Schism (Tool song)

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"Schism"

Single by Tool
from the album Lateralus
Released	2001
Format	Promo CD and DVD
Recorded	2001
Genre	Progressive Rock
Length	6:46
Label	Volcano Records
Producer(s)	David Bottrill
Tool singles chronology
"Stinkfist" 1996	"Schism" 2001	"Parabola" 2002
Promo cover

"Schism" is a song by American progressive rock/metal band Tool. It was the first single and music video from their third full-length album, Lateralus. In 2001, Tool won a Grammy in the category of "Best Metal Performance" for this song. "Schism" is known as a prime example of Tool's utilization of complex rhythms and changing meters.

The DVD single for "Schism" was released on December 20, 2005. Likewise, a DVD single for the epic tracks "Parabol" and "Parabola" was released on the same date. Each DVD contains a remix of each track by Lustmord, as well as audio commentary by David Yow ("Schism") and Jello Biafra ("Parabola").

1 Song meter
2 Schism DVD
3 Track listing
- 3.1 Promo CD
- 3.2 DVD
4 Personnel

[edit] Song meter

A possible analysis of the meter changes is found in the August 2001 issue of Guitar One magazine. As transcribed by Adam Perlmutter, the song starts in 5/4 for one measure followed by 21 measures of 6/4 (or 5/8 and 7/8 alternating), up to the first interlude, which is a bar of 3/8, three bars of 13/8, and a bar of 10/8. (This can be also interpreted as four 13/8 bars, but played with a 3/8 upbeat.) The next verse is eight bars all in 6/4 followed by another interlude that fits the same pattern as the first. This brings us to the "The poetry that comes..." section, which is four bars of 6/4 followed by one bar of 11/8. Another eight-bar verse in 6/4 follows, with an interlude containing the same as before, except this time the final 10/8 bar is replaced with an 11/8 bar setting up the middle section, which is four bars of 7/4 before settling into a pattern of alternating 12/8 and 15/8, one bar each, twelve times, containing the "Cold silence..." lyrics. At this point, at the end of the word "compassion", there are three bars of 4/4 (which nearly sounds foreign at this point), a bar of 2/4, and four bars of 4/4 setting up the "Between supposed lovers" section, which is two bars of 9/8 followed by a bar of 10/8, that pattern again, a single bar of 9/8 followed by a 13/8 bar. This leads to an alternating set of 9/8 and 5/8, appearing four times before a bar of 9/8 and a bar of 6/8. The ending "I know the pieces fit" lyrics bring back the 6/4 meter for eight bars, followed by eight bars of 4/4 to end the song.

[edit] Schism DVD

Schism is the name of the DVD single of the song "Schism" from Tool's album Lateralus. It contains the video for "Schism", dual-commentary by David Yow and a remix by Lustmord. It was released along with the Parabola DVD single on December 20, 2005.