nataS December 17th, 2007 05:34PM  
This is a song about a DMT trip. DMT is an illegal smokable hallucinogen that lasts for about 20 minutes. When people do psychedelic drugs, they think of prolific shit, but usually kick themselves for forgetting it. I guess Maynard wrote one down

Castor December 22nd, 2007 06:54AM  
I don't think this song is about Maynard, just a metaphorical person. He thinks that because he is nobody that nothing important could happen to him but when it does he becomes "overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position..." He has discovered how truly dangerous mediocrity is because that left him unprepared for the responsibility he is given "...but I forgot my pen shit the bed again, typical" He is afraid of failure because he has been mediocre his whole life, and for the first time he cares and it scares him.

Sukka_MC December 26th, 2007 06:34PM  
As you may or may not know, Tool has experimented with drugs. But what differs them from other rock/metal bands is that rather than using stupid drugs like crack they used mind expanding drugs(psychedelics) such as DMT. For example, that big star looking thing on Danny Carey's bass drum is called the unicursal hexagram and it was revealed to him in a vision he had while on DMT. DMT is the most powerful psychedelic drug known to man. In short, its the chemical in your brain excreted by your pineal gland when you sleep which causes you to have dreams. It can also be found is certain types of plants. If you want to know more about DMT go to google and type ``joe rogan DMT`` and watch the video, trust me its woth it and it will help you understand the meaning behind a lot of tools songs and especially their artwork.

So now for the meaning of the song:

This song is simply about Maynard's experience with DMT. He talks about taking it and he talks about the visions he had while on it. The alien that delivered the message is not a metaphore it is in fact what the alien said to Maynard during his 5 minute DMT trip. The part where he says SHIT THE BED is because when you smoke DMT the visions hit you so hard that you actually shit your pants. I forgot my pen is him trying to remember what happened during his trip because when you take DMT, your brain is trying to protect you from what you just saw which is why you forget most of it when you come out of it.

So contrary to what you may all believe, there is no hidden metaphore behind this song, it is just Maynard ranting in a schizophrenic state about what he saw while he was on this powerful drug. If your at all interested in DMT then trust me you want to check out that video I mentionned earlier and you will see that this is some of the most interesting shit on the planet.

Dale86 January 7th, 2008 04:30AM  
It's easy to believe many of the interpretations for Rosetta Stoned. I am possibly thinking a bit too deep, as others may be, but here goes...
I think that it could have nothing to do with Maynard on a trip. He is putting himself in the shoes of the many ignorant beings or people that just frankly don't give a damn about the earth. I mean that if one of these people did go through some strange spiritual moment and was given the answer to creation or given a message that the world is in need of knowing, they wouldn't take in any of it and only take in the whole 'Woah! that was tripped out man!'.
Basically, it's talking about the mentality of the majority of the people in this world. They are either fixated in their belief or don't care what happens, as long as they don't have to see it happen. To me, it's a message to us all, that we need to look further into it and not just take it as what we see.
OR...maybe he was fucked up on a manner of drugs and had the weirdest trip of his life and simply had to share it with us.
Who knows?

RosettaStoned January 16th, 2008 11:34PM  
I believe there is a deep message to this song but I'm not sure exactly what it is yet. First of all, lipan conjuring, lost keys and rosetta stoned are all connected. I was doing some research on the lipan indians and the objective of them taking hallucinogenic, peyote is for "Religious ecstasy, visions, and communications with supernaturals are the shaman's prerogatives and validate his power and efficacy". This is exactly what Maynard says, X(religious extacy), yogi DMT (I think acid is connects with spiritual visions while dmt is known to cause communication with the supernatural). but even bigger, lost keys and rosetta stoned are both KEYS to something more important. Perhaps to other albums and songs like Faaip de Oiad or the patient. The rosetta stone was known to be very difficult to translate, so this may take a while to understand the full meaning of the song's context. Maybe we can look at some of what may appear as bullshit rambling as clues

anonymous February 24th, 2008 06:44PM  
Anyone that has ever researched DMT knows the effects and one of the many effects is speaking to extra terrestrials. I think it is one of maynards real life experiences. It says on the toolband web site that the band likes to go to the area 51 base and see if they can find anything. So obviously he has tried before no no avail. He goes back there, after knowing more than a little bit about dmt, and dose a bunch of drugs, lsd x and dmt, and describes his trip. many people who take dmt write their experiences afterwards so maybe its a section of his trip journaling.

anonymous February 24th, 2008 08:56PM  
There's probably a deeper meaning behind this song, but at the surface, it sounds like a typical DMT trip.

Many people report contact with aliens or other entities while under the effects of DMT. Also, Maynard talks much faster at the beginning of the song, which is much like a psychedelic trip. It's as if the thoughts are coming fast and many. Eventually as the song progresses, his voice becomes slower, as he's "coming down", or trying to make sense of things.

It's also clear that the person in this experience is lost as to whether they are dead or alive, which is another trait of DMT and other psychedelics.

People also claim to discover the meaning of life, and other great realizations about themselves while they're tripping, but tend to forget everything they learned once they come down.

That's just what it is on the surface. Maybe Maynard is using the idea of trying to decipher a revelation such as this into the real world, or something of that nature.

anonymous February 25th, 2008 11:59AM  
Here’s my take on Rosetta Stoned. At first I dismissed this song in favor of others on the album. Then I gave it a good listen and now I really appreciate it…this song reminds my why Tool is so great.

Okay, so it this guy goes to the outskirts of area 51 and consumes ecstasy & dmt looking to have a religious experience...the kind of mystical experience that will change your whole perspective. Much to his astonishment he does! After all, “this shit never happens to me!” Now dmt has been know to cause serious hallucinations… of the kind more intense than LSD. It is found in many plants, and native cultures have used it in shamanic practices. Anyway, aliens visit this fellow and tell him he has been chosen to give urgent message to mankind. A message of how it will all end. Real or drug induced he is convinced this is for real.

He winds up strapped to a bed in a psych ward, no longer able to remember what his extraterrestrial friends told him. Alas, he forgot his pen! He is left with the impression of the event, the sense of urgency, but the specifics of the message elude him.

The expression “shit the bed” used in the song is derived from the emptying of the bowels that occurs upon death, and typically is associated with dying or being damaged beyond repair. For example, “Bob was real ill and finally shit the bed.” Other expressions such as “took a shit” or “crapped out” have a similar etymology. “My car took as shit on me today,” is another example. Additionally, the phrase has been used when someone screwed up enormously…which is how I believe it is used in the song.

This anecdote is so enjoyably ironic because the protagonist went in search of mystical enlightenment, an encounter with the supernatural, the extraterrestrial…found it, forgot it, and now his is in the crazy-house and no one believes him. I guess it all means be careful when you go in search of aliens, you just might find them…or they may find you!
Hope this helps those who thought the song was all about shitting in their bed.

anonymous March 12th, 2008 01:21PM  
Perhaps only a few words about the name of the song. Someone said it remains a mystery to him, however looking at it from this perspective, this may just be the answer. The stone Napoleon's troops found in Egypt took a long time to decypher, and some of it remains a mystery even today. Everyone is trying to decypher Tool's song here, even though nobody (or perhaps few) knows anything about the analysis of lyrics, and neither do i.

The song itself is amazing, I can't get enough of it. And to me, the title says enough about the lyrics. They are a mystery, that is the song's purpose. Perhaps there is a hidden meaning, and it may be a lot simpler than you think, but in my opinion it will take quite a while more until someone introduces the right one.

I am no critic or anything, just telling you what I think.
Peace

anonymous March 13th, 2008 05:46PM  
Basically if you've tripped enough, you should be able to understand this song very easily

I for one can relate to it

sirstab March 14th, 2008 03:14PM  
As I see it the song has several meanings
either its a guy on drugs who thinks he sees aliens because of the drugs and since he thinks he saw them and gave him an important message he goes crazy
or its a man with a destiny to be the messenger for an apocalyptic message but since fate isn't definite he turns out to be a drugie and the aliens give him a message and he can't do anything cause he was to druged up
or every one knows that tool hates scientology and since there are references to him like the line "my sweaty l. ron hubered uper lip" it could be a shot at l ron hubered calling him a druggie not the savior or a great leader

anonymous April 1st, 2008 03:21AM  
It is obviously just someone, probably Maynard, on a trip. Seeing ET ooze out of the bottom of a flaming banana that just split the sky, well that would scare me too. I've seen enough to know that all things seen in ones mind while on a trip are person specific. Maynard has always been the advocate of a "Humans are fucking everything up" concept. All this song is doing is giving us a glimpse into Maynard's head not warning us of our ways. Not in any specific manner that is. He is just showing us what a mind-fuck drugs really are and what happens when things get too intense, like shitting the bed lol

anonymous April 3rd, 2008 11:59AM  
DMT has a very specific trip.it is mentioned in the song. 1of the main hallucinations is to see an alien or holy entity many subjects claim of seeing this with a large control panel. Supposedly the controls for the universe.apparently when on DMT you must remember: "be in awe but do not focus" I shit you not.David,17

anonymous April 6th, 2008 03:34PM  
So he's the chosen one.
There's nothing to interpret.
Except for maybe his warning.
We'd better listen.

anonymous April 9th, 2008 01:52PM  
It's definitely about a bad drug trip where the user thinks he is abducted by aliens.

DMT is Dimethyltryptamine a psychedelic drug found in plants and in small quantities naturally occurring in the body

anonymous April 22nd, 2008 03:53PM  
Maynard specifically mentions DMT, which is a form of LSD which was first synthesized by a scientist named Brian Hoffman (Blame Hoffman, get it?...). DMT is unique in that many users experience trips where they think they see or have contact with aliens. Also, I think that it has some meaning of how drugs are bad because the guy in the song is a vegetable, can't tell the message and shitting the bed. I figure they experimenting with it, tripped pretty hard and wrote the song.

anonymous May 12th, 2008 10:32AM  
I think saying it's about drugs at all is a total cop out. it seems to me that the song isn't really taking the whole alien thing seriously either with the ET spooning reference. The title of the song reveals a lot, because the rosetta stone translated languages for us, the song is translating on a skewed level "stoned." So basically this person is aiming for a higher purpose, and the anticipation and excitement of it has got them shitting them selves... a lot. aliens and crazy images are just a metaphor for higher purpose.

Junoblue May 31st, 2008 07:15PM  
Everything here I've read so far is good. How 'bout this: it's a joke and the punch line is: "But I forgot my pen, typical"

anonymous June 12th, 2008 04:38PM  
DMT is the drug they talk about. listen to this song on it and it will mess with you and seem like it's vvverrrrrryyy long. ;) go Maynard.

Burial June 19th, 2008 11:33AM  
This Song to me and I'm sure others who have been in such a situation, is whilst on LSD, Maynard I believe has slipped out of his regular ways tripping wise, and gone further then he has ever been, and in doing this he has had a life defining trip, where I believe he has seen and talked to this alien, and he really has been warned and told he is the chosen one,.. I really feel it is a massive LSD trip, not a bad one as such just so fucking huge that he never knew his own mind could go that far... questioning if he is actually dead, taking into account my own experiences of such a thing, even the guitar, and drums and bass, characterize and compliment the lyrics if you will, its as if they all know what Maynard's feeling , also the rhythm is how your head reacts whilst in a bad trip as such.

Not wanting to be alone and hoping that people will believe him is so relevant to the meaning of the song, meaning that even though his close friends say yes.. I believe every word, it is no consolidation to Maynard because he has witnessed such things that even though they understand and agree with him , Maynard's had such an experience that unless each of us go there ourselves, we will never truly understand what he truly felt that faithful night.

Peace.