Sober (Tool song)
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- This article is about the song by Tool. For the song by Muse, see Showbiz.
| "Sober" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Tool | ||
| from the album Undertow | ||
| Released | 1993 | |
| Format | Promo CD | |
| Recorded | 1992 | |
| Genre | Alternative, Progressive rock | |
| Length | 5:05 | |
| Label | Volcano Records | |
| Producer(s) | Tool/Sylvia Massy | |
| Tool singles chronology | ||
| "Prison Sex" 1993 |
"Sober" 1993 |
"Stinkfist" 1996 |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| Promo cover | ||
"Sober" is a song on Tool's first full-length album, Undertow.
The meaning of the song is ambiguous, as the lyrics ask the question: "Why can't we not be sober?" This double negative allows for multiple interpretations, depending on which other parts of the lyrics are focused on. Adam Jones has stated in an interview that the song is about a friend of the band whose artistic expression only comes out when he is under the influence. "A lot of people give him shit for that," Jones explains. "[...] if you turn into a junkie, that's your fault."
The "shadow" haunting the author of the lyrics is very likely a reference to the Jungian concept of the shadow-self.
[edit] Video
A video to "Sober" was made in 1993. It was filmed using stop motion, with characters models designed by Adam Jones and directed by Fred Stuhr. It was the first of Tool's videos to be made in stop motion, the earlier promo video for Hush being live action and featuring all four band members. However, brief flashes of the musicians can be seen near the beginning, as well as a live-action figure twitching and vibrating violently (à la Jacob's Ladder (film)).
Besides being one of their first videos, it is also one of Tool's most ambiguous. Its protagonist is a small, humanoid being, who lives and sleeps in a rusty room sparsely decorated with a bed, table and chair. He happens upon a wooden box, which he opens near the beginning. Its contents are kept hidden for the majority of the video's duration, but it seems whatever it is has had adverse effects - there are repeated shots of the humanoid levitating in his chair, and his head and arm vibrating wildly. While experiencing these effects, he ventures through his living quarters and its many corridors.
The climax provides a barrage of imagery and revelations: a figure attached to a wall behind a translucent screen, a sentry of sorts wielding a mobile, robotic cannon and a wormlike, organic creature hidden within the house's pipes. At the end, we realise the box is filled with nothing, leaving the viewer to determine its meaning.
[edit] Cover Version
- Metal band Staind released an acoustic cover version of "Sober" on their 2006 compilation The Singles: 1996-2006.
| Tool |
|---|
| Danny Carey | Justin Chancellor | Maynard James Keenan | Adam Jones |
| Paul d'Amour |
| Discography |
| Opiate | Undertow | Ænima | Salival | Lateralus | 10,000 Days |
| Popular Songs |
| "Prison Sex" | "Sober" | "Stinkfist" | "Forty Six & 2" | "Ænema" | "Schism" | "Parabola" | "Vicarious" | "The Pot" |
| Related articles |
| Tool tours | Progressive rock | Bill Hicks | A Perfect Circle | Peach | Pigmy Love Circus | Lobal Orning |
