Tool
The band Tool stands out as a lone beacon of artistic integrity in a murky contemporary musical landscape where formulaic production and derivative sounds reign supreme. Since their debut in 1991 with the release of the extended play album Opiate, Tool has shown a disdain for trends driven by the music industry. Instead, they doggedly pursued their artistic vision. Intellectually, they produce a work that is undoubtedly original and interesting.
Most other bands would be reluctant to delve into such intimate yet uncomfortable subjects explored by Tool’s lyrics. Their career includes songs discussing sensitive topics such as self-loathing, child abuse, addiction, and even eating vegetables. All of the issues are handled with a level of emotional closeness so surprising that listening to them can be downright frightening.
Beyond Stoned Stereotypes
Rather than conforming to the media-perpetuated cliche of drugged-out stoner rock stars, the members of Tool are intelligent and possess a wealth of knowledge in a variety of fields. Clearly, their music shows the depth of knowledge. They explore themes and ideas unmatched in today’s music world.
In line with the thoughts of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung emphasized the existence of the subconscious world in the human mind. Often, internal conflict is caused by the subconscious mind clashing with the conscious mind. According to Jung, humans are incapable of having direct conversations with their subconscious mind. In contrast, dreams, fables, myths, fantasies, and other expressive domains in which symbols serve as representations of concepts with strong emotional undertones are how the subconscious speaks to us.
From Jung’s point of view, the fundamental conflict between opposing forces in the psyche gives rise to neurosis. According to Jung, the ultimate goal of psychoanalysis is to increase harmony between a person’s conscious and subconscious minds. The goal of the reconciliation is to achieve what Jung called the Self. It is a state of wholeness and unity reflecting the highest level of self-awareness. Jung called the process of integration the state of “individuation.”
The Importance of Individuation
According to Jungians, every person has an innate desire to achieve harmony with the Self. It makes the individuation process teleological. Ultimately, all human efforts are directed towards a state of reconciliation with the Self and is the ultimate goal. Indeed, Jung accepted how there would be pain involved in the process. He insisted on how people can only achieve true self-actualization by facing and overcoming their emotional distress.
In addition, Jung believed that the idea of archetypes was fundamental in the individuation process. The archetypes represent innate and evolutionary tendencies to act or react in certain ways to various types of people or circumstances. According to Jung, the archetypes play as “psychological organs” or basic frameworks possessed by all individuals from birth and built up as their unique experiences accumulate like muscles to a skeleton. The mother complex is the result of an archetype. Like the mother archetype, it interacts with a person’s particular experience with the mother. According to Jung, creating a connection or recreating a connection between the individual’s external environment and the archetypal realm is an important part of individuation. If integration is not achieved, people will experience spiritual poverty and a feeling of meaninglessness in life.
Anima
Anima is one of the basic psychological concepts found in the masculine psyche. The idea symbolizes the feminine archetype in men and is demonstrated in his dislike of women. Apart from being a complex expanse created from an individual man’s encounters with women throughout his life and an innate feminine spirit, it is not simply a reflection of biological sex. It represents traits typically associated with the feminine principle such as nurturing, a sense of connectivity, and a source of empathy. If a man is not connected with the essential components of himself, he inadvertently transfers the attributes of the anima to others. Therefore, Jung proposed that an example of such anima projection is the experience of a sudden feeling of infatuation. On the other hand, men having a relationship with the anima undergo life-changing adventures revealing the depth of their very enthusiastic yet sensitive nature.
The idea of the shadow self is another important psychological idea found within the framework of Jung’s analytical psychology. In essence, the human soul does not like to admit shortcomings, defects, or undesirable tendencies in oneself. As a result, people automatically repress them when undesirable aspects of their personality are revealed. The result of the act of repression is the creation of a shadow; it is a separate secondary personality consisting of the psychological components of the shunned persona.
Projection is a psychological defense mechanism that may arise when the shadow self is not fully understood and recognized. The phenomenon is the imposition of traits not recognized in oneself onto others. For example, someone who is self-conscious about their physical appearance may find most of the people they meet visually unattractive. By projecting negative self-perceptions outward, the projection acts as a defense mechanism.
Jungian Roots
The foundation of many of Jung’s books is the concepts of extraversion, introversion, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. However, he has contributed much more to the discipline of psychology. The lyrical material of Tool’s album, Ænima, has a particularly strong resonance with fundamental Jungian ideas. Likewise, the album offers a variety of captivating concepts and themes. To maintain a narrow focus, how do the characteristics of the Ænima fit and clarify Jung’s ideas?
The album’s opening songs, Stinkfist and Eulogy introduce the effective theme and mental state of singer Maynard James Keenan. Due to the narrative structure of the album, the singer can also be seen as the main character in the story. The character is very alienated from himself and feels alienated from himself. He seeks higher levels of stimulation to combat the feeling of emptiness. Undoubtedly, the album’s early songs are important to understanding the record as a whole. However, the songs have nothing to do with Jung’s ideas. Therefore, it is directed at H. namely the third song on the album.
As is typical of many Tool compositions, the lyrics of H. shrouded in ambiguity; it makes the song’s central theme unclear at first. However, Keenan has provided a little insight into the meaning. During a live performance, he introduced the song by saying, “The next song is about having children. Have any of you had children? It’s amazing how much they change your life, don’t you agree?” On another occasion, he stated: “So, have any of you ever watched Warner Brothers cartoons? Sometimes there is a person who has difficulty making decisions, he has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Usually, angels are people who will give good advice, and the devil tries to make him do what is bad for him. However, often they are not angels or devils, they are just friends, giving you advice, looking out for your best interests, but not understanding what is best for you, so it depends on you.” In a 1996 interview, Keenan revealed how H. is his son’s middle initial.
Forcedly, the singer undergoes thorough introspection due to his newfound emotional weakness. By calling the procedure “what endures is a mirror,” he alludes to never-ending introspection. A surprising realization about his circle of friends was revealed through reflection. His friends are shown to have good intentions (“But what’s singing song is a snake, it is looking to turn my piss into wine”). However, their influence is negative (“And killing me just the same”). It implies how the singer’s friends still have bad behavior and bad mental patterns even though they show good intentions.
Furthermore, the singer reveals his complex relationship with external influences. He stated, “They’re both void of hate and killing me just the same.” The lines can be interpreted on two levels. His friends without any malicious intent inadvertently led him down a path of self-destruction through their encouragement of negative habits. On a deeper level, the birth of his son represents a force pushing him to face and discard the negative aspects of his past bringing him to that point. Regardless of the need, the process of self-purification is nevertheless undeniably painful.
The musician compared the emotional turmoil he experienced in trying to leave his current way of life to a “storm.” It is proven how great the emotional turmoil is. However, a glimmer of hope emerged amidst the internal conflict. The lyrics, “Without the skin, here beneath the storm beneath these tears, now the walls come down,” allude to therapeutic detachment. The poisonous influence of poisoning his life is symbolized by a metaphorical snake. In the end, he was able to “drown” because of his emotional sensitivity. Visibly, the singer is willing to accept the suffering as the price of redemption even though he is aware of the suffering he will experience on the journey towards self-improvement.
A Turning Point
Although always short, instrumental interludes are usually placed as transitional components between songs. Audio appears after H. is a particularly interesting example because the mere sound of a click on a recording indicates how the listener has finished listening to one side of the recording and needs to turn it over to continue playing. The detail of the hearing can be understood as a metaphor for a turning point in the singer’s life. He has finished his past life and started a new life.
In the fourth track, Useful Idiot is a term previously used to refer to people in Soviet countries showing loyalty to the ruling party and obeying its directives even in the face of extreme personal hardship caused by the communist regime’s party actions. There are very clear similarities between “useful idiot” and the singer’s life before the birth of his son. He was controlled by his need for external stimulation during that time. Despite it causing him great personal suffering, it further supports the idea of how the singer’s life has changed significantly after the third track.
46&2 is the fifth track and is the most confusing track on the record and requires Jung’s interpretation to understand it properly. It depicts the singer’s intense experience with his “shadow self,” a term referring to the repository of repressed and rejected aspects of a person’s identity. The lyrics “Change comes through my shadow” and “I’ve been crawling on my belly, clearing out what could’ve been” specifically describe the conflict.
The shadow self can take many forms including feelings of oppression, rejected desires, and undesirable traits. Facing the shadow and incorporating it into the conscious ego is necessary for personal progress. The singer struggles with the main idea in 46&2. With the words, “I’ve been wallowing in my own confused and insecure delusions for a piece to cross me over or a word to guide me in,” the vocalist explores deep self-reflection. He explores the depths of his thoughts, challenges his assumptions, reflects on his thought processes, and examines all unexplored aspects of himself. His depressed psychological traits were revealed during the introspective journey.
In an interview, the singer confirmed the interpretation. He describes a conscious effort to pinpoint traits he finds inappropriate in others; he uses it as a tool for introspection. He compared the procedure to “going deep,” analyzing and examining his responses to those of others. He gained important insights into his reflection by externalizing the observations and applying them to himself; the process is very comparable to Jung’s idea of shadow research.
46&2 talks about Jungian psychology’s concepts of evolution and growth. Symbolically, it alludes to human chromosomes. Although humans have 46 chromosomes (44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes), the term “46&2” indicates how humans may ultimately have 48 chromosomes; it represents an evolutionary step towards a higher level of consciousness. Drunvalo Melchizedek’s mystical and New Age beliefs are also sources of the concept. Although the scientific veracity of the concept is still debated, it remains valuable as a metaphor for the singer’s personal growth and transformation as a result of confronting his shadow self.
The lyrics “I choose to live and to grow, take and give and to move” after the second chorus may be seen as the singer’s acceptance of every aspect of himself. He rejects the tendency to hide his “ugly” traits and accepts his good and bad sides. He realized how applying the elements was an important component in his development and was a challenge he wanted to face: “Hate and fear and to do what it takes to move through.”
He can finally admit it by the song’s end: “See my shadow changing, stretching up and over me.” His shadow self has finally become part of his ego as a result of the introspective trip. He has “come out the other side” triumphantly, seeing “forty-six and two are just ahead of me,” indicating he can ascend to a higher plane of awareness.
jimmy
The ninth track, jimmy has lyrics more influenced by Jungian theory than the previous two songs; the lyrics are still at a lower level. In the song, the singer concludes how a terrible incident he experienced in his eleventh year was the cause of all his mental problems.
From an autobiographical point of view, the reflective nature of the lyrics suggests a subtle allusion to the singer’s tragedy: a life-threatening accident to his mother when he was eleven left him paralyzed and prevented his mother from being able to provide the care needed. The moving line, “Eleven and she was gone. Eleven is when we waved good-bye,” refers to the incident. The singer identified the dot as the origin of his emotional stress after going through a period of deep reflection by stating, “Where it all started, eleven.”
“Under a dead Ohio sky, eleven have been and will be waiting. Defending his light and wondering, where the hell have I been?” is one of the lines expressing the urgent need of the singer’s introspective journey to personify his eleven-year-old self as a distinct entity. The personification represents an important reunion with his childhood self. In addition to expressing a strong desire to recover, the singer implored his past incarnations to “Hold your light, eleven. Lead me through each gentle step by step by inch by loaded memory” and added, “I’ll move to heal as soon as the pain allows so we can reunite and both move on together.”
It cannot be denied that the singer experienced severe trauma due to paralysis experienced by his mother. He can begin the process of resolving the painful and contradictory feelings he has long harbored by recognizing how the incident caused him distress. Once again, the song is a testament to the singer’s determination to face his emotional burden and accept it to make peace with his subconscious mind.
An equally compelling viewpoint is provided by the interpretation of the “eleven-year-old self” as an archetype, more specifically, the archetype of the child. When viewed from this point of view, the song represents the singer’s reunion with latent archetypes living in his subconscious.
An alternative reading suggests how the “eleven-year-old self” represents an earlier period in the singer’s life; it precedes the trauma told before. The reunion mentioned in the song’s lyrics represents the singer’s triumphant act in looking back at the life he lived before the permanent signs of his mother’s paralysis befell him.
At the beginning of the album, the vocalist’s emotional state is effectively described with the image of “asleep, lost, and numb.” Therefore, the trauma he experienced as a child can be considered the primary cause of all his emotional difficulties in the following years. Continuously, he overcame the sensation of meaninglessness befalling him and was able to reestablish a connection with the archetypal components of his psyche by transcending the experience. After he emerged from his emotional coma, he began the healing process despite the effects of the internal division still present.
The seventh track, Pushit is introduced as the following important part. Specifically, it is the version revealed in the Salival mini-box set. The version captures the spirit of the song and stands out for its slow pace, subtle lyric changes, and overall improvement over the original version. It explores the protagonist’s moving journey as he struggles to escape the most painful part of his journey: an abusive and codependent relationship. With the opening lament, “I saw the gap again today while you were begging me to stay,” the protagonist reveals that mental suffering is part of their unhealthy relationship. After suffering from a mutually hurtful relationship, he ponders, “What is this but my reflection? Who am I to judge or strike you down?”
The protagonist confesses, “I’m alive when you’re touching me, alive when you’re shoving me down” and finds himself thrust back into the depths of their toxic relationship as the musical arrangement reaches its peak. Amid the chaos, he had a profound epiphany and admitted, “I am somewhere I don’t want to be. Never want to see that place again.” He decided to break away from his girlfriend and their toxic relationship after a moving guitar solo stating, “Remember I’ll always love you as I claw your fucking throat away.” Although he struggles with anxiety regarding unknowable conclusions, he accepts how “it wouldn’t have ended any other way.”
The depth of feeling emphasized in Pushit highlights how important it is to distinguish the painful aspects of the protagonist’s path of individuation. Departing from Jungian ideas, Jung explains how the projection of the anima onto a partner is a resonance for direct insanity. Coupled with his fragmented psyche and unresolved internal problems, the protagonist’s projection of his anima onto his partner is the origin of violent relationships. The “gap” is a recurring motif representing a lack of true closeness in their dynamic; it forces the protagonist to confront the destructive nature of their relationship. Realization comes when he admits he is trapped in a place he most avoids; it signifies the enlightenment of how his love for his partner is based on the projection of his anima.
As a result, the story reaches a point where the protagonist realizes how necessary it is to resist the attraction of the projected anima. He decides to “Manage to push myself away and you, as well, my dear,” symbolizing his release from the grip of an ensnaring toxic relationship in a moment of cathartic self-realization. The metamorphosis represents the protagonist’s recognition of the anima as a fundamental part of his psyche and his need to relinquish the deceptive allure of ideal projections. In such a moment, he begins a difficult journey toward true self-realization; he realizes how lasting emotional satisfaction comes from connecting with his anima and not surrendering to the fleeting attraction of idealized things.
Ænima
Although Ænima (the title track of the album) does not relate to Jung’s ideas, it symbolizes the singer’s final break from social conventions. Critically, he examined the population of Los Angeles and the lifestyles they represented and came to the conclusion that total eradication was the only option for correction. The feeling reaches the point of self-alienation; it is disconnected from the community in question and a part of itself longs for it.
According to Jungian theory, the recurring image of water in the song is its most attractive feature. Even the tidal wave, screaming for the waves the singer implores a higher power to “take it all away.” The desire is underscored by the constant urge to “learn to swim.” Water is associated with many archetypal ideas including purification, flux, the dissolution of obstacles to the flow of libidinal or psychic energy, death, and rebirth. The singer’s great desire to see everything “eliminated” represents his goal to dismantle dysfunctional social institutions and get to the heart of the institutions. It was the culmination of his efforts in purifying himself; the elimination of deficiencies paves the way for the dismantling of one’s inner obstacles and the achievement of personal rejuvenation and cleansing.
Speaking about the song’s possible meaning as a commentary on the state of humanity as a whole, the singer hinted in the interview transcript how “the song could be viewed as encompassing the entirety of the collective environment and the need for all of us, as individual entities, to acquire the knowledge needed to navigate the obscurity of the depths.” With the reading, the song becomes a call to action for people to embark on a journey of self-discovery like the singer did. He believes the troubles that once befell him still plague Los Angeles and perhaps all of North American civilization. As a result, he suggested to them that they undergo an intense self-cleansing procedure like he did.
The final song, Third Eye is the climax of the album’s thirteen-minute storyline. In the context of the song, the idea of a “third eye” goes beyond its literal interpretation. Historically, it represents enlightenment, openness to the inner world, and a state of heightened consciousness. From Jung’s point of view, it represents the pinnacle of individuation and the point at which every aspect of the psyche has been successfully assimilated into the Self. Consequently, the song represents the singer’s arduous journey towards enlightenment and total self-awareness.
However, the song’s meaning is so rich in symbolism and ambiguity that the listener’s interpretation may be as varied as their own. Given that the album centers on the components, it is also difficult to separate Jung’s components from the jumble of ideas. Concernedly, it is quite deep to admit that the singer’s journey has largely ended with the achievement of individuation.
The Story’s Arc
Jung’s examination of psychological concepts such as the soul, the Self, the process of individuation, archetypes, and the shadow self offers a useful framework for understanding the singer’s journey of transformation throughout the album’s story. After experiencing existential malaise and feelings of meaninglessness, the singer embarks on a journey of self-discovery and encounters his anima for the first time. In his quest for individuation, he confronts and clears up his shortcomings through the encounter and dives deeper into his soul.
Bibliography
- Hogenson, G. B. (2009). Archetypes as action patterns. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 54(3), 325-337.
- Kornhaber, S. (2019). Why Tool Could Be More Relevant Today Than Ever Before. The Atlantic.
- Roberts, J. (2021). ‘Ænima’ At 25: Dissecting the Turning Point of Tool. Glide Magazine.