So maybe you’ve seen it, and maybe you haven’t. Tool’s new CD, 10,000 Days came out this year, and it’s pretty damn good. There’s been talk around the internet about how you can combine three tracks - Wings for Marie, 10,000 Days, and Vigniti Tres - and make a whole new song. Some people think it was deliberate, and others say it’s just a coincidence. You decide.

In a May 5 post on the band’s official website, it is hinted that “the four individual photos [of the band members] can be used as the pieces of a kind of puzzle”, but the puzzle and its meaning “will just be another nut to crack.”

After an hour of looking and researching, I think I’ve solved the puzzle. Here we go…

Beneath the picture of Danny Carry (the one with the long hair and all the plants), there are four mandalas, each with 16 points. Add the points together and we get 64.

The Beatles wrote a song called, “When I’m Sixy-Four” on their album with lots of hidden imagery, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.

From the lyrics of the song:

When I get older losing my hair
many years from now
will you still be sending me a valentine
birthday greeting, bottle of wine
If I’d been out till quarter to three
would you lock the door
Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four

You’ll be older too
And if you say the word
I could stay with you

Look at the picture of Maynard. He’s sitting in front of a mirror, and in the mirror he has no hair. He is holding a glass of wine and has a wine bottle on the table with him. The woman behind him is coveting the phallic tower, and behind him in the mirror a ghost of a woman holds him. There is also a note and a clock on the table.

Next verse:

I could be handy mending a fuse
when your light have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings, go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more
Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four

Look at the picture of Danny Carry. He’s sitting surrounded by plants, with a picture of the tree of life in the background. He’s lifting a cup of some sort and a light is flying out of it.

Next verse:

Every summer we can rent a cottage on the
Isle of Wight, if it’s not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck, and Dave

Look at the picture of Adam Jones. He’s surrounded by tiny nick nacks and containers. He’s got three biological somethings in containers in front of him. One looks like a skull and the other two, maybe fetuses. They’re over his knee.

Final verse:

Send me a postcard, drop me a line
stating point of view
indicate precisely what you mean to say
yours sincerely wasting away
Give me your answer fill in a form
mine forever more
Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four

Look at the picture of Justin Chancellor. He’s got that massive bird on his arm, and although I have no idea what type it is, I’m pretty sure it’s used to send messages. The candles are all slowly burning away.

So that’s it! The secret’s been solved to the Tool puzzle. A whole lot easier than it should have been…

samech daled…

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