The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its initial release, selling 148,000 copies in its first week.^[8] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[9] The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 1996,^[10] including that of Kerrang!^[11] and Terrorizer.^[12] The track Ænema won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998.^[13] In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!^[14] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.^[15]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænima, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The song title, the lyrics and the perceived subject matter caused changes to be made to the originally released version by TV^[3] and radio programmers, who also shortened the track. The track has also been remixed by Skinny Puppy.

Keenan said the use of the words “stink” and “fist” and the resulting perception of “fist fucking” is actually symbolic in dealing with a friend of drummer Danny Carey who “isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty” rather than a “write-off” of the sexual term.^[4] Instead, fist fucking is a metaphor for the real cause of ailment.^[5] Keenan would introduce the song during the Ænima tour as “about choosing compassion over fear”

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Stinkfist, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its initial release, selling 148,000 copies in its first week.^[8] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[9] The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 1996,^[10] including that of Kerrang!^[11] and Terrorizer.^[12] The track Ænema won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998.^[13] In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!^[14] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.^[15]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænima, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its initial release, selling 148,000 copies in its first week.^[8] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[9] The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 1996,^[10] including that of Kerrang!^[11] and Terrorizer.^[12] The track Ænema won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998.^[13] In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!^[14] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.^[15]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænima, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its initial release, selling 148,000 copies in its first week.^[8] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[9] The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 1996,^[10] including that of Kerrang!^[11] and Terrorizer.^[12] The track Ænema won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998.^[13] In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!^[14] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.^[15]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænima, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The song begins with a story about a fan who accuses Tool of selling out. When asked if he is “sucking up to The Man“, Keenan casually responds that everyone is “The Man”. The intensity of the vocals and instruments are pushed to an almost comical level as proof that they have not lost their edge. One such lyric points out that “all you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar”.^[1][2]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Hooker With A Penis, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The working title for the song was “Half Empty”, and thus “H.” most likely stands for that or “Half Full”.^[3] During several tours, the lead singer of Tool, Maynard James Keenan, has referenced his son, whose middle name is H, just before performances of this song.

However, on several occasions, specifically on November 23, 1996^[4] during a show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Maynard James Keenan does grant some insight into another meaning of the song, saying:

“So, any of you ever watched those Warner Bros. cartoons? Sometimes there’s that one where that guy is having a tough time trying to make a decision. He’s got an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Seems pretty obvious, right? Usually it’s the angel who is kind of the one trying to give him the good advice while the devil is trying to get him to do what’s bad for him. It’s not always that simple though. Most times they’re not really angels or devils. They’re just friends giving you advice, looking out for your best interest but not really understanding what’s going to be best for you. So it kind of comes down to you. You have to make the decision yourself… This song is called H.”

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article H. (song), which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

A popular belief is that the song title refers to an idea first conceived by Carl Jung and later expounded upon by Drunvalo Melchizedek concerning the possibility of reaching a state of evolution at which the body would have two more than the normal 46 total chromosomes and leave a currently disharmonious state.^[2][3] The premise is humans would deviate from the current state of human DNA which contains 44 autosomes and two sex chromosomes. The next step of evolution would likely result in human DNA being reorganized into 46 autosomes and two sex chromosomes, according to Melchizedek.

Additionally, it may refer to the desire to experience change through the “shadow“, an idea that represents the parts of one’s psyche, and identity that one hates, fears and represses; this exists as a recurring theme in the work of Carl Jung.^[4]

The song is mostly in 4/4 time with some sections of 7/8 in between. In the intro, Danny Carey plays four measures of 7/8 on his ride cymbal over the rest of the band playing in 4/4, and they all meet up on the downbeat of the 5th measure in 4/4. During the bridge there are three measures of 7/8 followed by one measure of 4/4. During a particular quad fill, the drums are in 3/8, the guitar plays one measure of 9/8 followed by one in 5/8 all while the bass keeps time in 7/8.^[5] Most of the song is written in D Phrygian dominant scale,^[6] also known as the fifth mode of the G harmonic minor scale.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Forty Six & 2, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its initial release, selling 148,000 copies in its first week.^[8] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[9] The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 1996,^[10] including that of Kerrang!^[11] and Terrorizer.^[12] The track Ænema won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998.^[13] In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!^[14] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.^[15]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænima, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

The song makes extensive use of hemiola, a musical technique in which the emphasis in a triple meter is changed to give the illusion that both a duple and a triple meter occur in the song.

The song is cast in terminally climactic form,^[1] in which two verse/chorus pairs give way to a climactic ending on new material.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ænema, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.