Aenima - TOOL - Lyric Video - From The Moon Saloon™ & The New American Media™

On February 11, 2010 at 2:48 AM this video was uploaded to YouTube, and it was removed from their platform in April of 2024.
Uploaded to Rumble & Odysee in May 2024.

TOOL is perhaps the best rock band of all time, and Aenima is perhaps the most powerful commentary on the Hollywood zeitgeist.
Full of snark, humor, sarcasm & vitriol, vocalist Maynard James Keenan tells a tale of a city so decadent, self-centered & foolish, that it might indeed be a blessing to watch it all come tumbling down.
Bring it down. Suck it Down. Flush It Down.

This has always been a favorite song of The New American Media founder, Brian Engelman, but somehow the full scope & power of the lyrics eluded him.
In the late night home studio with his brother Chris (R.I.P.), the 2 of them pulled up the lyrics and were amazed at how timeless this song seemed to be.
It was at that moment that Brian decided to make a visual interpretation of what the lyrics meant.
During the political turmoil of 2010, it was easy to look at both the republican & democrat parties as "one and the same".
Just 2 years away from the proverbial December 21st, 2012 theoretical cataclysm based off of "the end" of the Mayan calendar, the apocalyptic nature of the song took on an even more urgent significance.
The visuals will show a snapshot into radical shift on planet Earth that would result in water becoming land, & land becoming water.
"Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay".
Ultimately though, the vibe of the song isn't about "woe is me", or "too bad everything had to crumble apart", but rather the mantra of "learn to swim" is repeated as if a direct order, warning, & reminder that preparedness is always an important life skill to sharpen.

Some images from the original movie "Moon Saloon" are peppered into the video because many of the same themes overlap in this project that we were creating while completing this project.

A couple of clips from "The Glenn Beck Program" on Fox were shown, because while putting this project together, these episodes aired, & fit the theme perfectly.... I mean,... what better time for Glenn to say "it's California, it's all going to end in a landslide into the ocean anyway"!!!

I truly think that Tool is one of the most impressive & substantive bands of any genre to ever create music.
Obviously this video is meant as a tribute to an amazing song from an amazing band, and I encourage everyone to purchase their music, attend their next live show, & buy their merch to support their endeavors.

Artwork by David Renich (Cokebot for The Moon Saloon)
Special thanks to Sara Engelman for helping take the idea from a concept into a completed video project.

Thanks,
Brian Engelman
Creator, The Moon Saloon™
Founder, The New American Media™, TNAM Music™