Tool is an American rock band that hails from Los Angeles, California. The current line-up of the band includes bassist Justin Chancellor, guitarist Adam Jones, vocalist Maynard James Keenan and drummer Danny Carey. The band has been active since 1990. Justin replaced Paul D’ Amour on the bass in 1995. Tool has four Grammy Awards to their name.
To date, Tool has five studio albums, namely Undertow (1993), Ænima (1996), Lateralus (2001), 10,000 Days (2006). The next album Fear Inoculum (2019) saw it’s release after a huge delay and the track Invincible is from the same album. The following is a link to the song. Give it a listen.
Outline
The song Invincible is a tale of an aging warrior who doesn’t accept the fact that he is way past his prime and he yet considers himself an Invincible. He keeps going at it despite all the odds being stacked against him. And in the process, he expresses some thoughts provoking his mind due to the inevitable effects experienced by someone once they’re living their old-age life.
Breakdown
A shout out to Jagrit Surisetti, my old band mate for helping me do this.
Parts of what you’d further read is my interpretation of what the song is rather than breakdown. That now brings us to the actual part you’re here for, the lyrical breakdown. And here we go.
“Long in tooth and soul. Longing for another win.
Lurch into the fray. Weapon out and belly in.
Warrior struggling to remain consequential.”
Long in tooth is a phrase that’s used to humorously or unkindly tell someone that they’re getting old and they aren’t anymore relevant the same way like how they once were. Lurch into the fray here means abruptly and unsteadily getting on to the battle field. Weapon out and belly in tells about how belly turns out a clearcut side effect of growing old and how one has to get out of their usual comfort zone to draw in the single big projection and hold it there. To remain consequential implies to remain significant/relevant or to move and act accordingly to what’s happening around oneself in the battlefield, or in one’s life.
The above lines convey that an old warrior who’s desperate for winning one more time before bidding a final goodbye to the battlefield is struggling to maintain his reflexes, to not get to fatigue, and to remain in the battle.
“Bellow aloud, bold and proud, of where I’ve been. But here I am.
Beating chest and drums. Beating tired bones again.”
Bellow aloud here stands for deep roaring that’s usually done before getting into the war zone for the adrenaline rush. I don’t really need to explain what beating chest and drums, beating tired bones convey. It’s kind of done for showing the world that you’re alive and still in the game.
The warrior says that he’s proud of where he’s been in the past and what his level was then. And right now, here he is beating the tired old bones.
“Age old battle, mine. Weapon out and belly in.
Tales told of battles won, of things we’ve done, Caligula would grin.
Beating tired bones. Tripping through remember when.
Once invincible. Now the armor’s wearing thin.
Heavy shield down. Warrior struggling to remain relevant.
Warrior struggling to remain consequential.”
Age-Old is a phrase that’s used to talk things that have been in existence since ages. Grin here stands for drawing back the lips and baring the teeth in disguise and awe at the same time. Tripping through here means to have crazy nostalgic thoughts. Invincible is someone who’s too stunning and insane to be put down. That’s someone who’s unconquerable.
Here’s where things start getting real interesting. Caligula was the third Rome emperor and is one of the most wicked, cruel men that ever graced this planet. Think of the worst possible sin a human can commit. Caligula has already been there. He possessed the traits of an extreme psychopath. He had this weird sadistic serial killer mentality. YouTube to know more about him. Why would Tool namedrop him in the song? This video answers that.
These lines suggest that the warrior is having thoughts regarding how he carried himself at various places and times. He is recollecting that he has done things that’d make a poltergeist skedaddle and make a person like Caligula go haywire. That reference is pure gold. And fast forward to this day, the warrior’s armor is wearing out and he is striving hard to draw in his belly and remain relevant on the field.
“Tears in my eyes chasing Ponce de Leon’s phantoms.
So filled with hope I can taste mythical fountains.”
Another dead good reference. Ponce de Leon is a Spanish explorer who set out on a sail to Bimini, the westernmost district of the Bahamas, allegedly motivated by his search for this elusive mythical spring that restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters called the Fountain of Youth. Drink its water or bath in it, you’ll be young again. He then accidentally ended up at some other place and he named it Florida. That’s another story. Again, YouTube to know more.
The story about Leon’s expedition to the Bahamas despite possibly being an important element of the infamous history, nothing really offers testimony regarding the reason for his voyage to be the search for the mythical spring. No document from that time, including the letters written by Leon himself nowhere mentioned such a goal for his voyage. All he really wanted was to capture land and resources.
It seems a lot likely that the Spanish writers made up the story of the Fountain of Youth after his death in order to give Ponce de Leon’s character a foolish and gullible impression. Here’s where the concept of phantom comes in.
Each one of those who’ve tried and failed in chasing the fictitious hopes or mirages have been here referred to as one of those many Ponce de Leon’s phantoms. Hope dies and turns a ghost when truth collides it, remember.
The warrior expresses that he’s shedding tears as he’s chasing Ponce de Leon’s phantoms. He says that he’s still hopeful that he’d somehow, someway, get to taste the mythical fountains and get to be like what he was back in the day, i.e., what he now wants to be. One phrase for those lines. Sheer brilliance.
“False hope, perhaps,
But the truth never got in my way before now.
Feel the sting. Feeling time bearing down.”
The warrior indicates that probably his hope is completely delusional or lo-res just like that of the Ponce de Leon’s phantoms. But despite that, he’d still test himself for the truth never got in his way before then. He says that he’s feeling the sting, which here is the pierce caused by the sharp pointed part of the sword. He states that he feels the time passing as he’s bearing the pain.
The Instrumental Part and How I see it
Penning down this article without giving a word about the instrumental part of the song is just like writing a book on the history of football and nowhere mentioning Pelé.
The song starts with a minimal and basic instrumentation that progresses into an uptempo hard rock arrangement. It then transcends into an instrumental section that includes guitar solo and an electronic part that back up Maynard’s vocoded vocals. The song then builds up to a heavy and tempo finale. The best thing is that Danny Carey uses the drum kit throughout like a melody instrument rather than using it just like a usual percussion instrument.
The instrumentation adds a lot to the storytelling that’s going on in the song. The whole of transitions, the way the song is built up, the instrumental part in particular for me, when subjected to a matrix transformation gives out visualizations of a fifty-five year old fighting it out on the battlefield.
Relevance to the band
Tool has hadn’t released an album since 2006 before the release of Fear Inoculum in 2019. The band members were relatively a lot older compared to what they were when 10,000 Days was released back in 2006. So probably they’ve had several doubts in mind recording ‘Fear Inoculum’ regarding if the fifth album would be received in the same way the past ones have been. And they did successfully managed to craft this feeling into a beautiful piece of art.
Probably different people have different takes on how this album turned out once it entered the market. But my thought, Tool stood up to the hype that surrounded the release of Fear Inoculum. Tool have somehow grabbed the imaginary brass rings and have eminently chased the Ponce de Leon’s phantoms. My condolences to those who drew in their last breath waiting for this album. I mean it. Lol.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any sorts of rights as far as the audio, video, lyrical and pictorial content that have been made use of in this article are concerned.
