Ænema

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This article is about the Tool song. For the album on which it appears, see Ænima.
"Ænema"
Tool aenema.png
Single by Tool
from the album Ænima
ReleasedAugust 9, 1997
GenreAlternative metal, progressive metal
Length6:39
LabelZoo
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David Bottrill
Tool singles chronology
"H."
(1996) 		"Ænema"
(1997) 		"Forty Six & 2"
(1997)
Audio sample
Excerpt of "Ænema"
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"Ænema" is a song by rock band Tool, released as the third single from their second major-label release Ænima. Adam Jones made a video for the song using stop-motion animation; it is included in the Salival box set. The song reached number twenty-five on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in August 1997.

The song makes extensive use of hemiola, a musical technique in which the emphasis in a triple meter is changed to give the illusion that both a duple and a triple meter occur in the song.

The song is cast in terminally climactic form,[1] in which two verse/chorus pairs give way to a climactic ending on new material.

Lyrical references[]

Keenan incorporates into the lyrics part of comedian Bill Hicks' sketch "Goodbye You Lizard Scum" from his album Arizona Bay by stating the line "learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay." Hicks appears in the liner notes/sleeve as a doctor, and a lenticular image below the case tray illustrates a large portion of California disappearing leaving only the Pacific Ocean, as is mentioned in the song. California falling into the sea is a prediction made by Edgar Cayce, also known as "The Sleeping Prophet," about the end of days in which California and New York are to sink into the ocean among a plethora of other devastating weather changes.

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away
Any fucking time, any fucking day
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

In general, the song is a diatribe against celebrity culture, particularly around Los Angeles. This includes everything from the Church of Scientology (with the line "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones"), to possibly rappers ("gun-toting hip gangster wannabes"), to drug addicts, Hollywood executives and actresses whom Maynard views as corrupted and wishes would all be flushed down the proverbial toilet and/or possibly subsumed by the Jungian Anima referenced in the album title ("Mom please flush it all away").

Ultimately, the song calls for a kind of transformation, not a final misanthropic destruction.

Don't just call me pessimist
Try and read between the lines
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend"

Music video[]

Adam Jones directed the video for "Ænema" which features stop-motion animation with art design by Cam de Leon. The video revolves around a humanoid figure with alien-like features. Throughout the video the character ventures through an aquatic world. A hose-like organ (resembling an umbilical cord) which squirts out water protrudes from its abdomen and fills the room in which the figure stands. Towards the end of the video a human character wearing business attire tosses the figure in a water-filled box.

Track listing[]

No.TitleLength
1."Ænema" (P.M. version)6:39
2."Ænema" (A.M. version)6:39

Awards[]

Tool received the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "Ænema", at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998.[2]

Chart performance[]

Chart (1997) Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] 25

References[]

  1. ^ Osborn, Brad (2013). "Subverting the Verse–Chorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Forms in Recent Rock Music". Music Theory Spectrum. 35 (1): 45. doi:10.1525/mts.2013.35.1.23. hdl:1808/19147. Archived from the original on 2016-01-10.
  2. ^ Morse, Steve (January 7, 1998). "Paula Cole a leader in Grammys" (fee required). The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  3. ^ "Tool Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
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