I was thinking of starting a series of the reason why I like a particular song. Our first video of the best transitions in a band was related to the band Tool, and also, in this case, the song we are going to check out is from the same band. I’m going to share with you guys why I like The Grudge.
First, let’s talk about the meaning of the song itself. Tool is not popular for sharing their own point of view of a piece of music they release. They prefer to leave the audience to judge that by themselves. Each and one of us have a different way of thinking and we feel something different when listening to a song. That’s why what I’ll do is briefly explain the general meaning of the lyrics and then I’ll tell you my point of view, what I receive when listening to it. That’s why the comment section below is that important, in that place, it would be good if you share with us what you get.
This song makes references to the planet Saturn, which has an orbital period close to 30 years. The period of time from when we are born until we turn 30 represent a profound transformation and maturation of our lives. If you hold the grudge it means that you don’t let it go when you feel someone’s insulted you.
The phrase “Lifts you up like a child, Or drags you down like a stone” seems to be talking about Saturn, giving it a symbol of time and maturity. Who raised you? Was there something wrong in the first steps of your life? Are you going to hold that anger with you? Or are you going to release the grudge in yourself and lift yourself up? You’re are 30 now, you’re old enough to understand that you are the only responsible for what is happening to you.
If you hear the phrase “Clutch it like a cornerstone, otherwise it all comes down” might refer that you have to build the foundation of your life, which is intended to be done before turning 30. If you make that wrong, your life will fall apart in the near future in the most possible scenario.
At the end of the song Maynard suggests doing one thing: Let go, let go, let go, let go.
Adding blank spaces in songs is something that I can’t find the reason to admire, most of the time anyway. It seems like a blank space is located at the beginning of The Grudge. But that’s not true, you might need to turn up the volume a bit, but you can hear how Tool charges the battery for what is coming next. I don’t think that you need to turn up the volume a lot in order to enjoy a song, but in this case, you need to have just high enough for hearing this part I think.
This is the opening track of the band’s very well acclaimed third album, Lateralus. Since the beginning of the track, you can hear how the percussions create a spiral sounding effect.
I think that every single member of Tool makes his job pretty good, extremely good I might say. One thing that Adam does is keeping the songs alive. This might piss some of Tool fans, but I think that sometimes their songs might get you chill, at least for me! When you’re enjoying this groovy sound, you hear a distorted guitar riff that you wouldn’t expect, but it sounds pretty good in the whole picture.
I’ve added this transition in my top Tool transitions video (you can check it out here if you like). It is so simple, yet the headbanging effect it has is so effective that I start to bounce my head every time I listened to it.
The Grudge has so many strange tunes that might sound a little bit weird if they are heard individually. But as people say, Tool is not a music band, they are music architects, and they know how to place these ones in a way that they sound very natural.
This is the first album that all the bass lines were written by Justin. And this is very noticeable. Justin contributed to the new Tool progressive sound with little things like this. Hear this little but yet the very characteristic sound of Tool from every album after Ænima.
How not to mention the aggressive 25-second scream that Maynard delivers? Some people claim that this is a looped edited scream. I think this was just a younger Maynard James Keenan.
Another thing that I like about this song and this is something that happens with a lot of Tool songs. It’s that it goes in crescendo and you don’t realize it and you find yourself in a heavy nasty gorgeous field.
I think that the main reason why I like this song is that it’s really complete, it has all the ingredients to have a pleasant trip while listening to it
Most of all, I think this song represents the new direction of Tool, one of the most influencing active bands in history.