Music video
In support of this promo single, a music video was released — clocking in at over ten minutes because of the inclusion of the 3-minute "Parabol" lead-in (a separate track on the album). It was directed by Adam Jones and, like other Tool videos, includes several abstract scenes (which can be seen on the single art). These include humanoids meeting and cutting pomaceous fruit, then vomiting a black liquid in a circle. Another scene, starring English musician Tricky, includes him dissecting a small biped and then wandering in the forest. It hardly met the criteria for being broadcast on mainstream music video stations, although some channels worked around this by cutting the "Parabol" intro.
And Parabol/Parabola which is a(n) Arc of some type.
Parabola
Tool Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are choosing to be here, right now
Hold on, stay inside
This holy reality
This holy experience
Choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Alive, I
In this holy reality
In this holy experience
Choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Twirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing
The chance to be alive and breathing
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion
The lyrics to Tool's song Parabola are filled with philosophical and spiritual meaning. The opening lines suggest that humans have forgotten their existence prior to the present moment and have made a conscious choice to be here, in this reality. The repetition of "this holy reality" and "this holy experience" emphasizes the spiritual connotations of this choice. The idea that humans are "held" by their physical bodies provides a physical anchor to the figurative description of the experience.
The lyrics continue to explore the theme of the physical body as both a reminder of mortality and a vessel for experiencing eternal truths. The lines, "be my reminder here that I am not alone in / This body, this body holding me," suggest that the physical body is a temporary container for something transcendent, a soul or spirit that is connected to something larger than itself. The pain that humans experience is portrayed as an illusion, emphasizing the idea that the physical realm is not the ultimate reality.
The final lines of the song urge listeners to embrace the present moment and celebrate the gift of life. The idea that human existence is a chance to experience something special and unique is emphasized through the phrase "chance to be alive and breathing." The combination of physical and spiritual imagery in the lyrics suggests that humans are capable of experiencing something beyond the material world.
Line by Line Meaning
We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment
Our past is hazy and insignificant compared to the present moment.
We are choosing to be here, right now
We have made a conscious decision to exist in the present moment.
Hold on, stay inside
Stay grounded and remain present, don't let external factors sway you.
This holy reality
The current moment is sacred and should be appreciated.
This holy experience
The experience of being alive is a spiritual one.
Choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Our physical bodies remind us that we are not alone in the world, and our consciousness is immortal. Pain is not as real as it seems.
Alive, I
In this holy reality
In this holy experience
Choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Being alive is a holy experience, and we are reminded of this through our physical bodies. Our eternal nature is not limited by pain.
Twirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing
The chance to be alive and breathing
Life is a continuous cycle of experiences, and each one is a gift to be celebrated. The chance to be alive is a rare and beautiful thing.
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Our physical bodies remind us of the impermanence of life, and we should appreciate each moment. Our true self is eternal, and pain is just an illusion.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Adam Jones, Daniel Carey, Justin Gunner Chancellor, Maynard James Keenan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Erik-cv4tm
Okay so 15+ years after discovering Tool and watching this video, I think I have somewhat of an understanding of the symbolism. I wanted to comment on this because I see many people confused about it (which is not surprising), and some people doubting it even having something to do with the music at all. So this will be my attempt at "dissecting" it, if you will. So strap in and grab some snacks because this will be a long read. And also, this is just my interpretation so feel free to share you own thoughts on this as there is so much going on and I don't claim to get it all.
First of all we have the many small structures. One at first, then more and more. These I interpret to be the cells coming together to form our bodies. You can see at one point it looks like they are forming a spine and more. Also notice the big metal frame locking the picture frame in, limiting our view of the video (and our experience of life).
We are now in our body and mind. The deformed guy enters the picture with a toolbox. This is revealed to contain a knife which is supposed to represent our intellect. The intellect, called Buddhi in yogic science, is just one part of many that makes up our full intelligence. The knife is a useful tool able that enable us to think logically, plan, make fire, tools, electricity and to generally survive in the world. Using this knife we can dissect the world around us (the apple in this case) and see what's inside. Using our intellect we can see that there is undeniably huge amount of intelligence around us as shown by the geometric star pattern within the apple. The knife however only cuts and cannot be used to form a fuller understanding of things due to it's nature, which is to cut. The intellect however is elevated to an unreasonable high regard within society which is problematic.
It could be argued that the fantastic Adam Jones is suggesting that this tool is often used against us by corporations, governments etc, using marketing and propaganda tricks to get us to do shit and buy stuff as represented by the black goo spewing out in a circle as they hover above the table. As long as we only use our intellect to lead our lives we will always be stuck in this vicious cycle represented by the circle. The fact that they are three may also suggest that the intellect is very much tied to the three-dimensional (but i'm not entirely sure about this).
To escape this cycle, we must stop using the only the intellect and instead look inward, represented by the hands forming the same star as in the apple. We now look inside ourselves and can begin to explore the full potential of our bodies and our full intelligence.
The next part with the big stone pendulum eludes me somewhat and I'm not sure what it is supposed to represent. But a guess of mine is that with our new set of tools we can see the world and the laws that govern it (like gravity) in a new light. Next, we can see our ego, the little guy with the metal mask. When it first enters the video it is shot at a very close angle, making it look big but in reality it is not. The ego is not a bad guy really. It helps us survive by constantly being on the lookout for danger (wide eyes, clenched teeth, anxiety). Let's leave him be for now as we continue to explore the true nature of our bodies. Let's take a closer look at our nervous system (big tree thing). Let's scan our brain in the glass box to get a more complete picture of what our amazing brain is capable of, but also the limitations of it. We can also get a closer look at our problems, represented by the grey floating ball. These problems can range from being stuck on a deserted island with no water (big problem), to going through a breakup (can be very hard of course but not life ending), to not getting that sweet 1000 dollar cool brand bag (silly problem).
We are still in this small room however but we are longing to step out of it as we can see that there is so much more through the tiny window of the big metal door. All the while our guy the ego keeps us from doing it as he reminds us of our survival and our problems (it's his job after all).
So, next part is not clear to me either. They gray balls keep multiplying and kind of grows like a cancer which I interpret as we tend to make problems worse for ourselves by blaming them on others and other outside circumstances that we cannot control. This is a certain way to forever live in misery and can only lead to destruction (the cancer getting to us and our ego). The only thing we can fully control are ourselves. As the saying goes, it is not what happens to you but how we react to it that matters. Cheesy yes but there is truth to it.
To be able to step outside these confines we must examine the nature of our ego and let go of it. Which is probably a painful thing to do but necessary in order to fully be able to fully explore the cosmos (the forest outside of our room). So let's do exactly that. Because the seemingly impenetrable and intimidating big metal door that blocks our access to this realm was actually open this whole time.
We are now free to explore this endless forest and all of its beauty. We all still connected to the world and all of it's pain and suffering, joys and pleasures and it keeps following us as we explore this realm but we don't pay much attention anymore. Also while I'm writing this I'm inclined to see the gray balls as "wordly concerns" rather than just problems, although I guess we often tend to focus mostly on the problems I guess lol.
Well, we have reached the end if our journey. In this newfound state we are able to perceive the whole cosmos in a simple leaf (or in a grain of sand). The metal frame put upon our screen is now gone... and I'll let the visuals and badass riff in the outro speak for itself.
@BoolFalse
i don't know is this true or not, but in my own interpretation Adam is Parabol and Eve is Parabola (a - female-specific letter in the end).. so they're together 🤔
let's think of Adam and Eve..
Adam was alone and sad, he was passive.. then came Eve, she brings emotions and energy.. that's why there's such a transition..
as the lyrics says:
...We barely remember who or what came before... - it's about the myth we don't know exactly what happened
...This body, this body holding me... - that's Adam holding her
...My reminder here that I am not alone in this body... - his hopes
...All this pain is an illusion... - that's Eve about to come (pain during birth)
...Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing... - that was a gift for Adam
...Embrace this moment, remember... - Adam could think
@MUERTE965
So familiar and overwhelmingly warm
This one, this form I hold now
Embracing you, this reality here
This one, this form I hold now
So wide eyed and hopeful
Wide eyed and hopefully wild
We barely remember what came before this precious moment
We're choosing to be here
Right now, hold on, stay inside
This body, holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in
This body makes me feel eternal, all this pain is an illusion
We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment
We are choosing to be here
Right now, hold on, stay inside this holy reality
This holy experience we're choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Alive, I'm
In this holy reality
In this holy experience we're choosing to be here in
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion
Twirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing
A chance to be alive and breathing
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion
@impureiv5667
"This edible ain't sh-"
@veeend8
Lol
@eliasmsv3156
parabola kicks in
@lukecoyi1784
3:47
@micheal2458
This is after you decided you'd have a second one cause you weren't feeling the first one 😂
@justinmine924
Lmao
@stupidthefish4981
My sister walked into my room and asked if I was listening to “Wrench” again. I looked at her confused, then realized she was mentioning “Tool” and called it Wrench because it was a tool. The fucking nerve of her to think I’m smart enough to make that connection.
@Katharsis540
Deep thought. Wrench the hell out Shadow Work.
@brunocremonezzi3715
English is my second language and even I could figure that out
@danmage2802
What if you had been listening to Clutch?