anonymous September 19th, 2009 12:22AM  
Get's real simple real quick folks....

The song is about false martyrs....false profits. Those who claim to know what paths we should take in life and what is waiting for us on the other side. It doesn't apply to any specific religion or belief system, it applies to specific types of people. Those who shove themselves into your life or the limelight to tell you what they think about spirituality or what happens when we die...if you're mean you go to hell, if you're nice you go to heaven. How do they know? That's what this song is saying.

To ascend you must die = to know what death is you have to be dead otherwise you're just talking out of your ass.

Same message as with all Tool songs, don't let someone else tell you what to think or what to feel...come up with your own meaning to life, love or whatever you are confused about. Why would you listen to someone else talk about the after-life or what's waiting for us when they have no more of a clue than you or I do. Don't be preached to...gather the facts and make your own decisions.

anonymous November 27th, 2009 08:50AM  
Namaste! :) For me personally, this song is about ego. The ego has a lot of nothing to say, with a voice that is strong and loud. As the master of lies, the ego will say it's ready to die for the higher self. Still it's always surprised to hear it's own eulogy. If you've experienced ego death (or come face to face with your ego in another way) this song will make perfect sense. I'm sure Maynard has experienced ego death at some point in his life. Many of his songs deal with aspects of such altered, enlightened states of consciousness. If you have no idea what I'm going on about, don't worry. Most people don't :P

anonymous December 27th, 2009 10:29PM  
You guys are all missing the point. Maynard is a character, and, while soul-searching and wondering what legacy he'd leave, he wrote his own eulogy. He's talking about himself. The self-deprecation inherent in the lyrics are quite amusing.

So_chrispy January 4th, 2010 03:28PM  
I heard that this song is about Bill Hicks. The whole album is dedicated to him. The only thing that confuses me is that Maynard and Tool love Bill Hicks but it seems that they are putting him down in some parts of the song.

anonymous January 4th, 2010 05:52PM  
It's about Bill Hicks, an American comedian/humanist who died in 1994 or so.
the previous track on the same cd, called "drugs" is a part of hicks' show
he stood for the same as Tool.

watwatwat January 19th, 2010 12:25AM  
The song is about $cientology...

anonymous January 29th, 2010 06:09PM  
Ummm, i know this could be interpreted as metaphor...but he does certainly make cross references. And about the whole u cant be a christian and listen to tool...The only reson that is, is because society has twisted and distorted what a christian is. A Christian is a believer or morals and life values and represents that you believe in a higher power and that martyerism is the purest form of sacrifice. I claim myself christian and i listen to tool...because i think tool isjust pissed because the world had made some bad choices. And the original message of christianity is to just make morally right descisions. To me this song is about jesus.

anonymous February 1st, 2010 03:54AM  
It's about Bill Hicks guys geesh you should know that Maynard is a comedian as well as an actor and bill hicks is his greatest comedy influence. He has Bill Hicks shorts in third eye.

jnew32 March 13th, 2010 07:16PM  
It should be about Laney Staley yo

anonymous March 16th, 2010 05:20PM  
Oh come on... It's so about Jesus. Come down, get off your fucking cross, we need that fucking space to nail the next fool Martyr.

Sounds like jesus christ to me :-)

I'd agree