Flood

I definitely dig the "this changes everything" dropkick back into the song. And with the gift of hindsight--having seen Tool release three more incredible albums after this song came out, each with an increasingly positive spiritual and metaphysical message--it seems like joshthack's take on this is very accurate.

Undertow has always been the darkest, sickest Tool album, and there was a lot more anger and resentment in Maynard's lyrical imagery back then. But it had to have a source, and I think that source is clear. Think about it. The primary thing that drives most people (especially people as intelligent as Mr. Keenan must be) to evidence their personal struggles in their work ("I scramble to reach higher ground, some order and sanity, or something to comfort me") is some sort of failure. Failure, especially in the minds of people who feel they are expected to succeed, can be debilitating. And what's driving you mad in the personal, real world could very well end up in your lyrics, because if you're trying to argue that Tool's lyrics didn't start to be personal until Maynard wrote about his mom in Wings, you're full of shit. Anyway, I think it's possible that the failure that drove Maynard's keen sense for writing dark material might have been a spiritual failure.

Now I venture into ground based even more purely on speculation, so I'll make it quick, but... if this song was written out of the disappointment surrounding failure to achieve spiritual goals ("Thought I was high and free; thought I was there, divine destiny. I was wrong"), then the achievement of spiritual goals in later albums (lacrymology, self-acceptance, deeper occult spirituality, whatever) suggests that the first thing Maynard tried was the cheap and easy way. Getting high to get enlightened.

Haha. I think all it comes down to is Maynard used drugs. But isn't that what it's all about anyway? Yes! Whatever, everyone knows this song's all about the crazy 4 and a half minute intro.