I’m listening to Pneuma by Tool, my favorite song off their latest record.

As a nerdy caucasian who finds the touch of a woman miraculous, it’s no surprise that Tool’s one of my favorite bands. When I write music, it’s three chord singalongs rather than shamanic, polyrhythmic explorations of our inextricable creative essences, and I suppose there’s no time like the quarantined present to turn that ship around. But I think I’ll stick with “perfecting” a french omelette.

Tool excels at playing off of each other. Danny Carey grooves in 7, say, Adam Jones plays a riff in 5, Justin Chancellor’s bass line’s in god knows what, and, to my ears, the resultant rhythm’s deeply soulful. Skip to 4:27 and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.

I aspire to be as good at whatever the hell it is that I do as Tool is at their band. I’ve got a long way to go.