To date, the band has released five studio albums, one EP and one box set. They emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first studio album, Undertow (1993), and became a dominant act in the alternative metal movement with the release of their follow-up album Ænima in 1996. Their efforts to unify musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with Lateralus (2001) and 10,000 Days (2006), gaining critical acclaim and international commercial success. Their fifth studio album, Fear Inoculum, was released on August 30, 2019, to widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, the band had sold more than 13 million albums in the US alone.
Due to Tool's incorporation of visual arts and very long and complex releases, the band is generally described as a style-transcending act and part of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and art rock. The relationship between the band and today's music industry is ambivalent, at times marked by censorship, and the band's insistence on privacy.
There is a raging debate about whether Tool can be considered "post-metal" or not. However, they surely had a hand in its creation as much as Neurosis. The influential act Isis was heavily influenced by Tool's music, so much that they lifted entire basslines and guitar riffing from Tool and even their iconic snare sound was inspired by Tool's style. Much has been made of both Isis and Tool's sound and influence across the years but one thing is sure, modern post-metal has their fingerprints everywhere and it would not have sounded this way without them. Additionally, Tool actually was aware of and liked Isis' music as they chose Isis as touring partners, a move that brought even more attention to Isis' music.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_(band)
Studio albums
Undertow (1993)
Ænima (1996)
Lateralus (2001)
10,000 Days (2006)
Fear Inoculum (2019)
Third Eye
Tool Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us
Do me a favor, go home tonight and take all your albums
All your tapes and all your CDs and burn 'em, 'cause you know what?
The musicians who've made all that great music that's enhanced your lives
Throughout the years, real fucking high on drugs
Dreaming of that face again
Grinning wide
And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes
On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye
In, out, in, out, in, out
A child's rhyme stuck in my head
It said that life is but a dream
I've spent so many years in question
To find I've known this all along
So good to see you
I've missed you so much
So glad it's over
I've missed you so much
Came out to watch you play
Why are you running away?
Came out to watch you play
Why are you running?
Shrouding all the ground around me
Is this holy crow above me
Black as holes within a memory
And blue as our new second sun
I stick my hand into his shadow
To pull the pieces from the sand
Which I attempt to reassemble
To see just who I might have been
I do not recognize the vessel
But the eyes seem so familiar
Like phosphorescent desert buttons
Singing one familiar song
So good to see you
I've missed you so much
So glad it's over
I've missed you so much
Came out to watch you play
Why are you running away?
Came out to watch you play
Why are you running away?
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
So good to see you once again
I thought that you were hiding
And you thought that I had run away
Chasing the tail of dogma
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye and there we were
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye and there we were
So good to see you once again
I thought that you were hiding from me
And you thought that I had run away
Chasing a trail of smoke and reason
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
Prying open my third eye
The song Third Eye is the final track from Tool's album Ænima released in 1996. The song plays with the themes of self-discovery, seeking one's own truth and the exploration of the unknown. The song starts with the dream sequence where the singer sees a bright and blue shimmering face grinning wide with its three warm and wild eyes. This sequence falls in line with the idea of lucid dreaming, where the singer consciously enters his own dream world. The singer then tumbles down that hole and back again, which suggests that he is finally confronting his fears and accepting different sides of him.
The song then takes a turn and the ground around the singer is shrouded by a holy crow above him that refers to the singer confronting death or a transitional period. The singer then goes on to stick his hand into the crow's shadow, which symbolizes his desires to uncover the missing pieces of himself. The singer goes on to say "I do not recognize the vessel, but the eyes seem so familiar," indicating that he is exploring a deeper level of consciousness and self-identity. The ending of the song establishes the singer's full understanding that he has pried open his own third eye, which is a common phrase that describes the opening of one's own spiritual eye or gaining an understanding of higher consciousness.
Line by Line Meaning
Dreaming of that face again
Recalling a face from a dream
It's bright and blue and shimmering
Describing the features of the face in the dream
Grinning wide
The face in the dream is smiling happily
And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes
The three eyes of the face in the dream bring comfort to the dreamer
On my back and tumbling
The dreamer falls backwards and tumbles into a hole
Down that hole and back again
A cyclical journey through the dreamer's mind
Rising up
The dreamer emerges from the dream
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye
Returning to reality and clearing the mind of confusion
In, out, in, out, in, out
Breathing exercises to calm the mind
A child's rhyme stuck in my head
The dreamer's thoughts go to a simple children's rhyme
It said that life is but a dream
The children's rhyme contains a philosophical insight on the nature of life
I've spent so many years in question
The dreamer has been pondering the same question for years
To find I've known this all along
The answer was within the dreamer all along
So good to see you
Reconnecting with an old friend
I've missed you so much
Expressing genuine emotion towards the friend
So glad it's over
Relieved that something troubling has ended
Came out to watch you play
Arriving to observe someone's actions
Why are you running away?
Questioning someone's decision to leave
Shrouding all the ground around me
Feeling surrounded and hemmed in
Is this holy crow above me
Describing a crow perched above the dreamer
Black as holes within a memory
Describing the crow's color as dark
And blue as our new second sun
Describing the sky above as blue and bright
I stick my hand into his shadow
A moment of curiosity, putting a hand into the shadow of the crow
To pull the pieces from the sand
Reaching for something within the sand
Which I attempt to reassemble
Trying to piece together something fragmented
To see just who I might have been
Searching for a lost sense of self
I do not recognize the vessel
Being unable to recognize oneself
But the eyes seem so familiar
Feeling a sense of familiarity with the eyes
Like phosphorescent desert buttons
Describing the eyes as glowing like buttons in a desert
Singing one familiar song
The eyes seem to be conveying a familiar message
Prying open my third eye
Opening oneself to new perspectives and insights
So good to see you once again
Reconnecting with an old friend once again
I thought that you were hiding
Being pleasantly surprised to find the friend not hiding
And you thought that I had run away
The friend was under the impression that the dreamer had left
Chasing the tail of dogma
Pursuing blindly held beliefs or ideologies
I opened my eye
Having a moment of clarity and insight
And there we were
Returning to a sense of connection with the friend
Chasing a trail of smoke and reason
Pursuing a logical or rational path, even if it's not leading to fulfillment
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Adam Jones, Daniel Carey, Justin Gunner Chancellor, Maynard James Keenan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kolbykauffman4180
2003, my first listen to the album as a whole. The night after Christmas, my first as a teenager. Adult Swim is marathoning Cowboy Bebop. Third Eye plays during the Heaven's Gate culty episode. Strobe light going max shutter.
Not understanding the concepts being conveyed under the music, not familiar with Bill Hicks or how much a hack Dennis Leary was.
I listened to this whole song wondering if it was gonna be like Disgustipated (it's less sophisticated older brother). I was mistaken.
This song single-handedly changed the way I listen to music. This was an experience and was practically responsible for turning me into one of those obnoxious, snobby Tool fans who thought they figured the world out, lol. This broadened my horizons. This opened up an avenue I didn't know existed. Tool came before I started fanatically collecting Faith No More and Layne-era Alice in Chains material.
I thought about this song having a conversation with my ma. She grew up with Syd Barrett, I had Maynard. I cited this song as what I imagined played in Syd's head.
Just sharing my nostalgia.
@BrokenZen311
[Spoken by Bill Hicks:]
See, I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favour: go home tonight, take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CDs, and burn 'em. 'Cause you know what, the musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years... real fucking high on drugs.
Today young men on acid realise that all matter is purely energy condensed into a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death. Life is only a dream within the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather.
It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom is what it is, OK. Keep that in mind at all times. Thank you.
Dreaming of that face again.
It's bright and blue and shimmering.
Grinning wide
And comforting me with its three warm and wild eyes.
On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye.
In... out... in... out... in... out...
A child's rhyme stuck in my head.
It said that life is but a dream.
I've spent so many years in question
to find I've known this all along.
"So good to see you.
I've missed you so much.
So glad it's over.
I've missed you so much
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running?"
Shrouding all the ground around me
Is this holy crow above me.
Black as holes within a memory
And blue as our new second sun.
I stick my hand into the shadow
To pull the pieces from the sand.
Which I attempt to reassemble
To see just who I might have been.
I do not recognize the vessel,
But the eyes seem so familiar.
Like phosphorescent desert buttons
Singing one familiar song...
"So good to see you.
I've missed you so much.
So glad it's over.
I've missed you so much.
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?"
Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.
So good to see you once again.
I thought that you were hiding.
And you thought that I had run away.
Chasing the tail of dogma.
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye and there we were.
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye and there we were.
So good to see you once again
I thought that you were hiding from me.
you thought that I had run away.
Chasing a trail of smoke and the reason.
Prying open my third eye.
@thebeastslayer7132
You know you’ve made something special when you want to put a 14 minute song on repeat
@katrinaromero958
4th replay in a row tonight😛
@mtmontgo
@@katrinaromero958 This song and other Tool songs should be heard with headphones, moderately high volume and repeated several times!!
@the2ndcoming135
Beat: *Drops
3rd Eye:😎
@matthewsluder6205
I just did that lol and still going
@peanutarbuckle7397
Try listening to it while actually tripping.....holy god
@StanielP
Tom killed it at the weather !
@camerontriplett9199
It gon rain!
@Big_Sluggy
True! Tom is a beast at guitar lol.
@fusiontoa18
Tom showed this to me!