| "Ænema" | ||||||||
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| Single by Tool | ||||||||
| from the album Ænima | ||||||||
| Released | 1996 | |||||||
| Genre | Progressive metal | |||||||
| Length | 6:39 | |||||||
| Tool singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Ænema" is a Grammy Award-winning song by rock band Tool, released as the third single from their second album Ænima. Adam Jones made a video for the song using stop-motion animation that appears on Salival. The song reached number twenty-five on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in August 1997.
The song makes extensive use of hemiola, a musical technique in which the emphasis in a triple meter is changed to give the illusion that both a duple and a triple meter occur in the song. For example, during the first verse, the beat appears to be in 12/8 timing, while toward the middle of the song when the lyrics from the first verse are repeated, the beat can be perceived as being in 6/8 timing. The double bass drums are in a shuffle pattern and are also alternated with a floor tom in the middle of the song making them seem twice the speed.
Keenan incorporates into the lyrics part of comedian Bill Hicks' sketch "Arizona Bay" routine (from Hicks' comedy segment album of the same name) by stating the line "learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay." Hicks appears in the liner notes/sleeve as a doctor, and a lenticular image below the case tray illustrates a large portion of California disappearing leaving only the Pacific Ocean, as is mentioned in the song. California falling into the sea is a prediction made by Edgar Cayce, also known as "The Sleeping Prophet," about the end of days in which California and New York are to sink into the ocean among a plethora of other devastating weather changes.
It also refers to the Church of Scientology with the line "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones"; this is because the band members of Tool are opposed to Scientology.[1]
The video for "Ænema" was directed by guitarist Adam Jones with art design by Cam de Leon and features stop-motion animation. The video revolves around a humanoid figure with alien-like features. Throughout the video the character ventures through an aquatic world and is seen to have a hose-like organ (resembling an umbilical cord) protruding from its abdomen which squirts out water that fills the room the figure is standing in. Towards the end of the video the figure is seen being tossed inside a water filled box by a character wearing business attire.
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