10,000 Days

To the untrained ear the music of Tool will sound heavy, angry, dark, and brimming with negativity. Turn up your speakers and put on ‘Hooker with a Penis’ and you will immediately be hit with a thunderous reverberation and lyrics that will have you scratching you head. Well it is heavy, it is angry, it is dark but the music of Tool is far from negative.

The lyrics in Tool songs are heavy; they are not your standard poem set to music. The lyrics of Tool are thick with layers and impossible to figure out without serious contemplation. There are some universities in the USA that include the lyrics of Tool in their courses because of their complex yet simple statements on society. Tool’s songs are angry and dark; angry at a society that has lost its way and dark because it often touches on things no one wants to think about. Without being obvious Tool promotes positive thought. They don’t candy coat their messages with a catchy melody, they drive it home with a pounding bass line; the haunting voice of their lead singer and a guitar sound that can be recognized in mere seconds by any real fan.

Tool can go 5 years without putting out an album and not lose a single true fan. When a Tool CD comes out it is devoured by fans in a manner that can only be described as frenzied. It is like being starved for years, only to then be showered with decadent nourishment. I don’t even have to hear one track from the CD before I will buy it because with Tool I am guaranteed high quality.

Their latest offering is entitled ’10,000 Days’ and is a wonderful mix of heavy, slow and calm. In my opinion, the theme of this album is of tragedy and of loss. This tragedy can be the death of a person or a state of mind or of a society. It can be the loss of ourselves as we give in to insatiability and temptations and shelf our compassion. Tragedy and loss bring grief and we cannot feel grief without having felt love. So one could even say this album is also about love. See? Layers!

My two favorite songs off 10,000 Days are ‘Vicarious’ and ‘Right in Two’.

‘Vicarious’ is about our love for violence in the media but when it comes to reality we struggle to deal with it. Here is a sample of the lyrics:

Eye on the TV 'Cause tragedy thrills me Whatever flavor it happens to be, like... "Killed by the husband" "Drowned by the ocean" "Shot by his own son" "She used a poison in his tea...kissed him goodbye" It's my kind of story It's no fun 'til someone dies Don't look at me like I am a monster Frown out your one face But with the other Stare like a junkie Into the TV Stare like a zombie While the mother holds her child Watches him die Hands to the sky crying, "Why, oh why?" Cause I need to watch things die... from a distance Vicariously I live while the whole world dies You all need it too, don't lie

‘Right In Two’ is about how God gave us free will, wisdom and reason and we should be banding together as one, however we are breaking apart and hurting each other to achieve what we want. Here is a sample of the lyrics:

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 the creature who would
squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven conscious of this fleeting time here Cutting it all right in twoFight over the clouds, over wind, over sky Fight over life, over blood, over prayer, overhead and light Fight over love, over sun, over another Fight... 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 Cutting it all right in two
Right in two Right in two...

This is not an album you can just listen to once and fall in love with. It is a beautifully crafted musical journey and needs to be slowly savored. Again Tool has put out an intelligent album that tickles the brain and satisfies the air guitarist in me. Well done boys!