Lyrics for Rosetta Stoned as interpreted by Solarius

Rosetta Stoned Lyrics
All righty then... picture this if you will...
10 to 2 am, X, yogi DMT, and a box of krispy kreme's in my "need to know" pose just outside of area 51, contemplating the whole chosen people thingy when just then a flaming stealth banana split the sky like one would hope but never really expect to see in a place like this. Cutting right angle donuts on a dime and stopping right at my birkinstocks, and me yelping "holy fuckin' shit!"

then the X file being, looking like some kinda blue green Jackie chan, with Isabella Rossellini lips, and breath that reeked of vanilla chig champa, did a slow mo matrix decent outta the butt end of the banana vessel, and hovered above my bug eyes, my gaping jaw, and my sweaty L. Ron Hubbard upper lip and all I could think was, "I hope uncle martin here doesn't notice that I pissed my fuckin pants!!"

so light in his way, like an apparition, that he had me crying out...
"fuck me! It's gotta be the dead head chemistry. (the) blotter got right on top o' me. Got me seeing E mutha fuckin T!


and after calming me down with some orange slices and some fetal spooning, E.T. revealed to me his singular purpose. He said. "you are the chosen one. The one who will deliver the message. A message of hope for those who choose to hear it, and a warning for those who do not." Me! The chosen one. They chose me!!!! And I didn't even graduate from fuckin' high school!!

Then he looked right through me with somniferous almond eyes. Don't even know what that means. Must remember to write it down.
This is so real. Like the time Dave floated away. See, my heart is pounding. cuz this shit never happens to me.
Can't breathe right now.

It was so real. Like I woke up in wonderland. all sorta terrifying. I don't wanna be alone while I tell this story.
And can anyone tell me why y'all sound like peanuts parents?
Will I ever be coming down?
This is so real. Finally it's my lucky day See, my heart is racing cuz this shit never happens to me.
Can't breathe right now.


You believe me don't you? Please believe what I've just said. See, the dead ain't touring and this wasn't all in my head. see they took me by the hand and invited me right in. then they showed me something. I don't even know where to begin.

Strapped down to my bed, feet cold and eyes red.
I'm out of my head am I alive? Am I dead.
Can't remember what they said. God damn. Shit the bed.
Overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position...
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and bring to all the details of our ending.
to write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen. Shit the bed again. Typical.


Strapped down to my bed, feet cold and eyes red.
I'm out of my head am I alive? Am I dead.
Sun kissed and Sudafed Gyro scopes and infrared
won't help. I'm brain dead. Can't remember what they said.
God damn. Shit the bed.


Can't remember what they said to me.
Can't remember what they said to make me out to be the hero.
Can't remember what they said.
Bob help me.
Can't remember what they said.


We don't know and we won't know.
God damn shit the bed.

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Blindrider
05-23-2006

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I'm going with Daggerfall on this one. Good interpretation.

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Anti Social
05-23-2006

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daggerfall, that sounds better then every1 elses interpretations. I tried to start a discussion with my friends about how it probably isnt aboutr drugs but they wouldnt let me tell them. Thats probably why he says "you believe me dont you, please believe what i just said". And if he was on acid or whatever the docters would have noticed. That probably falls in with the cover as well cause one of my mexican friends was talking about how the art is aztec art. Theres lots of stuff about how the aztecs lived in the sky and how they have lots to do with the sky so that could tie in with daggerfalls theory too.

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Anti Social
05-23-2006

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daggerfall, that sounds better then every1 elses interpretations. I tried to start a discussion with my friends about how it probably isnt aboutr drugs but they wouldnt let me tell them. Thats probably why he says "you believe me dont you, please believe what i just said". And if he was on acid or whatever the docters would have noticed. That probably falls in with the cover as well cause one of my mexican friends was talking about how the art is aztec art. Theres lots of stuff about how the aztecs lived in the sky and how they have lots to do with the sky so that could tie in with daggerfalls theory too.

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**jambi_**
05-24-2006

Rated 0 
TREXOR he has been right about everything he has said besides the album being a hoax everything else is sooo true he is the only one that can truly criticze this band let him critiszce jesus christ

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Daggerfall
05-24-2006

Rated 0 
Thanks Blindrider and Anti Social. Speaking of the album cover, it's actually pretty creative. It's suppose to symbolize hypocrisy, which is represented in Vicarious and The Pot.

Don't look me at like
I am a monster
Frown out your one face
But with the other
Stare like a junkie
Into the TV
Stare like a zombie

People say one thing in their "one face" but later reveal their true hypocritical selves by contradictin themselves with their "other face".

You bring up a good point about the Aztecs. I've always wondered why they chose that style for the cover and I may have a theory why. I'll try to post them later when I gather my thoughts.

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gianelli280
05-24-2006

Rated 0 
rosetta stone like they gotta interpret Him, like it was used to decipher heiroglyhpics, mebbe his mumbling is actually a message and somebody should spend days on end decoding it.

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thirdeyewide
05-24-2006

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I'm with daggerfall and anti social and anyone else who think that the term "Rosetta Stoned" isn't directly related to drugs--I think the drugs came after the 5th encounter, if at all. It's obvious from the song that the speakers probelm is that he ISN"T stoned. I worked at a hospital once, anybody that was wheeled into the emergency room sounding like this would be strapped down and shot up with a psychiactric cocktail faster than you could say ET...

Strapped down on my bed.
Feet cold and eyes red.
I'm out my head.
Am I alive? Am I dead?
Can't remember what they said.
God damn, I shit the bed.

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Phily 911 MPG
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Sunkist.........Sudafed...........
This about a person a cold

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Phily 911 MPG
05-25-2006

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This poor guy has a cold with a itchy throat.

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azmodon
05-25-2006

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Yes this song is about a guy's drug trip. He said "A Deadhead. Chemistry". Deadhead as in The Greatful Dead, and they were notorious for their LSD use. Also later in the song he says, "It was so real, Like I woke up in wonderland.... Will I ever be coming down".
Plus look at the structure of the song itself. Lipan Conjuring sounds tribal, perhaps a ceremony where he takes the drug. Followed by Lost Keys which is all trippy, we are with this guy on his mental journey. The end of Lost Keys is the doctor wanting to know what happened to him. So the beginning of Rosetta Stoned this guy is all rambling, and talking super fast as he is still feeling the effects of the drug. Then the middle part is all slow, and melodic and somewhat forelorn, as he is coming down. Then the end is filled with anguish because he can't remember what happened in his trip as it was too intense. This happens with a drug trip, it was so intense you forget a lot of what took place.
So this song is blatantly obvious that it was about a drug trip.

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egb
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
yep, azmodon is right... you're overanalyzing to the extreme if you think this song is about anything other than a mad acid trip...

hints that it's about acid (for the billionth time)
-intro title (Blame Hofmann)
-intro theme, the 'patient' is catatonic in a hospital yet his vitals are stable... fully in line with what would be happening to an acid victim
-the line 'it's gotta be, deadhead chemistry'... an obvious acid reference... unless maybe the protagonist only thought he had taken acid?
- the line 'cause this shit never happens to me' ... boy have i heard this one a few times in my day... most commonly from friends who have taken way more acid (or shrooms) than they should have...
-the line 'will i ever be coming down?' anyone who's done lots of acid knows this feeling quite well...

so basically, you can take this song as a clever and amusing song about an acid trip gone wrong...

or as a corny (yet so deeply vague in any sense of seriousness, that one most overanalyze the entire song, while ignoring many important lines, answer me this, what about this song makes you think the protagonist DIDN'T take any drugs?) song about an alien abduction... while baring in mind that Maynard doesn't take alien or occult matters too seriously (as has been stated in countless interviews... while we know full well that he's written songs about psychadelics before...

take it as you will...

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Phily 911 MPG
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
I would like to through some more hints that it "MIGHT" be about a drug trip.

-Look at the references to food, I like food when I get munchies doesn't anybody else?

-"It's got me seein' E -muthfuckin'-T "
I don't think it's his glass's he is wearing.

-The he mentioned about about being spooned by this alien, NEVER EVER, have a heard of a sober alien obduction story that involved spooning.

-Sudafed, a little more of a long shot here, but a certain type of Sudafed got taken off of the shelves because either Speed or Meth was being made from it. And Sunkist just kicks ass with drugs.

-"Can't remember what they said" A sober alien encounter, most people would remember everything. Hell I remember everything a person says when they look weirder than hell, let a alone if I ever saw a alien. Now when I'm fucked up that's a different story.

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Phily 911 MPG
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Also.............

The lyric

"Will I ever be coming down?"

I doubt he is wondering when he will be coming down from the mothership here. He's talking about a high and it's probably LSD, ACID, DMT, VHS whatever but almost any drug you can be, you wonder that.

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Blindrider
05-25-2006

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For all you people who are still clinging to the beliefe that this song is about drugs, have you ever wondered if Lost Keys might not be in a "hospital"? I think Lost Keys is about the person who was abducted or whatever has been hypnotized in some clinic so that he can recall the expirience. That would explian why he won't talk to anybody.

Also, if you haven't read the other posts, Rosetta Stoned is an anagram for A OR

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Blindrider
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
For all you people who are still clinging to the belief that this song is about drugs, have you ever wondered if Lost Keys might not be in a "hospital"? What if Lost Keys is about the person who was abducted or whatever and he has been hypnotized in some clinic so that he can recall the expirience. That would explian why he won't talk to anybody. He is also strapped down to the bed because the event was traumatizing.

Also, if you haven't read the other posts, Rosetta Stoned is an anagram for A OR TESTS ON D, or 'alien or extra terrestrail tests on Dave'.

But there are a few lines that are just screaming out that this song is not about drugs. He says "This wasn't all in my head...they invited me in and showed me something." So now I hope it's plain to see that this is about an alien encounter, not drugs.

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Blindrider
05-25-2006

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I meant A OR ET TESTS ON D. (damnit)

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Phily 911 MPG
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Alrighty then...........

your hospital theory is very incorrect.

Listen to "Lost Keys"

You should hear a "Heart Moniter" in the back-ground. They don't have those at any clinics.

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kdaleszak
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Alright, we know that drugs are involved in it. DMTs are believed to be able to let the user see through other dimensions. We also know that some dude is involved to. His name's Dave. It's about his experience. We've got it. End of story.

Now no more fuckin' hospital theories.

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thirdeyewide
05-26-2006

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Okay, so the concensus is that this guy doesn't just seem stoned-he is stoned, and the doctor and nurse missed the physical signs (dialted pupils, rapid heart rate-there is a heart rate monitor in the vicinity, as pointed out by Phily) and decided to strap him down and let him ride out his trip...something still seems to be missing...After coming down from trip (and he must be coming down if we're going with drugs here-DMT from what I understand produces notoriously short trips) would he still think-and try to convince a doctor-that he was abducted by aliens? Would he seem to believe his own chemically induced hallucinations?

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egb
05-26-2006

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Blindrider-what makes you think that 'dave' couldn't have taken a ton of acid and imagined this experience... is it possible?

because the physical side effects of acid, as thirdeyewide noted would be dialated pupils, and a SLIGHLY elevated heart rate... nothing noteworthy. nothing life threatening.

how 'bout lines like '...my heart is pounding, cause this shit never happens to me' ... what do you think is implied by that? cause i know... i know exactly what he's talking about... it's about taking way more than you can handle.

this song is about a common theme in psychadelic trips, that one has recieved a 'key' or a secret of some kind (be it from the cosmos, or aliens, or your dead uncle bob... i've heard them all)... and then being unable to use/remember this amazing secret when you come down...

in this case it seems 'dave' took too much acid, imagined an experience with aliens giving him 'the message' , came too in a hospital and tried to tell his tale to the doctors...

unless you believe that Tool would write a serious song about an aquaintance of theirs being abducted...

do abductees normally 'shit the bed' hours after they've been returned to earth... cause i know acid victims do...

the only way to interpret this song as a serious recounting of an alien abduction is to ignore about half of the lyrics...

Rosetta Stoned... so stoned (high, frying, tripping, etc..) that he almost had the Key to decypher the secrets of the universe... but he forgot his pen... pretty simple.

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Blindrider
05-26-2006

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Well, I don't know if Tool would write a song about alien abductions, but I know they don't write songs just about drugs. There's always something more.

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Blindrider
05-26-2006

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egb-you say that acid slightly elevates the heart rate, but in the song he says "My heart is racing". To me, that imlpies he is exited because it is finally his "lucky day". It doesn't necessarily mean that he would have to be doing drugs.

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Anti Social
05-27-2006

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For one they would have been able to tell that it was acid and two to "shit the bed" means to screw up someone on acid or some who got abducted could do this. If this song is about drugs (which it isnt) its more likely to be about dmt because tool are notorious for dmt use and the song decsribes dmt use better. I think that all of tools songs have deeper meanings in songs that seem simple they do that alot.

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thirdeyewide
05-27-2006

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The hints in the song that point towards drugs seem too screwed up. Why can't the medical staff tell he's stoned? If DMT is a short, "out of body" type trip-his movements should be limited (high doses cause numbness) so why does he need to be strapped down? The active ingrediant in Sudafed (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine) doesn't cause hallucinations, and neither does pot, if we're to believe the krispy cream reference is about the munchies. the preceding song is "Blame Hoffman", not Hoffman's Fault. Deadhead is a term used for someone who's travelling on a plane or other vessel (AHAA!) for free because the seat is avaliable, and they work for the airline (pilots do this all the time).

I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong. Maybe it is just drugs-I think that the most entertaining thing about his song (Other than the wicked guitar and the fact that MJK sounds hilarious) is that it could go either way, depending on whether one takes the lyrics literally. If this song is about DMT, then The Pot is about ganja. Flame away kids, I know youu wanna...

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gunmetalsky24
05-28-2006

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For anyone who questions whether this song has a drug influence in it look no further than the subtext to lost keys. Hoffman is the name of the man who first created LSD in a labratory for ergot fungus. I'm not dismissing this song as a simple "druggy" song, Tool isn't that juvenile, but I am saying that drugs play a part in the song. Look no further to Tool's website, the use the phrase "blame hoffman" repeatedly when reffereing to LSD.

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