What does Rosetta Stoned mean?

Tool: Rosetta Stoned Meaning

Album cover for Rosetta Stoned album cover
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Rosetta Stoned Lyrics

ROSETTA STONED

All righty then... picture this if you will...
10 to 2 am, X, yogi DMT, and a box of krispy kreme's in my "need to know" pose just outside of area 51, contemplating the whole chosen people thingy when just then a flaming...

  1. anonymous
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    May 19th 2011 !⃝

    This song is a sequel to Faaip de Oaid and how that song was a bout a guy freaking out because aliens were coming to get him

    This song is about what he saw on the spaceship

  2. anonymous
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    May 12th 2011 !⃝

    Just saying,

    its about DMT not LSD

  3. anonymous
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    Apr 20th 2011 !⃝

    Sun-kissed and pseudo-fed (;

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 16th 2011 !⃝

    This song is obviously about DMT, he says it multiple times in the song. Having tried DMT myself multiple times this song explains a DMT trip perfectly.

  5. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2011 !⃝

    It's about when you die and meet God it'll be like being abducted by aliens. It's about an out of body experience. hence the song right before rosetta stoned is played, the guy woke up from being dead and then explains what happens...

  6. anonymous
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    Feb 23rd 2011 !⃝

    If you've ever taken ayahuasca, or vaporized dmt..you'll get it

    this song is obviously about the archetypes of the dmt experience...i wonder if it is about one he had though

  7. anonymous
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    Jan 23rd 2011 !⃝

    Smoke dmt and you will know what he meant. He just "broke through"

  8. anonymous
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    Jan 17th 2011 !⃝

    This is most likely a coincidence, but it's a thought...

    The parenthetic portion of the title is "Blame Hoffman."
    As has been stated in many previous posts, this could be referring to Albert Hoffman. It sounds as if the doctor in the track says "Good morning, I'm Dr. Wasson", however. On the lyrics portion of this page it's widely regarded as "Watson", but it sounds more like "Wasson" to me. Of course, this is where my speculation comes in. With the reference to Hoffman and Wasson (if it is indeed Wasson), it seems as though this could be loosely referring to salvia divinorum, being that Wasson and Hoffman brought divinorum from it's native Oaxaca locale to "the western world", so to speak. The most common strain of divinorum is typically referred to as the "Wasson/Hoffman clone." Thoughts?

  9. anonymous
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    Nov 14th 2010 !⃝

    Well you know the guy is on DMT and X because that's the first line in his "freak-out".....and the previous song is called "lost keys(blame hoffman)". Albert Hoffman was the father of LSD creating it by accident in a swiss pharmaceutical lab. So we know he is on LSD, Ecstasy, and DMT....each individually potent.....all 3 combined, I would probably see ET and have some message about humanity; and oh yes...probably would have forgotten a pen as well!

  10. anonymous
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    Sep 10th 2010 !⃝

    Maynard has a lot of spiritual stuff going on regardless of his shared beliefs. So yes, some chosen one stuff. But if you
    put this one alongside "right in 2", it is mainly about our
    unfortunate ability to let ourselves down. He had the chance,
    he forgot his pen, he shit the bed. This is humanity under the
    microscope.

    I love you all

  11. PowerCat
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    Aug 29th 2010 !⃝

    The only reason I'm confident in the validity of my interpretation is the insanity of the interpretation itself. This gives me reason to feel relatively secure in its relevance, in that the song that is being critiqued is quite off the wall.

    As I see it, there are two main functions the lyrics to Rosetta Stoned so subtly employ. Really, the primary function is to 'blur the lines,' if you will. The very language is centered around this blurring of lines. From "Picture this - if you will," to, "Don't even know what that means - must remember to write it down - but I forgot my pen.' 'This is so real, like I woke up in Wonderland.' Upon close scrutiny this song reveals itself to be mainly composed of these odd kind of pointers/logical contradictions.

    The second function, which also blurs the lines a bit, is that of the uncertainty of the lyricist whether he/she is dead or alive. "Shit the bed, am I alive, am I dead?"

    Now, all this being said, here is my little take on R S. I believe the purpose of blurring the lines is to subconsciously initiate one into the concept of 'as above, so below.' I.e., that the cosmos is within us, and we are within it. That being said, I think that the song is essentially putting to words a kind of ritual of evocation. I know it sounds crazy, but perhaps tool wanted to initiate an experience of sorts with Rosetta Stoned. I believe that this song can function as just a song, but doubly as also a kind of psychic map of sorts. Specifically, a map showing how to in effect 'quarantine' certain 'war-like' or 'destructive' aspects of human nature.

    So that's my interpretation. Rosetta Stoned, though it utilized a lot of different material, was made to evoke (or banish) a kind of malignant influence, thereby opening one to receive the last and final message of the album.

    There you have it.

  12. anonymous
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    Aug 26th 2010 !⃝

    About a year before 10,000 days came out I sent a package of original music and a letter to Maynard. I said that his lyrics were a source of interest in people (such as myself at the time) with mental illness, a message of hope for those who choose to hear it and a warning for those who do not. I had drug induced psychosis. My name is Brendan Hoffmann. Don't know if the letter even reached Maynard or if this is just a coincidence. My music can be found at www.mp3.com.au

  13. slippingaway
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    Aug 14th 2010 !⃝

    Okay fellas, here we go:
    We all know that Tool has dabbled in the mind expanding hallucinogen area. This is not news.
    Yes, DMT is a powerful drug that is derived from the South American plant Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca must be taken with another chemical because when ingested, the sulfuric acid in the stomach breaks down the chemical. But this is beside the point. I think this explains the whole Krispy Kremes reference though.
    On to the trip: This trip is very relatable, DMT has been associated with visions of an impending future: a vision that I think many of us that have dabbled (and a great many that have NEVER dabbled) have had.
    The Ayahwhusca/UFO trip has been written about numerous times by Terence McKenna, Carl Jung, and Jaques Valle (to name a few).
    The connection between UFOs and tryptamine hallucinogens has been pointed out by Terence McKenna, who has ascertained by questionnaire that UFO contact is the motif most frequently mentioned by people who take psilocybin recreationally, using 15-milligram-range doses sufficient to elicit the full spectrum of psychedelic effects. There are numerous stories by Westerners who have had UFO encounters after taking ayahuasca, psilocybin, or dimethyltryptamine. As Valle has pointed out, the UFOs are physical manifestations that cannot be understood apart from their psychic and symbolic reality. The UFO motif is a subject that should not be neglected by cognitive anthropologists, depth psychologists, and people interested in the mythologies of modern man. But this information digresses from my interpretation; I just wanted to provide some background...

    This trip is referring back to a Revelation: one that I think many have had. I think it's the same picture that Maynard saw years ago when was talking about in Aenima. It's a very apocalyptic sorta message about the end times. This message is a message of hope for those to choose to hear it, and a warning for those who do not.
    This trip can be hard to explain. Very hard. Many of us that have done some basic tripping (judiciously, to expand our conscience) have had similar glimpses. This trip that Maynard is talking about was the mother load, where the vision became very clear, a vision that I know I've shared with him because he has relocated to the same place I feel drawn to with every waking moment (Sedona/Camp Verde, AZ).
    "This is so real. Like the time Dave floated away." I think this is referring to Dave Ogilvie, a friend of Maynards and who has been with Tool and Puscifer, and is a producer for Skinny Puppy.

    This track is the culmination of various themes in Tool's lyrics. The reference to the Rosetta Stone(d) follows a sentiment introduced in Schism: "I know the pieces fit."
    In their tripping they are looking for some way to tie everything together: a "Unified Field Theory" of sorts...

    I believe that the ET is more of an multidimensional being, not necessarily a "Gray" or "Reptile"


    "Sunkist and sudafed": Sunkist refers to the orange slices mentioned earlier. Oranges in and of themselves when they mold produce LSA, the less-potent form of LSD that is also found in Rye Bread. Sudafed is commonly used as a boil-down base for other drugs like X, primarily for it's metho-agents.

    To me this song is about something very earth shattering happening to someone, something that might be taken seriously by friends and family if drugs weren't involved. It was so earth-shattering that it ended the protagonist in the asylum because it put him into a bad trip.
    This is a message that Tool has been trying to spit out over many albums now. Something is up. It could be them cashing in on doomsdayer-style paranoia, or it could be something that they genuinely believe in. Or both. Or neither. You figure it out. Think for yourself. Question authority.

  14. anonymous
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    Jul 30th 2010 !⃝

    He mentions dmt in the first few lines. He is tripping on dmt. Many people have some sort of relation to meeting aliens when smoked. And I can relate in way. He is speaking from the shoes of someone new to dmt or the message. Maynard knows the game, the real truth behind everything that is and over years I've managed tp put some of the puzzle together and I can relate in the sense that its hard to tell people because there is too much to say and you can never start at one point. Read about DMT and the science behind it, then maybe you can all crack the message. believe me id love to tell the world about what I know, I mean hope for those who choose to listen and a warning for those who don't but it has already caused enough social suicide to me for this time in my life. peace!!!

  15. anonymous
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    Jul 13th 2010 !⃝

    He was withdrawing from heroin you idiots. Oh wait, sorry that came later. Yea basically this is about (INSERT DRUG OF CHOICE) AND the fact that he was on so much dope he started to withdraw. Fucking morons...




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