Schism

If you have ever heard one of Tool's songs or seen one of their music videos then more than likely you find yourself wondering "What in the hell is the meaning behind this?" Tool's songs can often be described as deep and mellow although i would not recommend their songs and especially their music videos to certain people for fear that they may have a heart attack, but those that can truly enjoy the music need nothing more than that. Maynard, the singer and song writer of Tool, incorporates so many different meanings into his songs that almost anyone who makes an interpretation is correct, because he makes the music and expects people to make their own interpretation and apply it to their own personal life; however i'll just tell it the way I see it, which is probably far from the true meaning, but it's my own personal opinion about the meaning of the song "Schism". For awhile I considered this song from the relationship stand point. It very well could deal with 2 depleted lovers and how, although the pieces were once all there, yet after losing everything they had and breaking into those "pieces", he wishes to re-find them and bring them back together. That can even be seen in the video where in the end they come together, reforming into one which is what i believe a relationship does. It takes two people and forms them into one. But after a little research, i've come to realize I think the song is about the religious aspect of it all. There are a lot of Tool songs that deal with religion and i guess "Schism" is one of them. At one time, the church was one body. It was a single unit set on one system of beliefs that everyone who had faith followed, there was no denomination. "I know the pieces fit, cuz i watched them fall away" (saying that he knows religion should be one body, even though it's not. he's seen them break apart) "Mildewed and smoldering. Fundamental differing" (rotten and burned up and when he says fundamental differing i think he's showing the reason for the break. that from the very fundamentals of the belief structure, there started to be differing feelings among people, and how they wanted to express them. "Pure Intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion" (meaning that although the intentions every time were pure, they were "juxtaposed", or twisted, and because of that, it sat two lovers of Christ against each other to see who could be more correct) "Distentigrating as it goes, testing our communication" (saying the arguement was what orignially caused the separation into pieces, and it caused a lack of discussion) "The light that fueled the fire then has burned a hole between us so we cannot see to reach an end, crippling our communication" (the light that fueled the fire, or love, for Christ is what tore us apart and burned a hole between us. It's caused the end of the "communication") "I know the pieces fit cuz i watched them tumble down. No fault, none to blame, that doesn't mean I don't desire to point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over bring the pieces back together, rediscover communcation" (I think here the meaning is that although no one is directly to blame for this break, because every "piece" that was broken was done in the name of Christ. He thinks he's right so he wants to be able to point the finger, say the other was wrong. Yet still he wants to see the separate temples topple over, and the pieces brought back together, so they can reunite under one belief system again.) "The poetry that comes from the squaring off between, and the circling is worth it, finding beauty in the dissonance" (although the separation needs to end, the writer is saying that the separation needed to happen so it can circle around and something better in the end. because the church split and each went it's own direction, the meaning that came from the fighting was worth it. It brings new truths back to the faith to make it stronger.) At the end, Maynard says "Cold silence had a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion between supposed lovers". I think what he's saying is that the breaks have caused us to lose TRUE love for the other "pieces", or denominations, and we're SUPPOSED to be lovers of Christ, but how can we be if we can't even get along with other believers? Even in the video you can see during the beginning and middle of the video they are sizing each other up, trying to establish who is better, but in the end they decide it is better to stop the nonsense and form into one. However, Tool's music is meant for you to make your own interpretation, so you can apply it to your own life.