In case you missed the latest rock news, Tool released (after a 13 year wait) the most anticipated rock album ever in what is called “Fear Innoculum“.
Read more about this here.
While listening to this breathtaking song almost non-stop we took a quick break and revisited the song “lateralus” and were once again amazed ad what an astounding song this is.
Truly Tool can be seen as a progressive rock spiritual experience.
Did you know that the song Lateralus is infused with the mathematical Fibonacci sequence. A lot of interpretations for Tool’s Lateralus can be found on the internet, and for some this song carries a larger than life meaning.
Maynard James Keenan’s vocals during the first few minutes of Lateralus form a Fibonacci sequence.
In the song, The number of syllables progress to the sixth step, then back down to the first step; up to the seventh step, and then back to the fourth step.
[1] black then
[2] white are
[3] all I see
[5] in my infancy
[8] red and yellow then came to be
[5] reaching out to me
[3] lets me see
[2] there is
[1] so
[1] much
[2] more and
[3] beckons me
[5] to look through to these
[8] infinite possibilities
[13] as below so above and beyond I imagine
[8] drawn outside the lines of reason
[5] push the envelope
[3] watch it bend
The Fibonacci sequence shares a relationship with Phi, the golden ratio. The golden ratio is used to describe spirals, which are mentioned several times in the lyrics:
“Swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be human”, “Spiral out, keep going” twice, and “Spiral out, keep going.” five times. Also, Keenan first begins singing 1 minute and 37 seconds into the song, which equates to 1.617 minutes (the golden ratio = approximately 1.618).
The time signatures of the chorus change from 9/8 to 8/8 to 7/8, symbolizing a spiral. In addition, the number 987 is part of the Fibonacci sequence.
If you want to give it a try, and listen to this song with new found wisdom and enthusiasm then here you go. Tool’s Lateralus and its Fibonacci infused beat and lyrics:
