First time listening to Tool Ænima (Reaction!) | Philosophy in Music 

Mom=mother nature. Loving the Reactions dude keep it up! I see people getting mad in the comments that you didn't interpret it "correctly". Y'all can shut up fr. The point of Tool is that it makes you think, go ahead and offer your interpretation, but don't chastise a dude for not understanding a Tool song on his first listen, ya'll probably heard this shit hundreds of times.

The song is about the inevitable breaking off of LA into, as Bill Hicks said, "the Pacific Bowl to be flushed away like the turd city it is, leaving nothing but a cool, beautiful serenity called... Arizona Bay."

For me... the last 20 seconds of drum and guitar outro signifies the deluge that will wash away our insecurities and ignorance to bring about the coming age of Aquarius... hence the flood, flush it all away, etc. The new oceanic bay called Arizona Bay ala Bill Hicks.

Do the Holy Trinity. Disposition, Reflection, Triad. It's off the Lateralus album and you will love these songs. Just search RU-vid for Bill Hicks and Arizona Bay, if you watch it, this song makes more sense. Hell-A

If you love this pessimistic side of Tool, Vicarious is a MUST

Can I suggest you Invincibile? Great and underestimated masterpiece!

Love your interpretation of this. That’s the beauty of a tool song people can interpret it in so many different ways and find meaning. Generally speaking, what he saying is that he hopes California will fall into the ocean and that we can all learn to swim in Arizona Bay. When he refers to mom, most people believe he’s asking mother nature to flush it all away and make things how it used to be before the ridiculousness of LA.

The repetitive "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey" at the beginning and end (TO ME) is him trying to get listener's attention. "HEY .... HEY ...LISTEN TO ME ...HEY!" I don' tknow probably a bit elementary but that's where my mind goes when I hear it

Finding this band completely changed the trajectory of my life. Enjoy the ride! 🐇🕳

Great breakdown with the rain and renewal. I honestly never looked at it that way but I agree. I also just took it literally. People have been talking about California falling into the ocean for decades.

Dude you get it. The song is emotional and it helped me with anger. Maynard delivers the message so great man. I love this song! It’s probably the most played song on my phone besides “when doves cry” by Prince.

i think the singer is literally speaking of a flood in l.a. making arizona a bay

Descending has my favorite lead guitar/drum combination solo I’ve ever heard in my 61 year old life!!!!!!!

He's talking about when California breaks off from North America along the San Andreas fault. He's telling them to learn to swim.

Oh my this is going to be delicious! My fav song. AEnima’s message is so funny, and realistic.

Maynard used to live in Los Angeles sold his mansion for about 8 million and moved to Arizona years ago, btw" AMEN" my brother.

This one plays on the literal, figurative, and metaphorical all at once :)

My new fav reactor. Luv your breakdowns. Killer 🔥

Arizona bay is signified by “fault lines that cannot sit still” and most of California breaking off into the Pacific …

Ugh... I've spent the past couple hours debating evil people (in the hopes that I say something that gets them thinking) in the comment sections of different, vile youtube videos... this was a much needed refreshment, love you bro! Honestly at this point I might suggest you just go through in order listening to all their songs, if that's not what you're going to do then I suggest you rock out to 7empest, especially after this song

I love how profound of an impact that Tool is making. You said you think negatively first but you were speaking about "learn to swim" in a good way. Think more of Hating LA and wishing the San Andrea's fault Ling gives way to create "Arizona Bay" ( Maynard moved from LA to Arizona because he doesn't do well in crowds. Anxiety is super real...)

They are called "TOOL" because they are exactly that. The music is supposed to be a tool to explore yourself. They deliberately did not release lyrics for the longest time because they wanted it to be open to interpretation, so it can mean what you need it to mean. This reaction would make Maynard proud. Also, Maynard (singer) writes a few times directly about his mother because she was a huge force in his life. He expresses his anger at "god" for her stroke when he was a kid that left her wheelchair bound the rest of her life, and he gives her eulogy and grieves her loss in wings for marie/10000 days

Everything they do is so Precise❤

Wonderful interpretation. I also get emotional at this song to this day and I've been listening to tool literally since i was in the womb. Im not kidding my mother even went to a godsmack concert while pregnant with me and she almost got pushed into the pit lmaooo genuinely been a music fan since before birth

You made sense bud :)Hope you can knock out their catalogue before you see them live.

Tool is definitely something I like to listen to in the dark and either just let it take me for a ride, or do some very deep thinking.

The Aenima album is my favorite album of all time. This album is the transition album from “angry” TOOL to “philosophical” TOOL so you get both and I am here for you to eventually reacting to every song on this album.

As always, I love your angle of interpretation of these magnificent songs sir! Obviously we can't restart and let you go on a song by song journey from the beginning. So many songs I would suggest... Recently listened to the 'Salival' version of 'PushIt' again and I really adore this version. It's originally off of this same album represented here.

The first time I heard this I got it right away one of the first , this song is more relevant today than when they wrote it .

I always read learn to swim as mostly literal and also metaphorical as in the floods coming learn to swim. As this song is obviously metaphorical as well theres that aspect but this song more than other tool songs is quite straight forward with all the fuck this and that. Really love your vids man keep it up

" ... I'm praying for tidal waves. I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mom please flush it all away." "Learn to swim" is literal. Do that or move to Arizona. Inside the cd cover for this album is a hologram showing the map of California with it sinking into the ocean.

I think that the "heys" in the beginning and the end are there because they want to call for your attention. Like "hey man, hear me out this is important we need to change things RN".

Dude when I see you at Arizona Bay... sh*t has way hit the fan

Oh and since you react to comedians you should see Bill Hicks as well..right up your alley

Not all tool songs are metaphorical or philosophical… Some are straight forward in their meaning. This song is about hating the commercialism and materialism of LA, and wanting to see it change. Even if that change is caused by a natural disaster wiping it off the map… Turning California into a bay as it slips under the ocean. Maynard is not always kind and wanting the best for people, sometimes he is angry. Ticks and Leeches is another song that is very angry… it is a direct response so a record exec asking them to make a specific type of song so they will be more radio friendly.

Just in case no one below in the comments stated the last piece- Aenima if we say is a combo with the word Enema, then flushing it all away makes more sense....

I’ve always seen “the mother” as the earth and she going to fix the world with cataclysm and washing all the corruption away from the earth and those that have risen up and “learned to swim” will be the bearers of a new and health world

Anima - Latin for soul Enema - cleanse Ænima - cleansing of the soul This song is essentially about Maynard's desire to see California, specifically LA, sink back into the ocean. Thus making Arizona a costal state...hence the learn to swim(and why he lives in Jerome AZ). There is no secret meaning to this song...the original cd art had a moving holographic pic of California being swallowed by the Pacific 🤷‍♂️

The only way I found this was because in the Pnuema reaction you mentioned it. The only place I find it is on your page's playlist. Don't see it under Tool reaction. Explains the lack of comments.

Maynard was in the marines. 3 ring circus is 50s film based on soliders not being able to find work after they leave and decide to join the circus. Society is a 3 ring circus basically

I enjoy watching you figure out what the songs are about in real time. You react with emotion. Love it. Now please put your emotional seatbelt on and review "Wings for Marie I and II". You might shed tears by the end. It's about Maynard's connection with his mom who died. ALSO-- please display the lyrics that you are looking at on the screen!!!

Three ring circus side show. You've never heard of a three ring circus before? He's basically saying it's all a cheap distraction comprised of stupidity.

Everytime he says mom I get that he's talking about mother nature how she's going to bring the cleanse. Rain, tidal waves, to cleanse the earth of all these thing we don't need. So we better learn to swim.

Max Derrat has some excellent videos showcasing the philosophy of tool, I'd highly recommend checking them out!

Even though this is the title track on the album, its spelled differently. Aenema vs Aenima. Leaning towards the enema meaning. In a live recording of this song once Maynard said before the song started "this song is about better living through irrigation". Irrigation being another term for enema. He's comparing LA to be the arsehole of Mother Earth and asking her desperately to give herself an enema to rid herself of LA.

Maynard tells the Truth❤

The great thing about Tool is that sometimes they go really deep, and sometimes it's very surface level....and sometimes it's just a dessert recipe.

Favorite song… can’t wait for you to understand what it means 😊

Can't believe this was about LA decades ago, things only got worse lol (I live on the West Coast)

Anima is a shorthand for anima mundi as soul of material world and it's mom he's referring to. It's a planet or nature that brings the tidal waves and destruction to bring about change to the world and flush away all the rotten and deprecated of this world. He praises destruction as a last resort for the world to have change if humans cannot be the agents of change. The hey-hey-hey call to the beginning and at the ond of the song is a call to unite us all in this movement towards change without waiting for tidal waves and destruction.

Wings for Marie pt.1 and 10,000 days(wings pt.2). Are Maynard's songs directly about the life and loss of his mother, are extremely powerful and touching, and should be listened to together. I think you would really enjoy them.

Arizona Bay is metaphorical for California as a whole breaking off and falling into the ocean. Mom is Mother Nature …

For you this is maybe the first look into another side of Tool, specifically Maynard, as profound and intelligent as he can be he also has a silly and dirty sense of humour, more obvious in his other band but you'll see it in some other Tool songs as well. It's a fun juxtaposition that you've got these deep spiritual important songs then also hating LA and baking recepies and Area 51, it really sells the idea that the band are doing whatever they want which is a great thing, just know that going forward things might get weird :P

good and evil used to fight within myself, but good took off and left evil at the wheel. now i'm in a muscle car doing speeds over 100mph blasting tool.

I absolutely cannot wait until he stumbles across Rosetta Stoned.

Aenima = anima + enema Anima = soul Enema = a procedure in which liquid or gas is injected into the rectum, to expel its contents or to introduce drugs or permit X-ray imaging. (Copied this of Google :) ) So technically this song means the cleansing of the soul, even if the means are not too pleasant. This is my understanding of this song This song however is directed more to the society as a whole ( in this case the Californian society) rather than speaking on a personal level. 🌀 out m8

I would really like to see your reaction to Eulogy

It's an old idea - if the San Andreas fault *REALLY* goes crazy and breaks CA in half, it may fall into the ocean, which (maybe?) might create an Arizona Bay?

We have within us both good and evil, and our armageddon could be both as well ~ A demolition of past errs. Maybe the intro and outro chants represent external surrounding opinions of our human condition (responded to generally with attachment or detachment).

Gotta do both versions of Tool - push it

I love Tools FU songs

The hey hey hey part is like him saying wake up too the bs

Vicarious should be the next song you check out.

As you are on a treadmill. Making sure your in shape having a latte etc

You should check out some Rammstein. Gotta be live ones though, for multiple reasons. I have a feeling you'll feel a connection with Flake, their keyboardist 😂

“He brings up mothers a lot”... lol... just wait.

You need to do these with their videos for the songs they have them for.

Bro, Right in Two, H., pushit, and Lost Keys/Rosetta stoned. Oh and I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to walk on the treadmill and do lost keys/Rosetta stoned, I’ll bet you 5 bucks you won’t be able to do it

comment in your next video after reading what people are telling you here. love to see your take after finding out how literal Maynard is being.

Can I please ask that you don't put a compressor on the audio mix of your video? It fucks with the music and the 'ducking' effect makes me think of talk radio.

I'm pretty certain he refers to mom mother as mother nature herself

It’s a complete diss on the state of California and how fake that state is. If it were to say….fall into the ocean. Arizona bay woudl be primo real estate, given the circumstances. …hence, “Learn to swim…” Also the late Bill Hick, a comedian had an album call Arizona Bay. Tool where greatly influenced by him as well. ….

Yeah but at the same time even to this day the songs are still relevant to the times we're facing today as well.

11:09 that moment

Well, that’s one way to think about it…….. Or, he could just really despise LA and want a catastrophe of Mother Natures doing to make it fall into the ocean wiping it from the Earth and forcing the inhabitants to learn to swim or die. In the end we are left with new beach front property in the newly formed Arizona Bay….. R.I.P. Bill Hicks. Another dead hero……

i think mother is referenced to earth

learn to swims means california is going under water, and Arizona will have a beach after

At the end you can here LA going down

THing about Maynard man. It's either wildly metaphorical and has the ability to let you apply your own meanings. Or like Aenima, he means exactly what he says and he fucking hates L.A. Learn to swim because he wants L.A to sink into the Pacific and become Arizona Bay. Edit: Really enjoying your journey, brother.

By "mother' he means Mother Nature. The one that will bring the floods, the tidal waves, the meteor, the earthquake. "Mom's comin' 'round to put it back the way it ought to be" Unfortunately, I don't see your angle of him being benevolent or trying to help everyone. To me, his "Learn to swim" is a threat. "Learn to swim, cause California will become Arizona Bay" He's merciless in this song. He keeps calling out people and saying "it's going to happen, and it's deserved, so you better learn to swim, LA will be not here soon". I appreciate a different perspective tho. Cheers man

A reference to Bill Hick's vision/hopes of California breaking off in an earthquake leaving a Arizona to have a bay.

Please do wings 1&2. Bring your tissues. Also Disposition Reflection Triad all together. Loving your reactions. Stay on the spiral

Arizona Bay will be the new coast line when the San Andrea‘s fault line finally cracks and a large portion of Cali falls into the sea including LA. If you own a hard copy of the CD they have a cool holographic image of what it will look like when the tectonic plate slips.

The song “The Grudge” helped me get over my personal grudge with my own mother. I gave it away! Now my mother and I are healing together. Leaving the pain behind and looking forward to the future. Thanks for the reactions bro. When ya get a chance I recommend doing “The Grudge”.

Look up Bill Hicks (comedian), Maynard was a huge fan and they even had Bill be the opener on some of their shows. Also ,the album Aenima was dedicated to him after he died. This song and Third Eye are influenced by him .

The thing to know about Tool's evolution: they changed bassists after the Undertow album. The arrival of their new bassist, Justin Chancellor, really helped jumpstart their musical progression. He's a master, and combining with Danny Carey just took the band to another level.

The Pot, Vicarious, and Schism. 3 of my favorite Tool songs. I know you’ll get to them eventually and I’m STOKED to see you react to them 🤙🏻 All Love Sebs ❤️

"Descending", imo, is his updated, more eloquent method of tackling this same topic. More sad than mad. Somehow less optimistic while being more beautiful.

This is my favorite album of all time. I never imagined back in 96 that we would still be analyzing it 25 years later. Even a song as simple in meaning as this is such a masterpiece. You allude to it when the tension breaks, the song literally gives way at the "praying for mayhem" line. Just as Maynard wants the Andreas fault line to give way, it is beautiful, giving you that feeling of mother earth taking back everything like she always does, to reset what we have done. Geniuses.

Ya, this is still "angry" Tool, but you can see the growth in them already. The title being a mixture of anima and enima is meant to mean "the cleansing of the soul". Hence the repetition of "flush it all down." Which brings a second, hilarious meaning to "learn to swim".

So many good Tool songs to listen to. I would recommend Jimmy and H. from this album. If I had to choose one for you next I would say The Grudge.

Maynard is a big Bill Hicks fan so there are a few references in this album.. Maynard wants mother nature to suck LA into the ocean because in his mind it's filled with shallow superficial people, which would leave Arizona with a Bay so the citizens of LA better learn to swim

I interpret the chaotic section at the end to be a musical representation of Armageddon.

He's talking about the fault line ripping California into the ocean so Arizona has a Bay

Mom is mother earth mother nature come on now buddy

Sebastián has quickly become my favorite TooL reactor and RU-vidr. Just a sharp dude that gets it almost immediately. Always positive, inspirational and genuine. I can't wait for his "final exams"... Wings for Marie PT 1 & 2. He may be ready sooner than I thought! Keep being a great husband, father and human and thank you sharing. Much love, bro 🤜 Can you please react to and comment on VICARIOUS next?!

Funny to an OGT ( Original Gangta Tool ) from back in 93 from the 1st ep ( lyrics from the song I requested ) that in 25 yrs I have thoughts that attach to a certain feeling that I have to identify with language ( same process used to create these pieces written with duality with several interpretations of a feeling into the appropriate words ) as the Music 🎶 already has evolved into something more than a song. Maynard said once that can give you the feeling of a Devine/ religious experience or the way having a baby or falling in love gives you butterflies or looking at the sunset over a beach.. Or the balance is the feeling of mental anguish or being torn of emotion like a napkin you pull off the roll. Your perspective on learn to swim & what it means is one that, even with 7 different Tool chatrooms on fb I have never heard it referencing that meaning yet!

Learn to swim and see you in Arizona bay is a reference to the results of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake that is over due (9+ on the Richter Scale). The quake could potentially destroy or sink California making Arizona beach front property.

As others mentioned, this song is heavily inluenced by one of the stand up routines of Bill Hicks. This whole album was dedicated to him, after his death. Since you also do some comedy reactions, you should definitely check him out. In my opinion, only George Carlin was above Bill Hicks when it came to mixing comedy with social criticism. It was real shame he died at such a young age...

Loved your comments. I have heard this song 1000 times and always thought it was just about California falling into the ocean forming Arizona Bay. You went beyond that and made me think about all of us falling based on our stupid self centered tendencies. We either succumb to mother nature's fix (enema) by flushing away or learn to swim and rise above (anema).