Join in my
Join in my child
And listen, digging through
My old numb shadow

My shadow's shedding skin
I've been picking scabs again
I'm down, digging through
My old muscles looking for a clue

I've been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could've been
I've been wallowing in my own confused
And insecure delusions
For a piece to cross me over
Or a word to guide me in
I want to feel the changes coming down
I want to know what I've been hiding

In my shadow
My shadow
Change is coming through my shadow
My shadow
Shedding skin
I've been picking
My scabs again

Join in my
Join in my child
My shadow's
Closer to meaning

I've been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could've been
I've been wallowing in my own chaotic
Insecure delusions
I wanna feel the change consume me
Feel the outside turning in
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
Cleansing I've endured in

My shadow
My shadow
Change is coming
Now is my time
Listen to my muscle memory
Contemplate what I've been clinging to
Forty six and two ahead of me

I choose to live and to
Grow, take and give and to
Move, learn and love and to
Cry, kill and die and to
Be paranoid and to
Lie, hate and fear and to
Do what it takes to move through

I choose to live and to
Lie, kill and give and to
Die, learn and love and to
Do what it takes to step through

See my shadow changing
Stretching up and over me
Soften this old armor
Hoping I can clear the way by
Stepping through my shadow
Coming out the other side
Step into the shadow
Forty six and two are just ahead of me


Lyrics submitted by implode, edited by midnightzone

Forty Six & 2 Lyrics as written by Daniel Carey Adam Jones

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Forty Six & 2 song meanings
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  • +46
    General Comment

    This is one of Tool's most amazing songs, and really sums up the entire theme of Aenima. This song is about growing, changing, and moving towards the next level of human evolution and conciousness. It's deeply rooted in Jungian theory.

    Basically, it's believed that there are three levels of human evolution and each has it's form of conciousness. There's the 1st level with 44 chromosones. These are primitve people's like the aboriginies in Australia who do not percieve anything outside of themselves. They only see one large conciousness with no distinguishment between organisms. Then there's the second level with 46 chromosones. That is us. We are a chaotic disharmonic conciousness that is basically used as a stepping stone between the first and third levels. The third level is 48 chromosones. (Or 46 & 2, with 2 being the sex chromosones x & y). This is the higher level of conciousness. Our destination.

    But this is where the Jungian theory comes in. It is believed that you can not reach this third level of evolution without first delving into yourself and basically cleansing your conciousness for the next jump. That's where the Shadow comes in. The shadow is basically everything about that is unseen that you are uncomfortable with or hate. This is also known as the Anima (hence the name of the CD).

    The last part of the song sums all of this up...

    "See my shadow changing, Stretching up and over me Soften this old armor Hoping I can clear the way By stepping through my shadow, Coming out the other side Step into the shadow Forty six and two are just ahead of me"

    Oberoneson January 29, 2002   Link
  • +13
    My Interpretation

    "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. It may be (in part) one's link to more primitive animal instincts, which are superseded during early childhood by the conscious mind." - Jung

    The song is about Jung's Psychological theory of the "Shadow."

    And yes, it does have something to do with Chromosomes- Jung said that it is "One's link to more primitive animal instincts.." Humans have 46 chromosomes. Apes have 48. 46 + 2 = 48

    Brandon435on December 05, 2012   Link
  • +9
    General Comment

    This song is so awesome and powerful I don't even have words to describe it.

    I was just thinking one thing; could the whole shadow story be, among the other stuff, even a reference to the first verse of Sober? I like to think that when in Sober the protagonist of the song was chased by this negative (his own?) shadow, in Forty Six and Two he finally evolves, he get over his misery and he's free of his old shadow.

    Just guessing of course...

    Savag3Dragonon August 09, 2011   Link
  • +7
    My Interpretation

    [This song is about self improvement]

    My shadow's Shedding skin and [he sees himself as frayed and in a state of loss] I've been picking Scabs again. [He knows he has been the cause of it- doing it to himself]

    I'm down [he is deeply..] Digging through [searching his inner self] My old muscles [of his fundamental makeup (habits/interest/hates)] Looking for a clue. [of what is causing this]

    I've been crawling on my belly [he has left nothing unexamined] Clearing out what could've been. [busily discarding haunting what-ifs] I've been wallowing in my own confused [everywhere he digs he finds ] And insecure delusions [the what-ifs and lies to self that are -------------------------------------------------------------[truly not needed]

    For a piece to cross me over [he hopes for an easy fix] Or a word to guide me in. [or the guidance to fix himself] I wanna feel the changes coming down. [he truly wants to get better] I wanna know what I've been hiding in [and identify the hidden source of his -------------------------------------------------------------[problems]

    My shadow. [he identifies his Shadow as the inner self- his ------------------------------------------------[core being, or Soul] Change is coming through my shadow. [he knows that to fix himself he must mend his Soul. My shadow's shedding skin [he sees that his soul is suffering] I've been picking My scabs again. [and that he was the cause of it all]

    I've been crawling on my belly [he continues to examine himself, knowing Clearing out what could've been. [now what he has learned] I've been wallowing in my own chaotic And insecure delusions.

    I wanna feel the change consume me, [he knows to truly change will devour all ----------------------------------------------------------[that he was- and get rid of it] Feel the outside turning in. [he wants his outer self to change along with ---------------------------------------------------[his inner self] I wanna feel the metamorphosis and [he wants the change all through him] Cleansing I've endured within [that he has started to repair in His -----------------------------------------------------------------Shadow]

    My shadow Change is coming. [its working!] Now is my time.

    Listen to my muscle memory. [in his new self construction, he looks -------------------------------------------------------------back with hindsight] Contemplate what I've been clinging to. [on his foolish beliefs/delusions] Forty-six and two ahead of me. [there were 46 cycles of refining the list ------------------------------------------------------------of what to keep, and 2 left to do]

    I choose to live and to Grow, take and give and to Move, learn and love and to Cry, kill and die and to [This is self correction #45- the aspects he has chosen to hold onto] Be paranoid and to [There are 14 at this point] Lie, hate and fear and to Do what it takes to move through. [do it again (divide the list in half)]

    I choose to live and to Lie, kill and give and to [This is correction #46- the refined list of what Die, learn and love and to [he chooses to retain in his core being. 7 left] Do what it takes to step through. [do it again (divide the list in half)]

    See my shadow changing, [see how it works?] Stretching up and over me. [the Shadow is more whole than it has been] Soften this old armor. [his old defenses really arent needed anymore] Hoping I can clear the way [to finish he must FINISH]
    By stepping through my shadow,[each pass through his shadow is another turn] Coming out the other side. [what emerges is the new self/list] Step into the shadow. [do it again-] Forty six and two are just ahead of me. [he has done it 46 times, and 2 more remain]

    So, he has learned how to improve himself, and we are hearing if his process between the 46th and 47th repeat

    He lists his previous "insecure delusions" of 14, and whittles it down to 7, keeping only those he wishes to. He must do it 2 more times, leaving him with 1.7 aspects (1 fully, another just mostly) he wishes to hold onto at the end- that which he holds MOST important in his being.

    So its not anything bad, nor violent. Its just ruthless self examination and improvement, performed whenever he notices his shadow looking a little rough.

    lharveyon February 08, 2013   Link
  • +5
    My Interpretation

    Okay, we have 44 and 2 chromosomes currently and 46 and 2 is said to be our next step in our "evolution". I'm not religious, but Jesus Christ was thought to have 46 and 2 chromosomes, which made him what an amazing person in which he was claimed to be lol. It's kind of a more spiritual thing dealing with mind, body and soul. Even involving different dimensions like a 4th dimensional being,but w/e idk. This song talks about all of our problems as who we are currently and that we must live through them in order to get to our next step (46 and 2)....if we make it. Something interesting could be in our near-future.

    SomeDude66on August 17, 2012   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    I really don’t like this idea of it being about selling records or TooL being tedious for Maynard. One of the reasons APC was formed was because TooL were in a battle with lawyers due to recording writes when they’re producers or something changed. TooL thought they were in titled to record another album but the they’re new record company didn’t agree and when tool decided to take they’re stuff somewhere else they’re company tried to sue them for breaking a contract, this went on for years so during the time tool just toured on Opiate and Maynard started APC. He also stated that he feels more at home with tool than APC, which I think, is audible as it sounds so much.... Uh, you just can’t explain it. Like people have said before tool try to make they’re songs meanings apply to everyone, to me its about suffering from depression, this song helped me through some hard as shit times. I’m NOT talking about fucking ‘my parents hate me, I have no friend’ depression it was the real shit. Its about, yeah, just waiting out, this vampire- the cloud of people and ideas is trying to drain you and its getting so tiring you do just want to walk away- suicide. But you just gotta keep thinking of what you can have at the end of it, seriously anyone’s who has a rough time it helped me so fucking much, I swear and I’m so grateful no one will ever know how much. And all this shit about Maynard being god- please stop. If I was Maynard I would take offence as in many songs he makes fools of people who believe in gods and the idea of ‘god’ itself, I would feel seriously misunderstood and that my fans were complete dumbasses. Hey I dunno maybe he’s just a good old Christian full of sarcasm or whatever, but just please stop its irritating at religion itself.

    Tool_girlon September 08, 2002   Link
  • +4
    General Comment
     This song is about Maynard delving into the painful memories of his past which he has repressed "I've been picking scabs agian", this is represented in Jungian Psychology as his "Shadow", in order to grow and overcome there effects on him.  The shadow in this song is the same as the Snake in H "my shadow's shedding skin", which represents urges to treat Devo how his father treated him, abusively.  In order to eliminate his shadow he must first elucidate it's comments by looking into what he has repressed in his shadow.  The song shows this metaphorically through getting in touch with past uses of his body.

    I'm down Digging through My old muscles Looking for a clue

    I've been crawling on my belly clearing out what could have been

     The lyrics may also imply that he's been analyzing his dreams to further elucidate these repressed thoughts and feelings "wallowing in my own confused and insecure delusions" also "chaotic and insecure delusions" all to find and bring out these unconscious fears, and urges. 

    for a piece to cross me over or a word to guide me in I wanna feel the changes coming down I want to know what I've been hiding

    In my shadow

     The last 2 verses of this song are merely a declaration that he will do whatever is necessary, lie, cheat, steal, love, kill, die, etc. to express his shadow and by doing so understand it, and bring it into consciousness.
     He is throughout this song attempting to bring his "shadow" into light, merging it with his consciousness.  When he has merged his unconscious fears and urges with his conscious psyche "stepping through (his) shadow" he will have gained understanding of why he feels the way he does towards Devo, and these feelings will no longer be unconscious urges, effectively evolving (but in a psychological way) which is what the line and title "Forty Six and 2" represents metaphorically. Or at least that's what I got out of it.

    On a related note: THIS SONG IS AWESOME

    Daemianon July 14, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    The title of the name does not only have to do with the Anima, it is called Ænima. It is like saying an "Anima enema," or flushing out your old self. That would relate more closely to the theme of the album, which is change.

    bizarreon May 07, 2002   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    This song isn't about drugs at all... As people have already said, there are 46 chromosomes in human DNA - the song is about evolving to having an extra two chromosomes, explaining the 'shedding skin'. When he says "I", he is talking about us as an entire, and unified, race. He's talking about people clinging to being the same old repetitions of classic human behaviours, and not allowing ourselves to properly better ourselves as a race (picking scabs - stopping the 'healing' process). My interpretation of the shadow symbolism is that we have to embrace the darker parts of ourselves in order to see the light; to be conscious of our destructive paths so we can aim for a better day. It could also mean a temporary sacrificial act to secure a long term improvement (stepping through my shadow, coming out the other side...)

    Warholkolicon February 18, 2014   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    this is beautiful. the song the spiritual meaning behind it. it makes for such a beautiful entity. tool is definately the best band in the world. it makes me feel beautiful to listen to them. thank you maynard, adam, justin, and danny from the bottom of my heart.

    gaeaplaysguitaron June 12, 2002   Link

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