

    i didn't even realize that severed hand was specifically about DMT. it's funny that two albums that came out on the same day both had songs about DMT on them. and from such completely different bands, too. i guess great minds think alike... or something...
  • depopulationINCdepopulationINC Posts: 2,074
    It is a song about a guy who gets rank visions when he got high one night and wanted to see more, so he keeps using and eventually ODs. He ends up in the hospital, freaking out as as body is in complete shock after he is revived. The only person he will trust is 'the man in charge'...the doctor. As always, when one gets high, they 'solve' life's meanings, problems, concerns, etc. It is so vivid, but the next day you can't remember a thing. You remember the end result, but you can't remember the clear cut logic that brought you there...as is stated in the song...didn't write it down.

    anyways, when you get to a certian point on DMT you hit a comfort zone. The craziness kinda goes away, and while the same freaky revealtations are laying in front of you, you come to terms with them and know how to deal with it. Like you can make sense of it all. See first the shit hits you, messes with your mind as your mind fights off dillusions and reality...you kinda panic/freak out (trip). Then you take it all in. Once the drugs have one...taken you from reality...you play on those first flashes that your mind took in while fighting off the drugs innitial influence. You begin to believe you are making rationale of the shit that is in your head...logic. Then, it gets blurry, incoherent...so you do more to keep it going...you crave to 'learn' more. Once you come to, all that is gone, leaving you with the beginning and the end where your clear mind has some small play in reallity...its a confusion of reallity and the high. You don't remember the middle stuff that 'made it all make sense.'

    The funny thing is, if you ever write this shit down, or record it, then listen / read it the next day...it is funny to see how far gone your mind really was.

    this guy kept using, and eventually ODs. He is convinced it was all real. He is the messenger of this reallity, but only rmembers the begginning and end. Because the OD was such a shock on his system he trully believes it is all real. This is often the case when one ODs. Its almost like when they OD and there mind gets rebooted, part of that trip gets imprinted.

    BTW, right in 2 is my fav off of the CD
    The only thing I enjoy is having no feelings....being numb rocks!

    And I won't make the same mistakes
    (Because I know)
    Because I know how much time that wastes
    (And function)
    Function is the key
  • BetterManningNYGBetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    Igottago wrote:
    speaking of Tool fans I can't stand these halfwit goth kids who think they are huge Tool fans, but fail to understand...they don't get the irony or even the comedy in some of Tool's stuff, they are just too busy taking it so seriously they have to paint their nails black and draw pentagrams all over themselves.

    all great rock bands have fans that fall into three different categories:

    1) "stupid frat boy assholes"
    2) "nerdy music snob douchebags"
    3) "social clique teenagers who think they're non-conformists"

    i fall into two of these categories myself. but i'm not gonna tell you which two, because this would open me up to all sorts of criticism from every fan who falls into different categories than i do. the uniting power of music is truly amazing.

    but yeah... goth kids can be very annoying. better than emo kids but not by enough.
  • BetterManningNYGBetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    depopulationINC wrote:
    BTW, right in 2 is my fav off of the CD

    my favorite as well.
  • lalalalaaaaaaaalalalalaaaaaaaa Posts: 2,445
    Igottago wrote:
    speaking of Tool fans I can't stand these halfwit goth kids who think they are huge Tool fans, but fail to understand...they don't get the irony or even the comedy in some of Tool's stuff, they are just too busy taking it so seriously they have to paint their nails black and draw pentagrams all over themselves.

    Tool are great, and I get a real kick out of Rosetta Stoned..I think its hilarious..i'm pretty sure there is no intense deep meaning intended.
    Tool fans are actually the most hated fanbase I could find for any artist. In google, search for the phrase "hate Tool fans" (exact phrase, not just those words). You'll get more results for that than any other music artist I bet. I tried everyone...Eminem, Metallica, etc.
  • Dick JonesDick Jones Posts: 777
    Me too.
    Are you too good to tango with the poor poor boys?
  • a5pja5pj Posts: 3,881
    wow great explainitation, i always thought it was something to that effect, a drug user that was telling about his trip. Or it was about a guy who really had that happen to him and couldn't remember it and no one would believe it, more of a "crazy person" per say.

    So what exactly is DMT? I've never heard of it.
    depopulationINC wrote:
    It is a song about a guy who gets rank visions when he got high one night and wanted to see more, so he keeps using and eventually ODs. He ends up in the hospital, freaking out as as body is in complete shock after he is revived. The only person he will trust is 'the man in charge'...the doctor. As always, when one gets high, they 'solve' life's meanings, problems, concerns, etc. It is so vivid, but the next day you can't remember a thing. You remember the end result, but you can't remember the clear cut logic that brought you there...as is stated in the song...didn't write it down.

    anyways, when you get to a certian point on DMT you hit a comfort zone. The craziness kinda goes away, and while the same freaky revealtations are laying in front of you, you come to terms with them and know how to deal with it. Like you can make sense of it all. See first the shit hits you, messes with your mind as your mind fights off dillusions and reality...you kinda panic/freak out (trip). Then you take it all in. Once the drugs have one...taken you from reality...you play on those first flashes that your mind took in while fighting off the drugs innitial influence. You begin to believe you are making rationale of the shit that is in your head...logic. Then, it gets blurry, incoherent...so you do more to keep it going...you crave to 'learn' more. Once you come to, all that is gone, leaving you with the beginning and the end where your clear mind has some small play in reallity...its a confusion of reallity and the high. You don't remember the middle stuff that 'made it all make sense.'

    The funny thing is, if you ever write this shit down, or record it, then listen / read it the next day...it is funny to see how far gone your mind really was.

    this guy kept using, and eventually ODs. He is convinced it was all real. He is the messenger of this reallity, but only rmembers the begginning and end. Because the OD was such a shock on his system he trully believes it is all real. This is often the case when one ODs. Its almost like when they OD and there mind gets rebooted, part of that trip gets imprinted.

    BTW, right in 2 is my fav off of the CD
    Wouldn't it be funny if the world ended in 2010, with lots of fire?



  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,234
    i won't try to interpret any of their songs all i know is they fucking rocked my face off best show of 06 for me that is, and yes i'm a die hard PJ fan with over 20 shows under my belt .......
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • Oh, JimmyOh, Jimmy Posts: 957
    That song is pretty amazing. The busy-ness of the drums is flat out jaw dropping. Danny Carey is making too much noise for a mere mortal, and its not studio trickery, he pulls it off live. I challenge anyones face to not be rocked off by the song live. That song is fuckin powerful.
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    a5pj wrote:
    wow great explainitation, i always thought it was something to that effect, a drug user that was telling about his trip. Or it was about a guy who really had that happen to him and couldn't remember it and no one would believe it, more of a "crazy person" per say.

    So what exactly is DMT? I've never heard of it.
    DMT is Dimethyltryptamine, a psychedelic or hallucinogen. It's basically the most well known of the tryptamine family of psychedelics. It occurs naturally in south american plants.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • a5pja5pj Posts: 3,881
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    DMT is Dimethyltryptamine, a psychedelic or hallucinogen. It's basically the most well known of the tryptamine family of psychedelics. It occurs naturally in south american plants.


    cool, thanks.

    and this song is amazing live, especially how it sounds almost just like the album with maynard using that voice scrambler thing.
    Wouldn't it be funny if the world ended in 2010, with lots of fire?



  • harrymanbackharrymanback Posts: 435
    he first too has to blame the drugs (Deadhead Chemistry) since he himself cannot believe the story..

    "So light in his way,
    Like an apparition, [that]
    He had me crying out,
    "Fuck me
    It's gotta be
    the Deadhead Chemistry
    The blotter got
    on top of me
    Got me seein' E-motherfuckin'-T!""

    but then he it all becomes clearer to him once he is settled down and realized that with all the times he had been "high", this shit never happened to him before. because of that, he knows he is not on drugs (the Dead ain't touring) so he now thinks it is all real...
    "You believe me, don't you?
    Please believe what I've just said!
    See the Dead ain't touring
    And this wasn't all in my head.
    See, they took me by the hand
    And invited me right in.
    Then they showed me something
    I don't even know where to begin."

    what better person for aliens to take than someone who won;t be believed.
    I don't want to be hostile. I don't want to be dismal. But I don't want to rot in an apathetic existance either.
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