* Jambi is an Indonesian province in Sumatra, which was once part of the powerful Melayu Kingdom. Legends state that it was ruled by a rich sultan who lived an opulent lifestyle; this legend may be the one referred to in the song's lyrics. In addition, Jambi is Finnish for iamb, a metrical foot where an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one. Jambi is also the name of a character, a genie, from Pee-wee's Playhouse.[10] During a Sydney show, Jambi was introduced with a quote from Pee-Wee's Playhouse.[citation needed] * 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.[11] Prior to her death, on their 2002 tour, the band debuted an instrumental portion of "Wings for Marie"; the finished song contains lyrics referring to a funeral service and the song ends with the sound of a casket closing. * In a Guitar World interview, Jones confirmed that the title of "The Pot" was a reference to an idiomatic term for hypocrisy (i.e., the "pot calling the kettle black"). * The Lipan are an Apachean people, also known as the "tall grass people". * On April 7, 2006, the official Tool website specifically mentioned Albert Hofmann, the "father" of LSD, and stated that he first synthesized the drug on that date in 1938. Past communiqués from the same source used the words "blame Hofmann" as a catch phrase, and report that "Lost Keys" was the working title for "Wings for Marie/10,000 Days".[10] * The Rosetta Stone is an archaeological artifact of carved granite that was used as a key to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. * 'Intension' is commonly defined as 'intensification'; however, it may also mean "a strenuous exertion of the mind or will". In logic, it means "the sum of all possible attributes in a term". In the study of evolution, it can refer to the process of interbreeding. In language, words lose all meaning unless 'intension' of some sort is applied. * 'Viginti tres' means 'twenty-three' in Latin.

* Lateralus was released, a minor flurry of interpretive activity arose around the album. In particular, Carey told an interviewer about Keenan's remark that the time signatures of the main riff in "Lateralus" (9-8-7) also represented a step in the Fibonacci sequence (the sixteenth step, as it turns out).[citation needed] This led some Tool fans to suggest that the tracks on Lateralus can be listened to in spiral-like orders: 1,2,3,5,8,13,4,6,7,9,10,11,12 ("The Fibonacci Sequence"), 6,7,5,8,4,9,3,10,2,11,1,12,13 ("The Lateralus Prophecy"), or 6,7,5,8,4,9,13,1,12,2,11,3,10 ("The Holy Gift").[1] These arrangements are rumoured by fans to produce different storylines for the album, although the band has said nothing official on the subject. * Just as Salival was initially released with several errors on the track listing, early pressings of Lateralus had the ninth track spelled as "Lateralis." * The vocal on "Faaip de Oiad" is a recording of a call from a 1997 conversation on Art Bell's radio program Coast to Coast AM. The caller, in a frantic tone, claimed to have been previously employed at Area 51 and stated that the true nature of aliens were that of "extra-dimensional beings" that have infiltrated the military establishment and plan to destroy the world's large population centers to more easily control the remaining humans. The broadcast was cut short however, when their transmitter failed but Art Bell returned on the air with the use of a back up link system. Supposedly, the same caller called back some weeks later and claimed it was a hoax. "Faaip de Oiad" is Enochian for "the voice of God." Described as Danny Carey's personal percussion piece for the album (as was "(–) Ions" on Ænima), he can be heard drumming intensely in the background along with sounds of static and various electronic debris.[citation needed] * The song "The Grudge" is written in 10/8 time and is another example of the wide variety of diverse time signatures employed by the band. The lyrics contain several references to astrology (specifically, the "Return of Saturn"), and to alchemy, "transmutate these leaden grudges into gold". It also references the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne with the lyric "Unable to forgive your scarlet lettermen".[1] * "Eon Blue Apocalypse" is about Adam Jones' Great Dane named Eon Blue, who died from cancer, according to an interview with Danny Carey. [2] * Drummer Danny Carey sampled himself breathing through a tube to simulate the chanting of Buddhist monks for the song "Parabol" [3]. * The eighth track, "Ticks and Leeches", is rarely performed live due to the immense strain the song puts on Keenan's voice. They have performed it occasionally, however, with Keenan utilizing several distortion devices to minimize the difficulty of the song.{fact} * The original title of "Reflection" was "Resolution" before being changed at the last minute. Pianos strings were banged for samples on this track.[2] [edit] Alchemic connections Some song lyrics on this album can be interpreted as references to alchemy, especially because the Philosopher's stone often serves as a spiritual metaphor to evolve from a lower state of imperfection and vice (symbolized by the base metals) to a higher state of enlightenment and perfection. References to this spiritual transmutation are: "Give away the stone. Let the oceans take and transmutate this cold and fated anchor. Give away the stone. Let the waters kiss and transmutate these leaden grudges into gold." ("The Grudge") "Black then white are all I see in my infancy, red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me....Lets me see". ("Lateralus") If seen in this perspective, the part from "Lateralus" can either refer to the four colors of the Philosopher's stone during different phases of creation, or to the colors of the ingredients themselves (i.e. black = mercury, white = salt, yellow = sulphur, red = stone). It is also believed that the same line refers to the order in which infants start to see colors.[citation needed] The infant theory is strongly referenced in the book The Giver, about a secluded utopian-esque society with many secrets. It is suggested that all within the society are fully color blind. Slowly the main character begins seeing colors, the red of an apple, then the yellow of the sunlight, like an infant awakening to reality. Another theory is the order of colors seen on an LSD trip. Alex Grey stated when he closed his eyes on an LSD trip he saw a black and white spiral, and when he tried it a few more times it became a red and yellow spiral. Some people also believe to have found a relation between Lateralus and the Hermetic Kabbalah [4] where black, white, red and yellow refer to the colors associated with various Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. In an interview with Keenan in 2001 he did not acknowledge any alchemic relations in regard to the lyric mentioning black, white, red and yellow. Keenan stated: “ 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.[3]