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Lab Track: Lateralus

Today’s lab track is math rock! I was hipped to this track over the weekend, which is kind of shameful, since I loooove odd and changing meters and this song came out way back in the Napster era. Oops.

Tool’s Lateralus is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, both in the lyrics (the syllables begin with 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and then go back down) and the time signature (9/8, 8/8, 7/8 — 987 is the 16th integer of the Fibonacci sequence). The song itself describes humanity’s efforts to better understand the universe.

Tap your foot and count along. It’s fun!

Ashley Hamer

Ashley Hamer (aka Smashley) is a saxophonist and writer living in Chicago, where she performs regularly with the funk band FuzZz and jazz ensemble Big Band Boom. She also does standup comedy, sort of, sometimes. Her tenor saxophone's name is Ladybird.

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One Comment

  1. I knew this song was awesome! It’s more finely crafted than I expected. Tool is/are freakin’ geniuses.

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