Album: Fear Inoculum (2019)

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• The word pneuma comes from the Greek word for "that which is breathed or blown." The term took on multiple layers of meaning for the ancient Greeks and later for Judeo-Christian theologians and philosophers, as it became a word for "spirit" or "soul."
  
  References to the "breathe" concept are found in the song's line We are born of one breath, one word, and the continued repetition of "spirit."
  
  In the case of this song, the reference to the word is clearly oriented towards the yogic tradition, with guitar synthesized to sound like the Middle Eastern sitar and the light playing of Arabic goblet drum. Breath, or "pneuma," is at the core essence of yogic practice, both literally and spiritually.
  
  This song basically is a yogic meditation rendered in music. It discusses how we human beings are bound to our flesh and the illusions of the material world, but really are called to return to the essential, egoless "pneuma" of the universe's underlying reality. The song is a call to spiritual freedom and oneness:
  
  Reach out and beyond
  Wake up, remember
  We are born of one breath, one word
  We are all one spark, eyes full of wonder
• "Pneuma" is the second song on Fear Inoculum. At 11:53, it's long compared to most rock songs, but six tracks on the album are over 10 minutes long, so it's pretty much par for the course.

Comments: 3

• Dr Meta from Texarcana Archon-sawPneuma means breath or spirit, and Tool's lyrics have arcane & occult references to Kaballah & Gnosticism which themselves are influenced by Greco-Roman philosophy (like Plato & the Pleroma) and their ancient Egyptian predecessors (ie Hermes Trismegistus). Indian & Eastern mysticism predates & informs Western esotericism. But Kaballah & Gnosticism is paramount to the Neoplantists & Hermeticists, and allegory is gleaned from the literal. For them the universe is created as a breath of God. It's the fiery exhalation that mirrors the Big Bang after which God's inhalation contracts the universe in a Big Crunch. This happens many thousands of times (called Aeons) before THIS universe, our imperfect universe, is breathed into existence. However not every vessel was prepared to catch this divine breath of light and the chaotic Qliphoth soon began what Isaac Luria called "the breaking of the shells."
  
  There are 3 major forms of being & knowledge in this universe: the lowest is hylics or material existence, psychics in the middle, and pneumatics (pneuma) at the top representing the spiritual. For example the Tree of Life corresponds to the flow from top to bottom from pneumatics to hylics. We are in what some consider an "aborted" universe created not by God but by the Demiurge otherwise no imperfection or evil would exist. So what are we too do at the very bottom of the sublunar realm amongst the hylics so very far from the heavenly pneumatics? The way to attain metanoia (true epiphany), spiritual knowledge (pneuma), or nirvana is through gnosis: knowing & recognizing this predicament, then waking up the the remnants of creation's long lost perfection within us. These remnants of the Ein Sof, the ineffable, or the Big Bang correlate to the divine spark of sophia inside us. This spark of creation
  refers to knowledge (sophia/ennoia). Through ritual or spiritual exercise we can awaken them and attain connections & oneness with the origin, the spirit (pneuma), the Monad.
  
  So why not wake others up as well & make the world a better place as hinted in the song. Meditation has long been an Eastern and Western form of not just relation but awareness and deep thought. Descartes and other philosophers wrote "Meditations" in which they tap into the fundament of being and reality to try to establish ontological tenets. Alchemy, Occult, Esoteria, & Magic along with their symbols are ubiquitous in art, music, & philosophy. It's the rabbit hole of all rabbit holes and leads to its own gnosis even without the rituals. Take a deep dive and see the universe with different eyes.
• Lovetheseguys from Usinescapably perfect.
• Stoopitnoob from Las VegasWhile your interpretation is a sound one, it's deeper than that if you open your mind. The music is a soul's journey. The times and sounds are simple at the begining like a child birth and progresses through complexity just like that of the experience of the soul. Tones are different (ways of seeing Life and perspective) as the song progresses.
  
  Lyrics are overlayed to deliver the message. Saying we are nailed down to this limited place but know where we come from and it's just out our reach.
  
  As the song progresses it gets richer and more robust. There is a luciousness to it. The timing and complexity increases like a person in their 30s and 40s.
  
  As the song gets deeper, it nears the end stage and the tones are that of a soul with much experience. The energy of the lyrics become bold as if a grandfather telling the child to be careful. Almost authoratative.
  
  Them as the song ends, it returns to more melodic harmonic less harsh sounds as the soul returns to source.

More Songfacts:

That'll Be The DayBuddy Holly

Buddy Holly got the title for his hit song "That'll Be The Day" from a phrase John Wayne repeats in the 1956 movie The Searchers.

StrongerKanye West

A 2011 Gold's Gym poll found "Stronger" by Kanye West the best song to work out to. Second place was the Rocky theme.

Boom ClapCharli XCX

Before recording "Boom Clap" herself, Charli XCX offered the song to Hilary Duff, but her people turned down the tune because it "wasn't cool enough for Hilary."

Work ItMissy Elliott

On Missy Elliott's "Work It," the backward vocal is the previous line, "Put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it," in reverse. She stumbled on it when the engineer played it backward by mistake.

Crocodile RockElton John

Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" borrows a bit from Don McLean's "American Pie." Both songs feature a Chevy, and are about young people who are heartbroken when their music "dies."

Flying Without WingsWestlife

A live, stripped-down version of "Flying Without Wings" by the Irish boy band Westlife was the first #1 on the Official UK Download Chart. It was recorded in May 1994 at The Globe, Stockholm.

Editor's Picks

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.