Fibonacci in Tool's Lateralus

Terry

Misc

1 minute read

Before we begin explaining the link between Fibonacci and Tool's Lateralus, let's first explain Leonardo of Pisa's (a.k.a Fibonacci) number sequence.

Fibonacci numbers are a sequence in which the next number is the sum of the previous two. For example:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8

0 + 1 = 1
1 + 1 = 2
1 + 2 = 3
2 + 3 = 5
3 + 5 = 8

The sequence can be charted out in the form of an ever expanding spiral -- also known as the Golden Spiral.

So what does this have to do with Tool? In 2001, Tool released the album Lateralus which is heavily based on the Fibonacci sequence. The actual song "Lateralus" follows the sequence very closely.

The song begins with the lyrics (numbers denote syllable counts):

1 - "Black"
1 - "Then"
2 - "White are"
3 - "All I see"
5 - "In My Infancy"
8 - "Red and yellow then came to be"
5 - "Reaching out to me"
3 - "Let's me see"

As you can see, it follows the sequence and when it reaches 8, it proceeds to go backwards. The song does eventually break the sequence, but there is a reason behind it:

"Over Thinking, Over Analyzing,
separates my body from my mind,
withering my intuition,
missing opportunities and I must
feed my will to feel my moment
drawing way outside the lines."

Lateralus suggests that we continue to expand our minds; Not to live life in a constant fashion but rather, spiral out and try new things.

"Reaching out to embrace the random
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come"

Check out the video below for more information: