Jambi

I'd like to say what this song means, but the great part about Tool songs is that they are somewhat user friendly, in that they are very shapeable to what kind of message you hear from them. This is what Jambi means to me.

I am 16 years old and live, for some reason, in New York city. It's a shit hole. However, I am also a pantheist, and that means I dont consider myself to be a part of any organized religion. I do, however, feel a primal connection and belonging to nature and the creatues that live nestled in her breast. One such animal, is one that also has a bit of belonging to me. I have an Irian Jaya Blue Tongue Skink. I named him Jambi. Not just because it's a nice name for an animal, but there is more behind it. To me, the song Jambi is about a love for something so delicate, so fleeting, and so tantalizingly impermanent, and yet so beautiful like nature. But understood, much like a Lizard. Like my Jambi. People mainly see reptiles as slimy, stupid, heartless, affectionless creatures who lack the ability to love, to think, to feel, to fear. But if everyone looked at nature and her creatures more closely, with a willingness to learn, rather than a desire to conquer, these misconceptions would disappear, when we allow ourselves to observe and live in the world around us with a sense of vulnerability, and as students of our environment, we see that nature... and animals like Jambi... can be intelligent, thoughtful, loving, feeling... all that. He greets me when I come home, sits next to my computer to listen to music, and crawls into my lap when he wants affection. He begs to be petted and he digs through his food for his favorite morsels with the precision of a human mind. He explores his world with a curiosity and inquisitiveness that challenges that of my dog and my cat, be it his tank, my room, the hallway, or the back yard. But yet, as an animal, Jambi is a mortal. And he wont be here forever. Neither will we. Seek fulfillment any way you can. Through religion? Sure. Through music? Please do. Through nature? I do. Wether or not you believe in an afterlife, there is still the now to take care of. Take care of the now, yourself, your loved ones, and the planet.