Tool: Forty Six & 2 Meaning
Song Released: 1998
Forty Six & 2 Lyrics
Shedding skin and
I've been picking
Scabs again.
I'm down
Digging through
My old muscles
Looking for a clue.
I've been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could've been.
I've been wallowing in my own confused
And...
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If it's about 46 ancestors-generations
and 2 parents? -
HS wrestling record?.. lmao. Now THAT would be funny.
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the dude's right. its about the chromosones. but not to mention it goes into detail about entering that higher state of conciousness. and stepping into that "zone?" and accessing our maybe distant hereditary powers?
just an astonishing song. nothin else like tool
oh HUGE FYI: if u play the song forty six & 2 to the video of parabol it fits almost too perfect. -
I thought 46 and 2 was his High School wrestling record. I'm Grand Rapids. He went to Grant High School and was a wrestler. He was quite talented. His coach said he was surprised he turned out to be some "weird" rock star. Perhaps that's all way off but... that's word around the western side of Michigan, were this guy regularly visits old friends when around. He's a very interesting person indeed in that he can create something that's so obvious to some but mid boggling to others. I love it! Please, believe what you want! ;) As to the "meaning" I'm sure the artist intended everyone come up with their own interesting interpretation, which would seem to be the ultimate goal; to get you to think.
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The song is in conjunction with Jung theorys. The 46 & 2 is indeed a chromosome reference. What else would it be? And last time i checked all you "doctors" the 2 is your sex chromosomes. And those didnt change. The Autosomes did... the 46 part. These control your bodily features yes... but something else could have changed.... another type.. just because their is 46 doesn't mean your hermaphrodite.
it has so far maybe.. but isn't what this song is? He's trying to reach that state. He never said he reached it. Maybe because this chromosome make up is divine... or maybe is a fawking monkey. -
Drunvalo Melchizedek was the first person to come up with the theory that if humans evolve to 46+2 chromosomes, the result would be a state of enlightment... however, if you are research a little, potatos, primates (chimpanzees and gorillas) and the tobacco plant have 46+2 chromosomes... THE GOLD FISH has 100-104 chromosomes and the kingfisher 132... and I dont think theyre more enlighted that what we humans are.
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I think this song is about when Jesus and St. John the Baptist first met.
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Wow, I just read all of the interpretations posted. Hilarious the arguments you adults have. And yes, I realize it's been about a year since the deep posts. I believe really that you should interpret music how you want to. Putting down someone else because of their opinion is... Sad. 46&2 means whatever Manyard wanted it to mean. I believe one day that it's spiritual/physical, then it's just physical. Or spiritual. I believe in God. "A" God. I don't believe that he has a rule book, or a conscience. I do believe this God made us, and all of existence. But that means I could call anything God by my theory. Like a rock. I believe that religion is good for people. It gives them morals, that fine line you don't wanna cross, or just consequences. I was Christian but got tired of the super religious. The relevance of this to the song is that there are multiple sides of things. How you leave yourself to adapt is your struggle and choice.
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Let's all not forget that Tool intentionally leaves the meanings of their lyrics vague. Maynard doesn't want us(fans) to be sheep, so he doesn't come right out and tell us what to think or what to do. He himself says that he is in no position to do that. So Tool gives us these amazingly constructed (both musically and lyrically) songs in the hope that it will trigger a want to expand what we know, or don't know for that matter. I don't know about anyone else, but I've discovered some pretty cool ways that other people see and perceive the world around us by delving into these lyrics. What I enjoy the most is that this band has people talking, thinking, sharing ideas. It has young and old people alike communicating. The task is not to crack the code of the lyrics, but to listen, be open to new/different ideas about the world around you. Explore our consciousness, and along the way, remind yourself that our human arrogance can be blinding if we let it.
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I don't believe Maynard actually wanted people to take this song literally, or maybe he did, but I don't think he really believes this theory. Maybe he was using someone else's idea to show that theory is just a side-effect of a hidden emotion that could denote evolutionary changes in mankinds' collective-unconscious.
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Honestly, I'd submit to the conversation (so far, still unaware of the current topic, the meaning of the song, or what the term "46&2" refers too, rather then the entire songs meaning) but due to my young age, I really have nothing of intelligent meaning to submit.
Though I'd really like the meaning of this song, the meaning of the name "Tool" for the band, is that you use there music like a tool, use it for what you need. I use it for pure relaxation (even though some of there songs sound like Nazi rallies, Die Eir Von Satan) and possibly to find a higher meaning in said topic for whatever song I may be listening to. Honestly, the main thing I use the music for is motivation. -
EvoFUCKINGlution! How many chromosomes do you have?
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I think that the reference to the 46 & 2 chromosomes is just a metaphor. I don`t think that Maynard is an ignorant that takes that theory seriously, but I think he can use it to express the idea of human consciousness evolving.
For example in the song he suggests accepting and passing through our "shadows" to get to a superior state of consciousness "the forty six and two just ahead me". This wouldn't make any sense if he referred to the theory literally, because there`s no way you can gain two additional chromosomes once you are alive... So the 46&2 is just a way to refer to a higher state of mind. -
Become not only closer to their god, but to become divine. The pair of male and female chromosomes makes 46, as stated countless times here, but 2 may not be gaining 2, it may be 46 = 2. which would make a divine pair. as for his 'shadow' I think that is not only a reference to him self but to humanity its self. The old pagan ways have been forgotten and the idea of a divine pair lost to the mainstream religions. He wants the old ideas to come back. what we must remember is that nothing is as it seems with tool. over think it or get to analytical and you will fail to see the more subtle things. feel free to email me if you want to continue the topic. madhatter.aku@gmail.com sorry for 2 posts, my phone has a limit on how much one post can contain. Maybe an admin can merge them? -
I must keep this short for the moment, and, I appologise for any spelling or gramatical errors, I'm here via cellphone. I think you all have good points, but seem to be over thinking. while Maynard may not be a rocketscientist-doctor-jack of all scientific trades, he is great at twisting words and phrases to make something other than a textbook definition. while the idea may be rooted in the idea of a spiratuly superior human, and based off of an odd theory, don't take that as the only meaning. some must have forgotten maynard's neer obsessive pull towards human divinity. many of tool's songs hint at the idea of becoming pure or divine through human acts or thoughts. Take lateralus and the line "...swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human" as an example. taking other songs, maynard's thoughts and how he manipulates words, I feel that 46and 2 is more than a simple chromosome thing. Take this idea. older pagan cults saw the union between male and female as sacred and a way to
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