The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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 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
It's bright and blue and shimmering
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
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
It's bright and blue and shimmering
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
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Hello Everyone,
This song is not about drugs. It is an insult to this great band to imply that MJK is only speaking about drugs, drug use, and drug effects. This song is really about Quantum Physics. At the begining of the song MJK quotes Bill Hicks. He says
"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."
This one paragraph is what the whole song is about. He is talking about the Big Bang. When all atoms in the universe where ONE atom. Then the big bang happened and created the universe. That is why we are one consciousness, because we are all one (originated from the same thing). By the way the man that realized this theory did not do acid, it was Albert Einstein. (Theory of Relativity)
"Prying open my third eye" is not a reference to MJK's penis or his Peyote eye. The third eye in Buddhism is your consciousness. Your third eye allows you to see reality as it is, not the reality that we think exist, which is the reality we create in our minds that we see, taste, touch, etc.
We have all heard MJK refer to life as an illusion. Life is what our brain tells us what we are experiencing. When the Big Bang happened it not only created you, me, this planet, our universe, but it created all the parallel universes. Which means that if we are all one because we originated from the BIG Bang. Then that means that we all exist in everywhere, including other dimensions and so on. So, right now at this very moment you exist multiple times throughout space. That is why life is an illusion.
"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?"
This is also related to Buddhist philosophy. The principle of Reincarnation. He says the statement above several times throughout the song. The first, he is talking about visiting himself as a child. The second is him visiting himself from another life time. According to Buddhist Philosophy, when you die you do not take with you anything but your Karma. This means your physical appearance, your knowledge, your car, all of these thing do not come with you to your next life. That is why MJK says this,"
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."
You can see who you were in past lives, who you will be, and even who others were. If you just open your third eye.
If you have time go to youtube.com and type in "what the bleep do we know part 1." Watch the whole movie. It will thoroughly explain all of these concepts. We all see what we want to see. Just read through the comments, and see how people distorted MJK's lyrics because they wanted MJK to say what they wanted to hear.
If you are an avid TOOL fan, or if you know anything about TOOL. You know that they don't clearly state the point. Not because they are trying to be tricky. They want you to think for yourself. All of our lives we have been fed distorted information. We have been given answers to all our problems with the click of the search button on Google. TOOL doesn't want to give you the answers. They want you to find them on your own. Be pro-active learn the truth because you won't in school. Our governments, our dogmatic religions ( such as christianity, Islam, Jeudaism), and our teachers don't want you to know the truth because you begin to question. When you begin to question you begin to ask. When you ask then you act. This leads to revolution.
I hope this comment helped open your third eye.
"Liberate yourself and you will liberate the world"
"By the way the man that realized this theory did not do acid, it was Albert Einstein." - and what makes you think Einstein didn't do acid?
"By the way the man that realized this theory did not do acid, it was Albert Einstein." - and what makes you think Einstein didn't do acid?
i was going to post a comment like this.....<br /> its good that someone had alresady explined it<br /> <br /> the theory that we are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively has been the part of eastern religions and philosophy from so long ago<br /> <br /> the world is maya or illusion<br /> we projeect it as we want<br /> <br /> but the truth never changes
This is refreshing. My eyes have been opened over the past year or so.... Nice to see another person who isn't brainwashed like the rest of them. Couldn't agree with you more. We are not told the truth and as a matter of fact we live in a massive set of lies in which the governments of our world keep us in!
thanks the interpretation! makes total sense 2 me...
Great analysis and I agree with you completely except I think the song is also at least related to drugs. I.e., drugs are a tool used to pry open the third eye. This is implicated by the reference to "desert buttons". Not to mention the opening line is about what a young man realizes while on acid. It's a funny joke because that's roughly what anyone who takes enough acid will feel like, since the drug temporarily suspends the ego.
Dude you are preaching some pseudoscience bullshit. If you knew anything about physics or chemistry you'd understand the idea that you can change reality by thought is absurd. That we can't find our "past selves". We aren't subatomic particles alone. We can't control energy and matter with our minds. But your RIGHT about Tool not giving the answers. They want you to figure it out for yourself. Believe your own preachings and don't get sucked into documentaries with a lot of falsified information. Third eye is about consciousness and I believe people need to be conscious of the reality of OUR physical world. Who we CAN be or WANT to be. Humanity is morally lost, we can use that consciousness to find ourselves again. Because when we can find apart of ourselves that isn't so tainted by materialism maybe we could help out other human beings who are REAL. Don't think of our world as imaginative one. We are living.
@rachel202020 Actually people don't have to stop believe something since one says it is not true. I believe that this is an illusion and that the though can change it, just with a simple idea. Isn't that true? A single word can change the entire way of the world and history. There are plenty of examples of that in history. And if you defend that we should think for ourselves how can you not question actualy everything you were taught!? The only reason you think you cannot cross a wall is because at some point in your life you were said: "You can't cross that". I mean, if we question everything that was surely certain and start making a new wolrd based on our new beliefs in a long time we could make our sons and grandsons see the sky red or green. <br /> <br /> But, I went away from my primary point. You must not criticise someone's beliefes. You should respect them and only follow your own. There is no need to force other people into what you believe when they see the world differently.
Well actually its not related to Buddhism's third eye but Lord Shiva's third eye, a God in Hindu mythology. The lyrics "It's bright and blue and shimmering." specifically says blue because Lord Shiva had dark complexion which looked like blue<br /> <br /> Also Karma actually originated from Hinduism also referred in Rigveda, in fact the word 'Karma' is originated from Sanskrit language which is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism.<br /> Many of us confuse 'Karma' to other religions but it was originated from hinduism.
@abcurl1988 I agree with you exept on the link you make with science. You say the big bang happened when all atoms were one but it's wrong atoms were never One but they were concentrated in a space that was the size of an atom so you can't link the lyrics of this song to the big bang...
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
@abcurl1988 fuck your good. But the only thing I dont like is when people say," tool wants you to", like your not Tool?! I think Tool hates people that think they know exactly what Tool is and are trying to say. Im sure your right, but knowing them, you never are 100 percent, and thats the beauty.
Sounds good. The only thing I dont like is when people say,"Tool wants, Tool thinks", the last time I checked you arent in Tool. Your probably close, but when it comes to them you can never be 100 percent, and thats what makes them amazing.
"fucking avid tool fan", wtf who says Im not an avid tool fan? Just bcuz Im not claiming to know every fucking verse or all the shit behind the lyrics? Fucking lame, the fact that I get chills listening to this shit 15 years later says I am a fan. Get off their nuts
@abcurl1988 I'm fairly confident that Maynard doesn't subscribe to such metaphysical BS. Great job preaching pseudo science to a community of skeptics. "... and you thought that I had run away. Chasing the tail of dogma. / Chasing a trail of smoke and reason." It should be blatantly obvious to you from this quote that he wants nothing to do with un-falsifiable claims like SMOKE AND MIRRORS (replaced with "reason" because pseudo science is the next best thing to religion.)<br /> <br /> But hey... what ever makes you feel good and not want to hurt other people man. I support harmless idiocy. Just like Maynard supported his mothers wishes as a christian simply because she was a good person. Nothing wrong with that. Just please don't confuse otherwise intelligent people with this nonsense.
@abcurl1988 I tried to read this, but then I reached the third paragraph.<br /> <br /> "This one paragraph is what the whole song is about. He is talking about the Big Bang. When all atoms in the universe where ONE atom."<br /> <br /> I saw past some of the other errors, but the word is WERE. I couldn't read anymore after this.
@abcurl1988 Almost, but not quite buddy. It does have everything to do with drugs, specifically psychedelics and whatever else he is smoking/eating/rubbing into his belly. Maynard is not the sole writer of these lyrics, and you are giving him way too much credit, as well as God-like status. Neither MJK, Hicks, or yourself are the originators of those concepts. Maybe you should get off your imaginary high horse and study up on Timothy Leary and LSD. "Think for yourself. Question authority.." Sure Buddhism does preach ego-loss and mindfulness as paths to enlightenment, but i don't see any reason to believe this lyrical poetry has anything to do with literal "past lives" or reincarnation. Get over yourself and lose your bullshit ego. Practice what you preach man.
Oh, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Big Bang or your feeble understanding of that, the universe, or reality. Stop pretending you or MJK have all the answers. Sure, each person's "reality" is based on their own particular limited perception, but to imagine that it is all an illusion is just ego-stroking BS. You really ought to eat some acid, shrooms, mescaline, or peyote, then reevaluate your ignorance. You idiots who keep liking his bullshit need to read more, and get out and live as well. SMH<br />
oh, and BTW, WHY THE FUCK IS MY HANDLE "shawnafv"??? Where the heck did that come from, because it wasn't me or Facebook, which I signed in with. AFV? Like America's Funniest Video's? WTF?! WHo decided this for me? At least they got my first name right...
HA! I changed my handle. Now I am officially Shawn(AsFuck) LMAO!!!
@abcurl1988 "By the way the man that realized this theory did not do acid, it was Albert Einstein. (Theory of Relativity)" <br /> <br /> I think it's extremely likely that he did in fact. He was against the prohibition of drugs, and there are many rumors that his autopsy revealed traces of acid and even DMT. That may not be officially proven but the evidence stacks up in my opinion.
@abcurl1988 you have obviously never had a deep DMT trip...