Tool - AEnima Song Meanings Lyrics:
Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this
Bul...
(See the rest of these lyrics)
 Top Rated Interpretation
2005-11-11 21:45:20
Bravo. I think many of you are right on, but here is my humble opinion...
Maynard (I think) is saying that we need to find ourselves. You need to figure out who you are, don't follow and don't lead. Be your-Goddamn-self!
Fuck L Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones because he is trying to lead, and they are following.(Fuck Sheep should be in there somewhere...)He's full of "Silly Shit, Stupid Shit..."
Fuck all you gun-toting hip gangster wannabes because you aren't who you pretend to be. You have emotions just like the rest of us. You, too, are human, even if you were shot 9 times and you survived...
Fuck retro anything because if you are trying to be something or someone from the past, you are not being yourself.
Fuck tattoos because the best thing they can do is show others who you are(or who you want people to think you are), and they don't need to know. Chances are, you don't even know.
Fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memory because you are not being yourselves, the drug is controlling you, changing you. It is taking away from you, and you need to be all that you can be, as complete as you can be.
Fuck smiley glad-hands with hidden agendas because they are fake and they want to take away from you. Because they don't deserve your trust, they will take advantage of you and rape you if given the slightest chance in Hell.
Fuck these dysfunctional insecure actresses because they are fucked-up, lying, anorexic bitches who don't think they are good enough the way they are. They lie and binge and purge because they are insecure, but if they could only stop and think, they would realize that we are all imperfect, and that is the only perfect part about us. We are perfectly fallible.
He's praying for rain, tidal waves, and comets so that you will all have to learn to swim, to LEARN WHO YOU ARE, to BE YOURSELVES.
Flush away all the bullshit and what would you have in L.A., and the world over? A bunch of happy individuals who don't care what others have, because they are personally fulfilled. They may not have forty-six & 2 billion dollars, but they can swim without it, they can survive and be themselves and be... okay.
Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.
I, TOO, AM PRAYING FOR RAIN, TIDAL WAVES, AND COMETS.
WELCOME THE CHANGE, MY FRIENDS.
Zaq
2006-01-29 17:06:36
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.
Would those in Cali "Welcome" tidal waves and earthquakes? It's a metaphor!!!How the Hell can you say it's about the "fall of California into the Pacific?" That would be a tad bit pessimistic, don't you think? Come ON people! Think for yourselves! He even tells you in the song that he's not serious, he TELLS you to think for yourself, and you still act like friggin' sheep?
All he's saying is think for yourself and be yourself, and while typing this very submission, I AM trying to get you to think like me, in the end, I will be me and you will be you. We will be different after you accept what Maynard is saying, but we will also be more willing to accept these differences...
... Sorry for the intensity, but I believe strongly in the meaning of this song... and he says it in the lyrics!!!
anonymous
2006-02-05 20:56:04
Zaq hit it right on that's all I can say
anonymous
2006-02-22 01:07:02
It's really just taking a crack on capitalism.
"Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.
It's a bull-shit three ring cirrrrrcuus siiideshow of
freaks here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time.
Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay"
Pretty much saying that it's all pointless and he's literally referring to the breaking off of California as an example of what armageddon is going to be.
The drummer of the band is also a Free Mason so maybe that's what really is going to happen haha
Zaq
2006-02-25 21:29:55
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
Don't just call me a pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
What do you geniuses who say that this song is literal interpret these two lines as? Sarcasm?
anonymous
2006-03-22 05:20:20
The song is simply about cleansing the world of all of the bullshit. Nobody needs plastic surgery(although its kinda nice). Maynard is saying that there is too much bullshit in the world. In the song he is saying that he HOPES California sinks into the ocean because that is the capital of superficiality(if that's even a word). Because of TV and movies, most people believe that in order to be beautiful they must be as skinny as a twig and have a gorgeous face and body. True beauty isn't about all of that shit. The heart doesn't care about how big your breasts are or how much you weigh. Whoever said "What's on the inside counts" is right. Maynard is basically saying this in the song. Its not about the world ending. Its about true beauty being covered up by all of the stupid shit thrown out there by Hollywood. Cheers
anonymous
2006-03-27 19:06:45
Ok.... I believe the whole California thing and the inner self stuff. Another thing, OBVIOUSLY NOT EVERY WORD IN THE SONG IS TO BE LITERAL. Tool is big with eyes so I think this song is a mix of waking ourself and the California thing.
anonymous
2006-04-11 21:35:15
Tool's lyrics have always been thought-provoking and mind But this is what makes them so great. As for the lyrics for AEnima, I agree with the anima enima part of it, and most definitely the metaphor using L.A. We all know L.A. Is a corrupted shit-hole, and so the sinking of California is basically the only way to get rid of the corruption. So basically, L.A. Is to humans and their bullshit, and sinking of California is to the apocalypse. And of course when he says "The only way to fix it is to flush it all away" is that the only way to get rid of all of mankind's corruption is by the end of mankind itself. As long as there is man, there is corruption, destruction, and raping of innocence.
"But if the world were to end twice,
I think I know enough of hate,
That fire and ice,
Would both suffice"
-Robert Frost (Fire and Ice)
anonymous
2006-04-20 00:53:00
Actually guys, as cool as it is that you're ready to submit to yourselves the "deeper meaning", and Maynard does many times put into his songs a depth a symbolism that many writers can't even achieve, if you read the Wikipedia article, you'll actually find out that AEnima is actually a tribute to Bill hicks, who often bashed Scientology, and the city of Los Angeles, where he said they can all "drown in arizona bay". Maynard says "learn to swim, see you down in arizona bay" during this song. The insights were very englightening though, and they could very well be true.
anonymous
2006-04-20 09:42:43
The song says that we need to cleanse ourselves of all the bullshit and things that make us feel greater than others.
That's why it's "aenEma" instead of "aenIma".
overanalyser
2006-04-20 15:46:42
Its another thought-provoker. You guys like to take a meaning from it. You can only adopt a position from which to see the song. You for example can see the song from a pessimists point of view and think "pray for rain" or you can "read between the lines" ie take the revolutionary point of veiw and want to stop living the way do. There are many ways of seeing the song and you can move between them. You guys read into Maynard's lyrics so much and he might just be playing into all that.
thirdeye
2006-05-12 01:48:16
To really "Squeegie that third eye" you need to listen to who Tool worships, that being Bill Hicks. This man is one of the most influential comedians of his time. There is even an art design of him in the liner notes. "Another Dead Hero" He made an album called Arizona Bay (this is where all those turds flush down too). If you like Tool's ideas, I strongly suggest listening to Bill's shit. (Bill can be heard on "Third Eye" on the last track of Aenema.) Once you listen to Bill, Tool makes a lot of sense. (He also toured with the band for a while) ...(Wow, there are more similarities to discover, but look for yourself, you won't be disappointed, trust me)
anonymous
2006-05-23 23:23:21
Im going to stick with the theory that it is about Los Angeles, though I think that it may be more of an expression of misanthropy in general. In addition to being a gag by Bill Hicks, Maynard uses Los Angeles because it is a typical "shithole" city, using the theory about California falling into the ocean to expresses a misanthropic fantasy.
"Dont just call me pessimistic, try and read between the lines." I found this line to be rather explicit: Although the dark lyrics may suggest something terrible out on the horizon, it is not terrible at all, but something to be celebrated, a collective "Aenima": the purging of, among others, retro freaks, junkies, "gun-toting hip-ganster wannabees," "insecure actresses," and other contemptible people in order to benefit society.
In short, I see "Aenima" as Maynard, in the grips of misanthropy, giving a vision of a sort of cleansing of the gene pool by killing off the worthless -- starting with L.A.
Takuya
2006-06-03 00:48:52
I personally think that MJK is sick of everything and can't wait until the end of the world comes. He's probablly sick of reality and the media and how people are and how human beings are so into the useless crap in life and I think that he just wants every thing to go away.
anonymous
2006-07-10 07:16:29
L.A. is a nightmare city, as soon as it is flushed into the ground due to a major earthquake the better this world will be. I'm not a pessismist, you will understand that if you read between the lines. furthermore, the way most humans adapt to this urban living is ridiclous, such as insecure actresses, gun-toting-hip-gangster-wannabee's, and L Ron Hubbard clones (understand scientology to understand how much of this city living you would not only have to tolerate, but embrace if you were to be a hubbard clone).
anonymous
2006-07-26 14:51:54
Hes talking about how the world needs an enima, to get rid of all the shit, to cleanse the world of shit.. Get it????
keepgoingspiralout
2006-07-31 21:01:20
I think this song is about how messed up society in general is, kind of a precursor to Vicarious. Maynard uses the example of California to symbolize that there are some aspects of our society that need to be changed.
anonymous
2006-08-01 14:21:56
Its about forgetting all your materialistic shit cause when we all die its not gonna matter and by learning to swim he means that we need to look forward to armegeddon. Cause it is coming. And keep yourself busy to make yourself better to go to the place that you want to go, heaven or hell, cause when it happens and if your not ready you may just live in the firey pits of hell for the rest of your spiritual life, be ready....
anonymous
2006-08-16 16:40:28
Every single person has been wrong so far. Keenan openly says that this song is about his best friend and outstanding comedian bill hicks's philosophies. Bill hicks released a comedy album called "arizona bay". The lyrics say "learn to swim, see you down in arizona bay." arizona bay is a concept hicks created to show what would be left after l.A. Falls into the ocean. He also has used the phrase "flush it away" when talking about l.A.
anonymous
2006-08-21 13:12:24
"mom please flush it all away". When he says mom, he's refering to mother nature, I think he's just asking why hasn't mother nature done something to fix this place. Its time for change, drown l.A., "I can't imagine why you wouldn't welcome any change, my friend".
anonymous
2006-08-22 19:15:38
Maynard's saying two things at the same time. For instance, "learn to swim." by this he means, on a personal level, that you shouldn't follow the crowd, and should just be yourself and independent. At the same time he is saying, on a statewide scale, that learning to swim would be a good idea if california sank and everybody would have to swim to arizona bay. In particular, I like the part where he says "fret for your latte, lawsuit,etc." because he's talking about how a lot of people (especially in l.A.) worry about the stupid meaningless shit in life(cars,jobs,anti-depressant medicine)that we could definitely suvive without. As for the "mom's gonna fix it all soon" part, he is talking about the apocalypse on a global scale. Mom = mother earth. And finally, the verse about smiley glad-hands is referring to politicians. Kudos to Tool - this song kicks ass.
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