"Jambi" is a song by US
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
. The song was released as a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
and the second track from their fourth
studio album ''
10,000 Days''. It was made officially available for radio airplay on February 12, 2007.
Overview
"Jambi" both begins in and is primarily in 9/8 time, interspersed with sections of 6/4. The entire band's first change to 6/4 begins in the section immediately preceding the guitar solo and continues through the solo.
During the solo,
Adam Jones uses a
talk box
A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...
effect;
Justin Chancellor
Justin Gunnar Walter Chancellor (born 19 November 1970) is an English musician best known as the bass player for progressive metal band Tool since 1995. He was also the bassist of the band Peach. After settling in the US, along with his engage ...
plays in 6/4, but unlike the rest of the band, he
subdivides the riff into a pulse of 4+2;
Danny Carey
Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the drummer for the American rock band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, ...
accompanies in 6/4 with a 4 over 3
polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music ( cross-rhyt ...
to link the bass's subdivisions with the rest of the band. As the solo ends and the song moves into the next section, the drums and bass shift back into 9/8 while the guitar remains in 6/4 to create a
polymeter
In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perf ...
. Once the 9/8 vocals rejoin, the guitar shifts back into 9/8. The entire band then remains in 9/8 until moving back into 6/4 for the final two measures, which reuses the first two measures of the first 6/4 section.
Its title has been said to primarily refer to the
iambic meter
The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pr ...
used in the lyrics of the song, as 'jambi' means 'iamb' in Finnish.
Drummer
Danny Carey
Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the drummer for the American rock band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, ...
stated that when bassist
Justin Chancellor
Justin Gunnar Walter Chancellor (born 19 November 1970) is an English musician best known as the bass player for progressive metal band Tool since 1995. He was also the bassist of the band Peach. After settling in the US, along with his engage ...
played the bass track of the song, it instantly reminded him of the children's television program ''
Pee-wee's Playhouse
''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's ...
'', then singer
Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pus ...
thought of the genie "Jambi" and had the idea to make the song's theme about making wishes.
fourtheye.net
Danny Carey
Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the drummer for the American rock band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, ...
. Retrieved 2009-9-29
Track listing
Chart performance
References
{{authority control
2006 songs
2007 singles
Songs written by Adam Jones (musician)
Songs written by Danny Carey
Songs written by Justin Chancellor
Songs written by Maynard James Keenan
Tool (band) songs
Volcano Entertainment singles