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I'm afraid you're wrong on that one. 99% of metal has nothing to do with "worshipping the devil" as you put it, although it is a common misconception by the wiggers of our nation so I can't really blame you too much for believing that shallow idea. Here is a complete explanation of the song, even though I'm sure you're too lazy and arrogant to read it:
I simply had to post my thoughts about this song, since I feel very strongly about them, as does everyone else about their own. In the end, though, they are my opinions and my understanding, so please formulate your own as well.
After reading several posts on the site, I did not see any that come to the same conclusions about the song Lateralus as I have. If someone else has posted the same/similar understanding of the song, please make me aware of it so I can discuss it further.
The realms I am about to delve into are foreign to most Western peoples. Therefore, this may not make any sense to you, or you may reject it outright. Believe me, I too was once a product of the Western Judeo-Christian thought process. But, as this song illustrates, I have embraced my desires “to swing on the spiral of our divinity.”
The song has a colorful beginning, literally. The song states that, in one’s infancy, only black and white are seen. This means that when the person was younger, both physically and mentally, all he knew or experienced was his Western culture. He saw and understood the world around him in the context of the Judeo-Christian lifestyle. Western society as a whole views birth, life, and death in a common light, which has been influenced by these faiths. This society focuses on opposites quite often: good/evil, rich/poor, awake/asleep, black/white, etc.
At some point in his life he must have desired for a different, a more colorful, or more complete understanding of the world in which he lives. At this point, “red and yellow then came to be,” meaning he started to view this world and his life from an Eastern perspective - a very colorful culture with subtle nuances to life. When I say Eastern, I mean a certain way of thinking that is present in such systems as Taoism, Zen, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These cultures teach us that the individual is the most important aspect of society. They teach us to perfect ourselves in thought and action – to realize the divine within. By doing so, all members of this human society would live harmoniously because we would realize all people are connected. The ego would disappear and people would selflessly devote themselves to improving society.
This culture reached out to him and gave him a new way of thinking and a new way of seeing. As far as the song is concerned, I feel it is mostly in line with the Hindu or Buddhist philosophy and mysticism. Now, in order to explain the rest of the song, I must digress into a brief summary of Hindu/Buddhist beliefs.
When someone asks you, “Who are you?” how do you respond? Do you reply with your name? Or maybe your job title? Both would be fine answers, but what makes you you? Is it your body? Maybe your personality or your life’s experiences? Hindu beliefs teach us that there is far more than just our mind, our body, and our senses. Our physical body is merely a temporary container for our eternal soul. When the body dies, It, the soul, does not. When the mind thinks, It gives the mind the ability to do so. It is what animates us, and It is the proper answer to “Who are you.” Hindu belief refers to It as the Self. Each person has the divine Self within them. And the form of one person’s Self is no different than another’s. This Self is the ultimate reality – God if you will. The Self moves from one body to the next in a cycle of births, lives, and deaths. During each cycle, a person gains more and more wisdom about the world and one's Self. The ultimate wisdom one can attain is the complete realization that one is the Self.
All that you can sense with your eyes, ears, nose – what we consider empirical reality – is not the ultimate reality. God, or Brahman as It is called in the Hindu texts, creates all the universe – everything you can experience with the senses. However, the universe itself is not part and parcel of Brahman – it is not made out of the same “stuff” that It is. When Brahman creates the universe, It, Brahman, does not change. It is beyond change, beyond life, beyond death. Therefore, It cannot be directly sensed with the body because It is not made of matter like the universe. The Self, however, is made out of the same “stuff” that Brahman is made out of. This is why our souls are immortal and divine.
“Enough about this mystical crap – how does this relate to the song?” you ask. In this song, he is explaining his process of realizing the Self. Self realization, as I said before, is recognizing that what makes you you is not the body or the mind. It is the Self that makes you you, and that Self is one and the same as God. To realize the Self, one cannot use the normal senses, as I also mentioned. So what is left then?
Since the Self is the highest form of reality, it is also pure consciousness. To realize this Self, a person must also attain a greater level of consciousness. Hinduism teaches us there are 4 levels of consciousness – conscious, unconscious, subconscious, and consciousness Itself. The Self, in the body, experiences these different states of consciousness. When a person is awake, the senses rule and the Self experiences what the senses provide to It - the body is awake and conscious. The unconscious realm includes both sleep and those parts of the mind which we do not have contol over. It is the realm of memory and past experiences - of creativity and dreaming. Even deeper is the subconsious state, where habits are formed and thoughts and desires lie dormant until they are awakened into a higher state. This "deep sleep" state is when the mind is still - no dreams or thoughts - just total calmness. Beyond deep sleep, the Self can experience that which makes up the other states - pure consciousness. This state is the realm of Self-realization. In realizing Itself, It realizes that It is not the body, not the mind, but instead the eternal reality. This detachment and understanding is the ultimate goal for the Self. Unfortunately, Maya, which is the material world in which we live and which we can sense, holds the Self back from this realization. It causes the Self to identify with the body.
However, through meditation, the path for Self-realization can be found. When a pure mind is conditioned to focus on itself without wavering or distraction, a person can experience this highest state of consciousness in which the Self can be realized.
Now, back to the song: He says “as below so above and beyond I imagine.” He is starting his journey of Self-realization. He is starting to meditate on his body below, his mind above, and the Self beyond. He is starting to move “beyond the lines of reason,” because the conscious mind cannot reason or conceive the true reality of the Self. The Self must be experienced. There is no logic or reason beyond the conscious state. The jump from earthly consciousness to this Self-conscious state of awareness does not come easy. Personal identity with the body must be erased. It is not a simple matter of will. This thin veil or envelope of personal identity and ego is what prevents the Self from realizing the reality. In the song, he is getting to that point – making the envelope bend – and trying to break through the bonds created by Maya.
By overthinking and overanalyzing, i.e. meditating on the Self, he is able to separate his identity from the body. He is preventing his intution from withering away and missing the opportunity to experience enlightenment. He feeds the Self's will to experience the ultimate reality.
The second time the song repeats the colors, he says that his new spirituality allows him to see there is much more than just this world – to see the infinite reality in the Self.
The song repeats again, but this time his experiences are “urging me to cross the line” to pure consciousness. He is almost to the point of realizing the divine Self, and he is “Reaching out to embrace the random. Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.” Since he has never experienced this Reality, he doesn't know what is beyond the line. But the experience is so profound, he will simply embrace the randomness because he knows it is greater than anything he could ever experience in his life.
When he is embracing his desire to feel the rhythm, he is talking about the rhythm of the universe – the rhythm of the ultimate reality – the rhythm to which all existance is animated. His desire to “step aside and weep like a widow” means that, like a woman who has just lost her husband, the Self looses the body when it steps aside - laterally - to realize Itself.
In this state he feels inspired to “fathom the power, “ “witness the beauty,” and “bathe in the fountain” of the infinite ultimate reality.
The word “spiral” comes up now in the song. A lot of people have interpreted this in accordance with the possible use of fibbonacci patterns in the song. I feel the whole use of the spiral may be related to fibbonacci, but we must realize that this pattern goes beyond pretty spirals and clever lyrical structures. These spirals and patterns are present in nature. Since the ulitmate reality created nature, these spirals are just another sign that points to the divine. These spirals progress out to infinity – the infinite reality. So, when he swings on the “spiral of our divinity and still be a human,” he is human, but the Self within has moved beyond the human body and is realizing Its infinite nature.
The last part of the song continues with his progress to the divine. He has his “feet upon the ground,” yet he is “reaching up and reaching out” to experience the Self. Finally, he rides “the spiral to the end” meaning going all the way to experience God firsthand. The progress of the enlightened soul, the Self, ends with the complete understanding of Itself and Its oneness with the ultimate reality. He keeps on spiraling out to the eternal during his experience.
