This song came about after the record company heard the most of Lateralus and told the band they needed a heavy "radio friendly" song....needless to say they pissed off Maynard....and this is what we got! TooL ...delivering Fuck you's to the record label since the beginning
It's not just Maynard they pissed off, it was the whole band. This was about the time where Nu-Metal and bands like Slipknot were being really sucessful and the record label wanted for Tool to capitalize on that. The band having their own vision weren't happy about being put up against the wall and that's why it's not only the lyrics that reflect that, but also the whole tone of the song. The choice to have that long soft section right in the middle of the song was intentional to remove any kind of radio-friendly appeal to the song itself, without compromising their own style. This is a great song, but if you listen to the whole Lateralus album you'll notice that this one sticks out like a sore thumb, although not in a bad way.
Agreed we need more music from them but I am OK with them not rushing it. So far, everything they put out is immaculate. Perfection takes time :) Toll is the only band that I can listen to without skipping songs.
