Editing Lateralus (section)

== Composition and content ==
Drummer [[Danny Carey]] sampled himself breathing through a tube to simulate the chanting of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monks for "Parabol", and banged [[Piano wire|piano strings]] for samples on "Reflection".<ref name=moderndrummer>{{cite web |url=http://toolshed.down.net/articles/index.php?action=view-article&id=June_2001--Modern_Drummer.html|title=Danny Carey: Demon On Drums |first=Ken|last=Micallef|publisher=Modern Drummer, transcribed by Ruskin F. for The Tool Page|date=June 2001|access-date=April 17, 2007 |quote=I also had a piano that was destroyed. I got some good samples from that, banging on the strings for 'Resolution.'}}</ref> "Faaip de Oiad" samples a recording of a 1997 call on [[Art Bell]]'s radio program ''[[Coast to Coast AM]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8352198_ITM|title=Tool's latest a step ahead of the 'metal' mouths |first=Jim |last=Abbott |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|date=May 24, 2001|access-date=April 15, 2008}}</ref> "Faaip de Oiad" is [[Enochian]] for ''The Voice of God''.

"Disposition", "Reflection", and "Triad" form a sequence<ref name="Fricke"/> that has been performed in succession live with occasional help from various tourmates such as [[Mike Patton]], [[Dave Lombardo]], [[Buzz Osborne]], [[Tricky (musician)|Tricky]], and members of [[Isis (band)|Isis]], [[Meshuggah]], and [[King Crimson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EE08899E588B92C&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |title=Tool, King Crimson remind audiences how rock should be |first=Brad |last=Kava |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |date=August 13, 2001 |access-date=February 19, 2008 |url-access=subscription}}<br/>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RO&p_theme=ro&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F722EF0CFF8C145&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |title=Tool shakes the walls |work=[[The Roanoke Times]] |date=November 5, 2002 |access-date=February 19, 2008 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The title track, "[[Lateralus (song)|Lateralus]]", incorporates the [[Fibonacci number|Fibonacci sequence]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upvenue.com/music-news/blog-headline/1142/fibonacci-in-tool-s-lateralus.html|title=Fibonacci in Tool's Lateralus |publisher=UpVenue|access-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref> The theme of the song describes the desire of humans to explore and to expand for more knowledge and a deeper understanding of everything. The lyrics "spiral out" refer to this desire and also to the [[Fibonacci number|Fibonacci spiral]], which is formed by creating and arranging squares for each number in the sequence's 1,1,2,3,5,8,... pattern, and drawing a curve that connects to two corners of each square. This would, allowed to continue onwards, theoretically create a never-ending and infinitely expanding spiral. Related to this, the song's main theme features successive time signatures 9/8, 8/8, and 7/8.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tool – Lateralus tab |url=http://www.guitaretab.com/t/tool/21818.html |access-date=August 9, 2011 |publisher=GuitareTab!}}</ref> The number 987 is the sixteenth integer of the Fibonacci sequence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indigo.ie/~peter/Fib1.htm|title=Fibonacci and extensions|publisher=indigo.ie|access-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref>

"Eon Blue Apocalypse" is an instrumental piece in-between "The Grudge" and "The Patient".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://toolshed.down.net/articles/index.php?action=view-article&id=June_2001--Terrorizer.html|title=The Tool Page: Articles |publisher=toolshed.down.net|access-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref> The track "Mantra" is the slowed-down sound of [[Maynard James Keenan]] gently squeezing one of his cats.<ref name=akhtar/>

In an interview with producer David Bottrill, he revealed that the lyrics for 'Schism' were changed last minute because of Adam Jones thinking they were too close to home. The first version of the lyrics were, according to Bottrill, very explicitly about the building tensions between Maynard and Adam, and the band as a whole. Maynard  changed them after a lengthy band meeting, to be more broadly applicable to relationships falling apart.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzKHh58MUoM&t=3918s |title=David Bottrill on Producing King Crimson, Tool, Muse and more – Part 1 |date=2023-01-09 |last=Produce Like A Pro |access-date=2025-01-06 |via=YouTube}}</ref>