Tool: AEnima Meaning

Song Released: 1997

AEnima 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 bullshit three-ring circus sideshow of freaks here in this hopeless fucking hole we call "LA!" The only way to fix it is...

1. anonymous

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   Mar 9th 2011 !⃝

   i dont know about what the song means but the name comes from that whole theory about california splitting off of the US, "down in arizona bay" and how that theory was just made up AE pulled out of the guys butt. hencetherefore errgo aenima
2. anonymous

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   Mar 4th 2011 !⃝

   As great as some of these interpretations are some people are looking at it in a strong depth, yes most of those things are tru but the basis of this song stems from the way that Maynard James Keenan doesn't L.A, he lives in a small country town in Arizona from what i believe ("See you down in Arizona Bay") because he lived in L.A and didn't like the city and the people there.
   
   so yes the way this song has been interpreted by Zaq is quiet good but all of those small things stem from that main basis
3. anonymous

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   Feb 18th 2011 !⃝

   Maybe im wrong, but I think its a bit less complicated than you people realize.
   
   Maynard welcomes the apocolypse, because with all of the self destruction, egotism, and millions of mindless individuals, any change would be welcomed. He says Mother earth (Mom) should cleanse itself of its filth (enima is rectal cleansing, anima is the inner self). LA is used as the prime example of how America presents itself. Obviously, not very elegantly. He wants things back to the way they should be for humanity, even if that means a change in life as we know it.
4. anonymous

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   Feb 15th 2011 !⃝

   I think its the end of the world and how maynard is tired of watching the fall of humanity everything is goin to shit and he sure could use a vacation ......"moms gonna fix it all soon".
5. Craig

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   Jan 16th 2011 !⃝

   @ Zaq
   I find it interesting that you say for people to think for themselves but,at the same time in your Jan 29,2006 comment you want us to conform to your interpretation of this song.You're wanting us to be your sheep and not have the precious individuality you speak so fondly of.Songs are left open for interpretation by the artist(s) on purpose so we can think for ourselves.Quit trying to impose your beliefs because that lumps you into the same category of the ones that you're attempting to preach so vehemently against. ~sigh~ Freedom of choice is something given to ALL of us that choose to do so.If you're not a member of Tool or Maynard himself then you truly have no idea what he is really saying and all you're doing is stating your opinion which others have done but,you're so busy running down their opinions that you can't see that they are attempting to not be sheep and think for themselves.You're being no different than everybody else that tries to shove their way of thinking down everybody else's throats.Although,I can and do like your passion for the song ..... you're throwing out a double standard
6. anonymous

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   Dec 27th 2010 !⃝

   This song is 1:takeing a page from one of Bill Hicks comedy show, where in he talks about his hope of Califorina breaking of at the San Adreas fault line, after which Arizona will become a bay("see you down in arizona bay") Maynard is expressing his hopes of this happening as soon as possible.
   2: he is also asking for his mothers help in making this happen faster. As we all know his mther died june 2003.
7. anonymous

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   Dec 20th 2010 !⃝

   I think he is comparing common American life to a 3 ring circus where we are preoccupied by insignificant b.s. items, such as hairpieces (looks). The Arizona Bay reference is from Bill Hick's comedy album where he talks about California falling off the U.S. continent. Hicks talks about society being better off without California. Just let it sink into the ocean. Basically, he wants to get rid of the way we look at things by giving us an anima (inner self) + enema (anal cleanse)= AEnima (spiritual cleanse by getting rid of the B.S.). Initially, when you learn to think for yourself, you may feel like your drowning, but eventually you learn to swim (think critically and effectively) for yourself. He wants to see a better way of living or looking at things. Arizona Bay will be the location of this new reality.
8. anonymous

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   Mar 23rd 2010 !⃝

   Totally agree with Zaq 100%!! Exactly how I interpreted it, its really not that difficult people!
9. anonymous

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   Dec 16th 2009 !⃝

   I believe that almost everyone who has posted their interpretations hear have been very coherent, to the point, and have led me to post my own. I'm just going to say that I believe the song has a dual meaning. There are two correct interpretations in this situation (Though in reality there is no right or wrong interpretation there is only an individual's interpretation.). The theory about this song being about L.A. being swallowed up whole by the ocean (thus cleansing what is essentially the shithole of the u.s.), and the theory about finding one's inner self and being a true individual and basically finding yourself. This is why the title is AEnima, not Anima or Enima but AEnima! I believe it contains both of the common interpretations, and that the title says it all. Its a combination of both the word Anima(goes with the inner self interpretation) and Enima (Which means cleansing of the anus. Which would be L.A.). Theres my thoughts on it. The title says it all and you cannot ignore that fact!
10. anonymous

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    Nov 30th 2009 !⃝

    There are many interpretations in this song and in all that I have read none have even touched on the Arizona bay part. A bay is a place where the land meets the ocean. Arizona and the ocean aren't even close to each other. In other words the only thing in between them is California, so if it wasn't there it would have a bay.
11. chanandlerbong

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    Nov 24th 2009 !⃝

    It's one of the most obvious songs in tool-land, but still there is three levels it works well on. first there is LA. why would Maynard choose -of all shitholes of the world- this city (and as geographical counterpart arizona) to direct all his hate and anger to it? its the most superficial "human crap only look on the surface and never behind anything"-come together of stupid people following the wrong gods ever. (hubbard!) this is what we have to be cleansed of. and mother earth of course. Second level is the current state of ourselves and again it's about the cleansing. and there is the apocalypse theory and it is such irony that not the whole earth is hit but just LA and that there are places of rescue if you just could swim. Swimming is something you have to learn. and if you learn that superficial thinking and following the wrong idols only leads to a point where you totally loose your own identity, the you can swim to shores of enlightenment and become a cleansed human, knowing yourself and believe in yourself. Sorry for the bad english, not easy for a stupid german to communicate this.
12. anonymous

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    Oct 22nd 2009 !⃝

    The meaning of the song is very straight forward that he want to purify the world from all the crap that's in it(theres alot) through Armageddon but one hidden clue is the name its self its name is as you see AEnima if you put in one space it says a enema an enema is where they use water to flush out your colon and that is the basic idea of the song that we need to flush out the worlds colon and get rid of the corrupt.
13. anonymous

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    Oct 9th 2009 !⃝

    For me, this song is fairly simple: Maynard is stating how fucked up the world is, and believes that the only way to fix it is to 'flush it all away', or the Apocalypse. He uses LA as an anchor point for this song, but I have a feeling the focus is global
14. anonymous

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    Sep 1st 2009 !⃝

    I think he's saying that everyone deserves to die - that the human race deserves the apocalypse, and that he wants to see it happen.
15. anonymous

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    Aug 17th 2009 !⃝

    Maybe this track is about 2000 since the ablum came out before it...
    is talking about the world ending isn't he he could be even saying people r fucking stupid in this world and they need to be washed out cause he's leaving L.A. moving to Arizona so he can have a ocean front property cause L.A. Is washed away, flushed away etc. Then thinking fuck theirs a lot of dumb things like cloning, gangster wanna bes that all live in a 3 ring circus of L.A.
    fuck all you junkies, people what band that makes this music doesn't smoke pot crake or any other drugs... pot is legal in California is it not. AEnima is to clean out, he wants L.A. To be gone cause its a 3 RING BULLSHIT CIRCUS...
    ya he might be talking about inner self but that's my "Lyric Interpretation"

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