voldo_the_great July 12th, 2006 01:37PM  

Alright Then, Picture This If You Will.......

I think this song seems to have a very direct meaning, the difficulty being in hearing the lyrics properly. The protagonist turns to drug abuse (sunkist sudafed) after an experience where he was taken by aliens and given a message to humanity (but I forgot my pen) which he then forgets, and without a message to deliver nobody believes him about the aliens either (you believe me, don't you?) hilarity ensues. or maybe not.

However, given the inherent nature of Tool songs, it seems likely that this rather obvious meaning is merely a metaphor for some deeper meaning, maybe (and here's some irony for you) the message is the meaning of a Tool song that nobody seems to have figured out, a message to humanity that's been forever lost in a sea of prescription drugs and soiled beds.... Maybe I'm rambling a bit, but I think this song is a bit of a gem, and it seems wasteful not to discuss it.

voldo_the_great@hotmail.com

anonymous July 13th, 2006 11:04PM  

This has fast become one of my favourite songs off 10'000 days for a few reasons. One being it is so intensely psychotic and scizophrenic, two that it has a distinct originality to anything else Tool has come up with... Well I guess every Tool song is distinct (yes, I'm happily biased) but this song is multi-layered in a number of ways that really intrigue and tantalise at the same time. I love the whole "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" tint to it all. I feel though, directly speaking, this song is a real pull and tug with the whole Hubology thing (Fallout 2 anyone?) while including the own twisted fascination it seems Tool has with Aliens and Unidentified Flying things. I remember seeing a filmclip of AEnima when I was a lot younger, and being captivated by the strange character dropped into that even stranger fate. I had alien thing all over it. Anyway, this tangent can wait. I think this song is a great acid-tripped oddysee of human incomprehension. An average guy, with no sense of real self-worth is overcome by being placed in a position of universal importance, so drops his bundle. Without anyone to prove externally what is being digested in his skull, he becomes lost in the shadow of responsibility. Finally, with no real means of communicating this apocalyptic message, he drowns in his own failure.

Ha, who knows?

anonymous July 31st, 2006 09:45PM  

This is definatly my favourite song on the album, creating a feeling of atmosphric craziness, I beleive that in listening to this song it makes you think of what you would do if you were "the chosen one." we need to always be reassured by others and their views. How would you feel? I'd shit the bed.
The pressures of the simple-minded superficial thinking way of the people that think today has no relevance on real issues, the real things. This song makes so much sense in a way that
"He revealed to me a
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."

is saying the utter confusion that our own mind brings us to believe and interpret.
I strongly beleieve that this song is life changing and so good.
Listen to it by yourself. Leave your mind blank and go crazy.

By selina

Zaq August 26th, 2006 11:42PM  

Ok, so far all we've gotten pretty much is "its about a guy on acid at area 51..." yup, it is. But, that's not all, folks...
Hmmm. Where to begin... I think this song has a (possible) meaning and a definate purpose on this album.
First ill go with the possible meaning. I think its very possible that this song is kinda a story of how religions start. (hear me out) he gets "chosen" by a being or race that is on a higher level and is obviously more evolved than us. He is "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." exactly like a religion. Choose to believe or end up dead/in hell.
"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." being put in a position of importance is a huge burden, and he has to bring a message of salvation for all the world to see. And he's gonna write it down, of course he is, all religions have their holy books.

And for the purpose on the album, it serves as an introduction to the last two songs. The next two songs are the "message" that was given to the story-teller by the alien. If you leave out the whole "sunkist and sudafed" and "god damn. Shit the bed" part, the last thing said is "I don't even know where to begin..." which is how many stories start... And the next two songs are all about how we have evolved and how we have become warlike. The message is, we need to stop. Its madness, and if we don't end it, we will be ended, most likely by our own hand.
Thank you for your time and attention... I hope it was worth it.

anonymous September 7th, 2006 02:38PM  

Usually a song isn't laid out so easily for us but the meaning to this song sorta appears clear. In the beggining of this song Maynard says he is sitting outside of area 51 with his yogi D.M.T. Dmt is a powerful psychadelic that that last for only an hour or so, but has a intense peak that though short seems like an eternity. Another line says "the dead head chemistry got me seeing e mutherfuckin t. Dmt users often talk of close encounter with alien life forms while in the phycadelic state. So anyway that's my take

Toolio September 18th, 2006 02:02PM  

You guys should really give a visit to the Tool website. I hadn't read it until recently... So I thought it was pretty cool. Www.Toolband.Com under 'news'...Click on 'newsletter' read the august 2006 newsletter...

anonymous September 19th, 2006 10:16PM  

Well its definitely partly about acid:
"...It's gotta be the deadhead chemistry..."
"...The blotter..."
"...the dead ain't touring..."

and there're many a thing that point to the fact that there is a trip in progress:
"...Got me seein' e-motherfuckin'-t..."
"...Like I woke up in wonderland..."
"...Y'all sound like peanuts parents..."
"...Will I ever be coming down?.."
and also the fact that he's being abducted by aliens in area 51

some parts of it almost seem like its also partly to make fun of scientology:
"...My sweaty l. Ron hubbard upper lip..."
"...But I forgot my pen..."

there is also my ongoing quest to find what the title means. It is obviously a pun of the rosetta stone, the famous stone that helped people in ancient time translate texts from ancient language to ancient language, it had three languages. My best guess is that it is a translation of the happenings when you're stoned (tripping, high, doped, retarded, shitfaced, whatever you guys want to call it).

I hope this helps peoples' view on the song.

anonymous October 4th, 2006 02:17PM  

Given the intro,(lost keys), which clearly is a doctor being introduced to a John Doe patient, and then the beginning of "Rosetta Stoned" which is obviously the patient asking the doctor to "picture this if you will" as he starts to tell his tale. I would have to say that the song is about some guy who was tripping outside of area 51 and he lost his cool when ET showed up to nominate him the chosen one, and tell him that he must deliver a message to humanity. Whether or not ET was real or imagined is probably unimportant. The important part is now the guy is strapped down to a bed in a hospital, drinking sunkist and eating sudafed, and he can't remember what the damn alien told him. Which sounds quite like a lot of acid trips I've "heard" about, where you can't seem to find the words to describe something ("they showed me something, I don't even know where to begin"), and then subsequently you forget what the hell it was you were trying to say all together. The phrase "shit the bed" is just an expression that means you "really fucked up." so to sum it up, guy takes LSD, meets ET, gets a message, winds up in hospital trying to re-tell events, and can't remember what he was supposed to say because he forgot his pen. No more meaning, no more point, just a cool song that tells a pretty interesting story. That's my humble opinion, anyway.

anonymous October 6th, 2006 10:59AM  

Have any of you ever heard of dmt? If it were any drug trip he would be writing about it wasn't acid. Acid is not a very spiritual drug. I could be wrong but all facts and lyrics of this song point towards dmt. The only time your body creates the chemical that partly consists of dmt (serotonin) is when you are dreaming. The only time you ever experience a dmt like trip is when you are born or dying. A dmt trip is very spiritual. Accounts have revealed an enlightenment in people, a turn on faith, connections with higher beings, and even alien encounters. I have dabbled in small amounts of dmt numerous times and I have one time, felt a strong sense of attachment to spirituality and actually have had a conversation with a being that I realized later did not exsist. As for the whole "forgot my pen again" thing, it most likely is about the narrarator always wanting to write down what happens during his trip but he always forgets a pen. As for the whole dementia thing, it is said to ingest large quantities of dmt it can alter your perception of reality. When you come down from a trip you might be confused as to what is real or not. Are you dreaming are you awake? All the lyrics point towards dmt. But that's just me combining lyrics with what I know. I could be wrong for all I know, maybe Maynard told this story to his nephew on x-mas or something..

CowboyNinja November 9th, 2006 12:22AM  

I believe the song is completely about dmt. The hallucinogen that has supposedly no side-effects, unless it completely fries your brain. As we can tell from the intro, Lost Keys(Blame Hoffmann) (dr. Hoffmann, according to wikipedia, was the doctor that first started using dmt on his patients) this is the case.

Now, the entire song is just about the story of a guy who takes it, and has a "trip" where he believes himself to be the messiah of sorts to deliver the message an alien race has to humanity. He can't remember what they said, because he either a) doesn't remember it because he can't remember what happens during the trip, or b) it's using that as a metaphor for frying his brain.

That's just my own opinion, and what I got from the song.

anonymous January 10th, 2007 01:29AM  

I agree that the protagonist took lsd as indicated by the line:
The blotter got right on top of me

Which blotter paper is a common method to intake lsd but I also think before the lsd he took DMT which is indicated by the line:
10 to 2am X, yogi, DMT and a box of Krispy Kremes, in my need-to-know pose just outside area 51

DMT trips usually have common themes even though taken by different people at different times without knowledge of other peoples trips. One commmon theme is alien abduction and going hand in hand with that is being told a great message. However DMT, like REM sleep, kills your motor control usually and most users lie down and trip their way to different worlds and then come back after usually 10 min so I believe after he did DMT the protagonist then took lsd which used what he saw on his DMT trip to dictate his lsd trip. Thus the long continuation of the DMT theme.

anonymous January 25th, 2007 01:06PM  

A Modern Day Timothy Leary is what our friend Maynard is.
subtle Christian undertones HUGE LSD overtures.
Dig It.....
and yes much like Hunter S Thompson's "Fear & Loathing.."

anonymous February 3rd, 2007 12:36AM  

I believe that it is simply a tale. But, unlike most Tool songs, It does not have a deeper meaning. Instead, I believe it probably has multiple less "deep" meanings, which are more humorous than serious.

theinjuredninja February 10th, 2007 05:00AM  

without a cocky attitude I will tell you that this is no longer a discussion. This song is a first persons account of a person who just smoked DMT. The speedy lyrics are 100% the kind of shit that goes through your head when youre back on your feet and the "trip" is over. The song makes little to no sense because the speaker is trying to wrap his head around everything he just saw it was terrifying yet he has to show this to everyone ("such a heavy burden...") this is exactly how I felt, exactly. The first thing I said was "holy fuck, harry potter, I have socks on." its really not that different from "sunkist, sudafed."

anonymous February 14th, 2007 06:45AM  

I don't think this song is about being high at all in fact I'm pretty sure it's a story about the film "Fire in the Sky," but with Maynard's interpretations and views on the main character in this film. If you go to youtube and search the song name there are several videos of fire in the sky with Rosetta Stoned as the song.

kjcisco777 February 19th, 2007 01:04PM  

I don't know if its just because I'm an atheist but once again I think this is an anti-religion song mainly making fun of scientology (maynard did a little bit of standup comedy with bill hicks for those who didn't know)..i think the patient in the song is suppose to be l ron hubbard...(it even says so at the beginning of the song if you listen)...this should save me some typing time but I found this somewhere

"" This song has written "Fuck You L.Ron Hubbard and Scientology" all over it. Besides the obvious mention of the name, the introduction with the australian accent (L.Ron was stationed in Australia as a Navy Officer), the "And I didn't even graduate from fucking high school" referring to his academic claims, the whole et thing, the gyroscopes and infrared for all the apparatus of machinery used in Scientology, the DMT mentioned 'cause there are claims that L.Ron's body had a psychotropic substance when the autopsy was made...

Forgot my pen...he was a writer.
He was also referred as being a pathological liar "Please believe me..."" and I personally think this song can kinda be applied to most modern day religion theyre all man-made and the people who created them could have been fuck nuts high outta there minds when they thought of them so why base your entire life around a religion? but then again I'm just some atheist idiot guy right? you be the judge this is just what I think makes the most sense.

RodHung February 19th, 2007 04:53PM  

I tend to agree with Zaq's post earlier. I also think the title's alone allude to that fact. The Rosetta Stone made the pyramid heiroglyphs readable. We might still call it a "wonder of the ancient world", but it really isn't. Because of that stone, we now know almost everything in regards to the purpose of pyramids, how they were built (kind of...) and how ancient Egyptians thought of the afterlife.

If any one of Tool's generation of listeners were to relate a story about being told the details of the world ending, do you really think the political and religious leaders would even consider it for a minute? Hell NO. Some labels that come to mind: blasphemous, drug-induced, degenerate fanatic, misguided, wasted youth. Need an example, look at David Koresh or even L. Ron Hubbard who is mentioned in the song.

Over 2000 years ago, some guy named Jesus told the same story as does the protagonist in Rosetta Stone (minus the synthesized drugs). He, supposedly, was given the word and was told to relate it to ALL of mankind. He is considered an icon today, but today they'd put in him in a mental hospital (hence the intro of Lost Keys). The idea that hundreds of millions of people today can accept an extraordinary, odd story about a man claiming to be the "son of god" is confounding yet perfectly acceptable to those who choose to look no further.

Although the song obviously has references to acid, X, and DMT, I don't think the song is just another song about a cool trip on drugs. We all know TooL likes to trick us, but more importantly, they want to expand the minds of the listeners. As heard from Tim Leary on "Salival" - "Think for Yourself - Question Authority". I doubt that MJK felt it necessary to take this song at face value and explore all the gnarly things you see while on blotter acid.

anonymous March 2nd, 2007 09:33AM  

I might be going out on a limb here and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was significant that the chosen one "didnt even graduate from fuckin' high school". With a message of hope and a warning for those who don't heed what is said, if these beings were trying to send a message to all of humanity they didn't pick a president, or a religious leader, because in the end we are all one species, there are no levels.

I also found it fascinating that with times becoming more and more uncertain, global warming ensuing etc, the message of hope comes, and the only person who hears it can't remember what was said. "Such a heavy burden now to be the one born to bear and bring to all the details of our ending" He feels like he's failing humanity by forgetting the message and the details, repeating "Can't remember what they said" over and over.

Thats what I got out of it anyway feel free to rip it apart :)

anonymous March 9th, 2007 03:58AM  

I have had many discussions about this song with my friends. One of them mentioned hearing from someone that this song is actually about an experience that Maynard himself went through. It was said that Maynard had a dream that he was abducted by aliens and they gave him a message of hope. Just like the lyrics state. The thing was, that when Maynard woke up he remembered the dream but not message that was given to him. That is the meaning behind the lyrics "I forgot my pen. Typical." This seems to be the most upfront answer for me. I think Maynard is trying to just mess with us by trying to make us think there is the huge underlying meaning.

anonymous March 11th, 2007 06:43PM  

I do have to agree with Zaq here. It definitely seems like the following 2 songs sort of follow in a logical order. But in regards to the drugs. It's a pretty known fact that by mixing 2 drugs you get the effects of both, unless one is just so powerful it blows the other out of the water. Much like smoking weed while on LSD, it doesn't do a whole lot because your body is so high on the LSD, the marijuana almost seems like a waste. The effects are not noticeable. Anyway, back to my main point.

Like many of you have pointed out, DMT's effects are often of alien-like abductions, change in perception of time, radical perception shifting, profound life-changing spiritual experiences, as well as difficulty integrating experiences. Now combine DMT with LSD and even ecstasy (as I am lead to believe by the opening lyrics) you get quite a trip. The LSD and E (aka candy flip) combines the cosmic experience of LSD and the loving sensation of E. Combine that with DMT, and what is described by the lyrics makes perfect sense.

"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 even graduate from fuckin' high school."

This stanza in my opinion sums up everything I have just described. The alien-like experiences of DMT are very clear. The cosmic experience or spiritual/religious experience one experiences on LSD, and even the loving effects of ecstasy. ET calms him down with some orange slices and fetal spooning. Now if that's not a combination of all 3 then I don't know what is.
Feelings on this thought anyone?

Perhaps this song is just a story being told, maybe it's an actual experience somebody had. I don't think any of this matters. It's not about the validity of soundness of what is being said, I mean let's be real for a second, we all listen to Tool, and to be sitting here discussing all this, everybody here is a serious Tool fan. They don't always make the most sense in their lyrics, it's just deciphering the message they are trying to get across. (I'm just stating the obvious here.) I think this song is merely showing us the potential of taking mind-expanding drugs, of the possibilities taking these mind-expanding drugs open our minds to, thinking outside the box, going where most people's minds cannot go.
I'm reminded of many experiences on mind-expanding drugs where I could not recall my thoughts specifically, I knew what was going through my head, I understood it, but I couldn't describe it, just as in the song, he can't describe his experiences. But he learned something from his experience, whether he is actually the "chosen one" isn't important, what is important is that he has been opened to a different way of thinking, a different way of perceiving reality. That is the point. Unfortunately in today's world thinking like this will likely land you in a mental hospital, which is what I believe has happened to him in the song. I don't remember who said it while I'm typing this, but someone mentioned Jesus in a previous interpretation. I think that is right on target, and has everything to do with what I am saying right now.

Sorry this was so long, and sorry it took me awhile to get to my point... I tend to go on tangents... perhaps it's all the drugs I've taken. =D