Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The Collective Judas

HOLY SHIT! so as all of you that know me are aware I'm obsessed with tool. but something that i find fucking amazing came tome when i wasn't able to sleep last night. it started out when i found out the lyrics to 10,000 DAYS, tool's new album have not been officially released so i listened to the album twice in a row straight through and then went to toolshed.down.net which had the best guesses and compared what i thought, to what these other people thought. i think you ought to click the opinion tab and read the blurb from Maynard's article as well. Now i want to explain that before i started investigating this i thought that the album was about his mother dying, but could not really back it up in any way, its just a feeling i had. so lately I've heard a friend of mine listening to a song i dug a fair amount but didn't actually ever listen to (ill explain this later). so anyway last night all this feeling and information that was around me the whole time coalesced into all kinds of meaning in the space of about 10 minutes.

1st off i heard for the 1st time since listening to the album every day for 3 months i heard the words "Judith Marie" pop out of "Wings for Marie (Part 2)". so i figured I'd Google the name and see what i could find. while looking through the search results i happened across this page:

http://www.memorialobituaries.com/memorials/memorials.cgi?action=Obit&memid=101490&clientid=toland

which is the obituary of Judith Marie Garrison. Maynard's (singer from tool) mother.

so then i decided to see what wikipedia had to say about 10'000 days, because they generally have reasonable info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_days

i read through all of this, and got down to the part labeled "Track Information and Miscellanea"

and one part popped out:
"Marie' is the middle name of Keenan's deceased mother, Judith Marie Garrison. As Keenan explains in his commentary on A Perfect Circle's aMOTION DVD, she suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. The length of time between the paralysis and her death was 27 years, or approximately 10,000 days"

i had already deduced that 10,000 days is roughly 27 years because i was curious if 10,000 days was talking about jesus's time spent on earth (according to the bible it was 35 years. whenever i speak of jesus or anything biblical i assume the bible is accurate, for the sake of argument, despite what i may or may not believe). so of course i immediately decided it wasn't actually directly about god/jesus even though in parts of the songs he says things like "You were the light and the way, that they will only read about."

Then i found out that "Judith" is the name of a song by A Perfect Circle, off the album "Mer De Noms". i assume anyone reading this knows already but ill explain that Maynard James Keenan is the lyricist and vocalist of both of these band. So after reading the lyrics, and finding out that his mother was paralyzed for 27 years i was astounded. The lyrics are as follows:

Judith
Mer de Noms

you're such an inspiration for ways that i will never ever choose to be.
oh so many ways for me to show you how your savior has abandoned you.
Thank(fuck) your god.
he did this, took all you had and left you this way.
still you pray, never stray, never taste of the fruit. never thought to question why.
it's not like you killed someone.
it's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side.
praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed.
he did it all for you.
oh so many ways for me to show you how your dogma has abandoned you.
pray to your christ, to your god.
never taste of the fruit,
never stray, never break,
never choke on a lie,
even though he's the one who did this to you
thought to question why
it's not like you killed someone.
it's not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side.
talk to jesus christ as if he knows the reasons why he
did this all to you.
he did it all for you.




WOW! that is some hefty shit to be saying there about one's mother . so then i decided to go download the song. it sounded awfully familiar, and then i realized it was the song my friend had been listening too. it was right in front of me the entire time.... I'm not sure how i feel about that. it is kind of spooky to be honest.

But, i thought that was a lot of resentment from Maynard, who is always a very spiritual and positive person, and i went back to what started this whole thought process. The 2 songs off 10,000 days. Wings for Marie Pt 1 & 2.

I'll go ahead and post the lyrics here. if u want to read them you can, if not that's fine too. but Maynard has an entirely different take on his Mother in these songs, and the entire album may well be one of the most powerful and emotional things i have ever witnessed.

wings for marie (part 1)

You...
You believed ...
You believed in moments none could see
You believed in me

A passionate spirit
Uncompromised
Boundless and open
A light in your eyes that
Could end all lies

Broken, broken
Fell at the hands of this moment so that I wouldn't see
It was you who prayed for me so
What have I done
To be a son to an angel?
What have I done
To be worthy?

Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence
Difficult to see you in this light
Please forgive this selfish question, but
What am I to say to all these ghouls tonight
She never told a lie,
... well might have told a lie,
But never lived one.

Didn't have a life
Didn't have a life
But surely saved one
So I'm alright
Now it's time for us to let you go.

04 10,000 days (wings pt. 2)

Listen to the tales and romanticize,
How we follow the path of the hero.
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun.
How we rise to the height of our halo.

Listen to the tales as we all rationalize
Our way into the arms of the savior,
Feigning all the trials and the tribulations;
None of us have actually been there.
Not like you.

Ignorant fibbers in the congregation
Gather around spewing sympathy,
Spare me.
None of them can even hold a candle up to you.
Blinded by choices, hypocrites won't see.

But, enough about the collective Judas.
Who could deny you were the one who illuminated
You'll have a piece of the divine.

And this little light of mine, the gift you passed on to me;
I'll let it shine to guide you safely on your way,
Your way home ...

Oh, what are they going to do when the lights go down
Without you to guide them all to Zion?
What are they going to do when the rivers overrun
Other than tremble incessantly?

High as a wave, but our eyes are upon the ground.
You were the light and the way, they'll only read about.
I only pray, Heaven knows when to lift you out.
Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough, you're going home.

You're the only one who can hold your head up high,
Shake your fists at the gates saying:
"I have come home now!
Fetch me the spirit, the son, and the father.
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended.
It's time now!
My time now!
Give me my, give me my wings!"

Give me my wings!

You are the light and way, that they will only read about.

Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance,
Burden of proof tossed upon the believers.
You were the witness, my eyes, my evidence,
Judith Marie, unconditional one.

Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence.
Difficult to see you in this light.
Please forgive this bold suggestion:
Should you see your Maker's face tonight,
Look Him in the eye, look Him in the eye, and tell Him:
I never lived a lie, never took a life, but surely saved one.
Hallelujah, it's time for you to bring me home.


again, i was amazed by these lyrics. literally astounded. and if you don't have, or haven't heard these songs, i suggest you do so at your earliest convenience.



No comments: