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. overanalyser

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   Apr 20th 2006 !⃝

   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.
2. anonymous

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   Apr 20th 2006 !⃝

   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".
3. anonymous

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   Apr 20th 2006 !⃝

   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.
4. anonymous

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   Apr 11th 2006 !⃝

   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)
5. anonymous

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   Mar 27th 2006 !⃝

   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.
6. anonymous

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   Mar 22nd 2006 !⃝

   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
7. Zaq

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   Feb 25th 2006 !⃝

   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?
8. anonymous

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   Feb 22nd 2006 !⃝

   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

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

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   Feb 5th 2006 !⃝

   Zaq hit it right on that's all I can say

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. Zaq

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    Jan 29th 2006 !⃝

    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!!!
11. The_Interpreter

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    Jan 3rd 2006 !⃝

    I've been a fan of Tool for several years, and based in the ideology of the group this song is about the fall of L.A.
    They got the idea from the comedian Bill Hicks whose act is based in his hate to L.A. and how he wishes this city dissapears, because it is the center of all the wrong thing of life. According to him is where the most superficially people live, and where all the shit of U.S. Happens.
    The name of the song is a combination of words. "Anima", which is a psychological term that refers to the inner female that everybody has, and "Enema" which refers the medical procedure to clean the rectum
    The line that says: "...fuck L. Ron Hubbard...", etc. It's clearly against L. Ron Hubbard, the scienthology and all this movement that is followed by blind dumb people (his clones).
    This is what I think the song means, I can be wrong. Only Tool know the real meaning, jejeje...
12. anonymous

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    Dec 29th 2005 !⃝

    Im with ZAG,
    My brother died listening to this song (for girl reasons and because I guess he's a tool himself!). He was a tool fan, even though they were not well known then (96) I am now a tool fan an have been since his death, it's deep, passionate, nothing like mainstream crap and I love it!
    
    I find what I need in Maynard's music, that I need and love and sometimes find agonizing, but hey it must be what he knows/felt in some way.
    
    Maynard is saying that we need to find ourselves. You need to figure out who you are, don't follow and don't lead. Be yourself!
13. anonymous

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    Dec 25th 2005 !⃝

    I belive the song tells you that about everyone in California is a fake and that if something drastic would to happen, let's say Cali sinking, then you would realize who you are during the fight to "learn to swim" and stay alive, but really though, it's your choice to belive what you want.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. fucku

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    Dec 19th 2005 !⃝

    Yeah, this songs title, but some have had good points and those who know everything and they're the right ones and say that you're the one who is wrong, well that ain't cool. Anyway, yeah, it is about California going down and then you will have Arizona by, but it's how we take things for granted and when something like this happens, we're not going to know what to do because we're too spoiled. Be it is the end times and the Earth is just cleaning herself, but when it happens it's going to be a good thing because we don't deserve to live for ever because how we treat things and others. It going to happen, man.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. wearethestories

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    Dec 1st 2005 !⃝

    http://toolnavy.com/forumdisplay.php?s=0a733f9b8d6e2be0f967611dde58256b&f=72
    
    annnnnnnnd..... another one

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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