Sober (Tool song)

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"Sober"
File:Sobers.gif
Single by Tool
from the album Undertow
Released May 1993
Format Compact Disc, vinyl
Recorded 1992
Genre Alternative metal[1]
Length 5:05
Label Zoo Entertainment
Writer(s) Danny Carey, Paul D'Amour, Adam Jones, Maynard James Keenan
Producer(s) Sylvia Massy, Tool
Tool singles chronology
"Hush"
(1993)		 "Sober"
(1993)		 "Prison Sex"
(1994)
Alternative cover
Cover for the promotional single.
Cover for the promotional single.

Sober is a song by US rock band, Tool. The song was released as the debut single from their second album, Undertow.

Tool guitarist Adam Jones has stated in an interview that the song is about a friend of the band whose artistic expression only comes out when he is under the influence. "A lot of people give him shit for that," Jones explains. "If you become addicted and a junkie, well, that's your fault."[2]

Writing

"Sober" is one of the earliest songs composed by Maynard James Keenan, with roots dating back to a 1987 live performance (released as Peace Day with his first band, Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty) in which the song was called "Burn About Out". The song contains some lyrics from the first verse of "Sober", with the same basic melody, although the melody is considerably faster and has an instrumental chorus.

The song was recorded by MJK with Tool for the first time in mid-1991 on a demo tape titled 72826.

Music video

File:Tool-Sober-video-screencap.jpg
Screenshot of the Sober music video depicting the humanoid being.

A video for "Sober" was made in 1993. It debuted in May of that same year and was directed by Fred Stuhr.[3] It was filmed using stop-motion animation, with the characters' models designed by Adam Jones. It was the first of Tool's videos to be made in stop motion, the earlier promo video for "Hush" being live action and featuring all four band members. However, brief flashes of the musicians can be seen near the beginning, as well as a live-action figure twitching and vibrating violently.

The video's protagonist is a small, humanoid being, who lives and sleeps in a rusty room sparsely decorated with a bed with no mattress and a curtain as a blanket, table and chair inside an abandoned mansion. He happens to stumble upon a wooden box, which he opens near the beginning. Its contents are kept hidden for the majority of the video's duration, but it seems whatever it is has had adverse mind altering effects - there are repeated shots of the humanoid levitating in his chair, and his head and arm vibrating wildly. While experiencing these effects, the figure ventures through his living quarters and its many corridors.

The climax provides a barrage of imagery and revelations: a figure attached to a wall behind a translucent screen, a sentry of sorts wielding a mobile, robotic cannon and an organic substance flowing through a pipe found in the house. At the end, the box is empty, leaving the viewer to determine its meaning.

Track listing

U.S. Single
No. Title Length
1. "Sober" (album version) 5:06
Australian/German Single
No. Title Length
1. "Sober" (album version) 5:06
2. "Bottom" (live) 6:24
3. "Intolerance" (live) 4:43
UK 12" Single
No. Title Length
1. "Sober" (album version) 5:06
2. "Prison Sex" (album version) 4:55
3. "Intolerance" (album version) 4:34
Sober - Tales from the Darkside
No. Title Length
1. "Sober" (album version) 5:06
2. "Undertow" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 5:42
3. "Sober" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 5:10
4. "Opiate" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 6:17
5. "Flood" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 3:40
6. "Prison Sex" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 4:50
7. "Jerk-Off" (live at Lollapalooza '93 - 8/6/93) 4:18
8. "Prison Sex" (live at Lowland Paradise Festival, Dronten, The Netherlands - 8/29/93) 5:01
9. "Bottom" (live at Lowland Paradise Festival, Dronten, The Netherlands - 8/29/93) 6:24

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Germany 1993 Zoo Entertainment CD 74321-21849-2
Australia CD 74321-21849-2
UK Vinyl picture disc 74321-22043-1
Promo vinyl TOOL 001
U.S. Promo CD ZP17121-2
Netherlands CD 74321 22604 2

Notable performances and covers

References in popular culture

Personnel

Tool

References

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  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ citing Guitar School, March 1994
  3. ↑ http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=28107
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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