Lateralus (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Lateralus


Artist = Tool
from Album = "Lateralus"
Released = February 2002
Format = Promo CD
Recorded = 2000
Genre = Progressive rock
Progressive metal
Length = 9:24
Label = Volcano II

Writer = Tool
Producer = Tool
Chart position =

• #14 U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks

• #18 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks

Last single = "Parabola"
2002
This single = "Lateralus"
2002
Next single = "Vicarious"
2006|

"Lateralus" is the title track of the 2001 album of the same name by the American progressive rock band Tool.

Mathematical significance

Counting between pauses, the syllables in Maynard James Keenan's vocals during the verses form the first few Fibonacci numbers, ascending and descending:cite web | author=diCarlo, Christopher| year=2001| title=Interview with Maynard James Keenan | format=HTML | url=http://www.cdicarlo.com/paper_04maynard.htm | accessdate=2007-04-22] [cite news
url = http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2006-06-01/music/finnegans-shake/
title = Finnegans Shake
author = Lewis Goldberg
work = New Times Broward-Palm Beach
date = 2006-06-01
accessdate = 2008-01-27]

:(1) Black,:(1) then,:(2) white are,:(3) all I see,:(5) in my infancy,:(8) red and yellow then came to be,:(5) reaching out to me,:(3) lets me see.:(2) There is,:(1) so,:(1) much,:(2) more and:(3) beckons me,:(5) to look through to these,:(8) infinite possibilities.:(13) As below so above and beyond I imagine,:(8) drawn outside the lines of reason.:(5) Push the envelope.:(3) Watch it bend.

The Fibonacci sequence shares a relationship with spirals, which are mentioned several times later in the lyrics.

Additionally, Keenan begins singing at 1:37 into the song. 1 minute 37 seconds, or 97 seconds, is approximately 1.618 of a full minute. This happens to be the golden ratio, which is closely related to the Fibonacci sequence.

The time signatures of the chorus change from 9/8 to 8/8 to 7/8; as drummer Danny Carey says, "It was originally titled 9-8-7. For the time signatures. Then it turned out that 987 was the 17th step ofthe Fibonacci sequence. So that was cool." [cite web | author=Norris, Chris| year=2001| title=Hammer Of The Gods | format=HTML | url=http://toolshed.down.net/articles/text/spinmag.jun.2001.html | accessdate=2007-04-25]

Interpretation

In a 2001 interview, Keenan commented on the lyric mentioning black, white, red and yellow: "I use the archetype stories of North American aboriginals and the themes or colours which appear over and over again in the oral stories handed down through generations. Black, white, red, and yellow play very heavily in aboriginal stories of creation."

Notes