| Tool – Descending Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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Gives me some 10,000 days vibes... and in a similar way there could be a religious undertone. What you might not realise is, that Maynard often writes as though he is a Christian, despite the fact that he seemingly despises faith. This song could easily be about the diminishment of Christian faith in Western culture due to our changing priorities and the 'gods' of our culture, namely comfort. Let me walk you through it: "Free fall through our midnight This epilogue of our own fable Heedless in our slumber Floating nescient we Free fall through this boundlessness" The idea of falling through 'our' midnight is about a society that is uncontrollably heading into (and through) darkness. This has been created as we (western society) have created our own story of what is important in life - - in this case slumber/apathy/rest. In essence society pushes us to go and be rich, powerful and then (the ultimate goal) become master of your own leisure... Maynard calls it "Our own Fable" clearly pointing out that the 'story of mankind' that we have made is actually only a fallacy, and perhaps the things we focus on aren't important at all. It is these things that have prevented us from pursuit of God, and made us apathetic to love others. "This madness Of our own making Falling isn't flying Floating isn't infinite" Again, this pursuit is "maddness", that we (western culture) have created. We like to believe that we are flying because of the great things we have achieved with our hands and minds, but in fact we are actually falling further into darkness as we separate ourselves further from the creator and true meaning of life. In the same way falling gives off a similar feeling to flying, progression from our own advancement (in this case comfort) gives off a similar feeling of success and meaning to humankind. But the one who is falling is only flying until they hit the ground. Similarly, to float, it might feel freeing, but you are only just off the ground. You are still limited, still out of control to experience the boundlessness of possibilities and to know the creator in all his magnificence. "Come, our end, suddenly All hail our lethargy Concede suddenly To the quickened dissolution" In this part of the song Maynard wishes that our end might come quickly, so that we might not drift further into, nor spend more time in darkness. The end is again caused by our lethargy (our god) which we praise as king. It will come as a sudden end only after we realise we have gone too far. The end is when the falling finishes and when we are completely cut off from God, falling into the pit. "Pray we mitigate the ruin Calling all to arms and order Drifting through this boundlessness This madness of our own making" Maynard prays that God would intercede. He prays that we might have a change of heart, that we might turn or repent from our ways of lethargy and take action. In 2 Timothy 2 Christians are referred to as "soldiers". "Calling to arms and order" refers to calling Christian brothers to once again pick up their arms and create order (1 Cor 14:33), and to seek God. The next few sections of the song are a prayer to God to stir us into action. "Call us to arms and action", "Mitigate our Ruin". He isn't asking mankind to do this, he is requesting higher power to step in. In the same way that someone begins a battle with the reveille, he prays that our society might once again be stirred into action at the sound of the horn. "Sound our dire reveille Rouse all from our apathy Lest we Cease to be Stir us from our Wanton slumber " Again, the above reinforces some ideas; 'lest we cease to be' refers to the total loss of mankind, perhaps referring to another flood when people walked so much in darkness that they were wiped off. "Wanton" a sense of deliberacy in this action, as though an active choice to reject the creator and pursue the earthly things sets them against God. "Mitigate our ruin Call us all to arms and order Sound the dread alarm Through our primal body Sound the reveille To be or not to be Rise" "Our" primal body indicating how he believes we have separated ourself from our creator as we take on a more evolutionist understanding or life. "Stay the grand finale Stay the reading of our swan song and epilogue" Manyard requests to God that he keeps the end from coming (stay). The grand finale, swan song and epilogue referring to the end, when Christ will return and deal with those who have turned from him. In this case Maynard is concerned that because of apathy many have turned, and if Christ was to return now, they would not be ready. "One drive to stay alive It's elementary Muster every fiber Mobilize Stay alive Stir us from our Wanton slumber Mitigate our ruin Call us all to arms and order" His final marks refer to his one reason (or drive) he has to stay alive and thats to see people become 'mobilised'; to see them wake from their slumber and once again pursue higher things. He says it is "elementary" or a foundation to life, and to "stay alive" we need to fix what we have done... Pick up your arms and come to order... "Take up your cross and follow Me" Luke 9:23 |
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