On the surface Lateralus is an amazing song in it's own right. The concept of Lateral-us is for an individual to view the themselves laterally - to view the world from outside one's own existence and see the bigger picture. The song uses the concept to "spiral out", to encourage the listener to evolve - to be more humane.
Below the surface is a surprising amount of metaphors and concepts adding much deeper meaning. These include the use of the Fibonacci sequence and references to alchemy as summarised below:
The fibonacci sequence
Lyrics are introduced at 1.61... minutes - the golden/divine ration used by part of the Fibonacci sequence and divine proportions.
The time signatures of the song switch between 9/8, 8/8 and 7/8 - 987 being the 16th step of the Fibonacci sequences.
The chorus is sung in the pattern of the Fibonacci squence (i.e. 1-1-2-3-5-8-13 and back), noting at times steps are missed - implying some thing is missing.
Alchemy (Jung)
The "Magnum Opus" is the alchemy process for creating the philospher's stone, a substance that can turn lead into gold (ref. to The Grudge). This required both chemical and spiritual aspects. Carl Jung drew on some of these ideas to explain the concept of the individuation process. The colours used in the chorus draw on following Jung concepts:
Nigredo (black) - Encoutering the unconcious mind
Albedo (white) - Purification of the unconcious thoughts
Critrinitas (yellow) - Confronting the Wise old man archetype.
Rubedo (red) - Discovering the true self
When reviewing these details against the lyrics song adds much more meaning. There is not one meaning to this song, the abstract lyrics will have a personal meaning to each individual. This song simply put is encouraging the listener to strive towards being to being a better person.
On the surface Lateralus is an amazing song in it's own right. The concept of Lateral-us is for an individual to view the themselves laterally - to view the world from outside one's own existence and see the bigger picture. The song uses the concept to "spiral out", to encourage the listener to evolve - to be more humane.
Below the surface is a surprising amount of metaphors and concepts adding much deeper meaning. These include the use of the Fibonacci sequence and references to alchemy as summarised below:
The fibonacci sequence
Alchemy (Jung) The "Magnum Opus" is the alchemy process for creating the philospher's stone, a substance that can turn lead into gold (ref. to The Grudge). This required both chemical and spiritual aspects. Carl Jung drew on some of these ideas to explain the concept of the individuation process. The colours used in the chorus draw on following Jung concepts:
When reviewing these details against the lyrics song adds much more meaning. There is not one meaning to this song, the abstract lyrics will have a personal meaning to each individual. This song simply put is encouraging the listener to strive towards being to being a better person.