Spiritual evolution and enema: Jungian tropes in the lyrics of Tool

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse Jungian tropes in the lyrics of an American progressive rock band, Tool. Maynard James Keenan, the singer and lyricist, has always admitted to his enduring fascination with the theories of Carl Gustav Jung and Joseph Campbell and, apart from the songs, Jungian tropes are also evident in the album covers, promotional videos and the visuals of the group’s live shows. In his lyrics, Keenan directly or indirectly refers to the consecutive stages of Jung’s process of individuation, continuous spiritual evolution and Ewolucja duchowa i lewatywa: Jungowskie tropy w twórczości zespołu Tool transformation. Its aim is the complete integration of the conscious with the unconscious in the psyche. In the songs from Opiate and Undertow, Keenan expresses his sense of the need for spiritual development and integration of the persona, the mask used in one’s contacts with the outside world. Another recurring motif in the first albums is confrontation with the shadow, which, when repressed, brings about the fragmentation and disintegration of the psyche. The album Ænima focuses on the necessity to understand and realise the anima, an unconscious female element in a man’s psyche, which leads to spiritual cleansing. The final phase of individuation is the Self - the transcendence of all opposites and the discovery of the divine in a human being. It means a total balance of all mental functions, which is symbolically reflected in the perfect shape of the spiral. This stage of the spiritual evolution is addressed in the lyrics of several songs from Lateralus.