Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Angels on the sideline
Puzzled and amused
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused
Don't these talking monkeys know that Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly old monkeys
Where there's one you're bound to divide it
Right in two
Angels on the sideline
Baffled and confused
Father blessed them all with reason
And this is what they choose
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground
Silly monkeys give them thumbs
They forge a blade, and where there's one they're bound to divide it
Right in two
Right in two
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground
Silly monkeys give them thumbs, they make a club
And beat their brother down
How they survive so misguided is a mystery
Repugnant is a Creature who would squander the ability
To lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky and
Fight over life, over blood, over air and light
Over love, over sun, over another
Fight for the time, for the one, for the rise and
Angels on the sideline again
Been so long with patience and reason
Angels on the sideline again
Wondering when this tug of war will end
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Right in two
Right in two
Puzzled and amused
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused
Don't these talking monkeys know that Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly old monkeys
Where there's one you're bound to divide it
Right in two
Angels on the sideline
Baffled and confused
Father blessed them all with reason
And this is what they choose
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground
Silly monkeys give them thumbs
They forge a blade, and where there's one they're bound to divide it
Right in two
Right in two
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground
Silly monkeys give them thumbs, they make a club
And beat their brother down
How they survive so misguided is a mystery
Repugnant is a Creature who would squander the ability
To lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky and
Fight over life, over blood, over air and light
Over love, over sun, over another
Fight for the time, for the one, for the rise and
Angels on the sideline again
Been so long with patience and reason
Angels on the sideline again
Wondering when this tug of war will end
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Cut and divide it all right in two
Right in two
Right in two
Lyrics submitted by Modus Ponens, edited by TomReagan
Right in Two Lyrics as written by Daniel Carey Adam Jones
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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I love this song. Anyone who's interested in the meaning of the lyrics should watch the first 15 minutes of the movie "2001: A Space Oddysey" (the one made by Stanley Kubrick, not the newer one)... It might give you some insight into the meaning of this song, as well as Tool in general.
The first 15 minutes of the movie takes place at the "Dawn of Mankind" - there are two packs of primitive humanoid apes (apparently representing our ancestors). One pack of apes is drinking at a watering hole, and then the other pack invades their territory and scares the first pack away. Later on, the first pack of apes (the one that had been evicted from their own watering hole) encounter a strange black monolith that had suddenly appeared in the middle of their den. After being frightened at first, they all reach out an touch the smooth black monolith.
Afterwards, the first pack of apes is suddenly gifted with the curiosity of technology, and one of the apes discovers that he can use animal bones as a club to fight off the second pack of apes. Him and his posse all arm themselves with femurs from some dead animal, and proceed to beat the shit out of one of the rival apes. In doing so, they scare off the second pack of apes, and win back their watering hole.
There is no real explanation of the mysterious 'black monolith' throughout the movie, but perhaps it is merely symbolic of "technology", or simply a metaphor for the concept of a "Tool". Its presence in the minds of the apes caused them to begin thinking abstractly, such that they were able to develop their own tools.