Transcending Rock Tradition:Form, Text, and Integration in the

Music of Dream Theater

Kris P. ShafferLawrence University Conservatory of Music

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Table of Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................3

Formal Innovations in the Music of Dream Theater........................................................................6Traditional Rock Music and Verse-chorus Form........................................................................................6Progressive Rock and Early Deviations from Traditional Verse-Chorus Form..........................................8Yes’ Close to the Edge as an Example of Formal Evolution in Rock Music..............................................9The Verse-Chorus Continuum..................................................................................................................10Thematic Analysis of Close to the Edge, Non-Traditional Formal Distinctions......................................13The Verse-Chorus Continuum in Close to the Edge.................................................................................17Large-Scale Formal Analysis of Close to the Edge..................................................................................19Formal Evolution Continued in Dream Theater’s Home..........................................................................22The Verse-Chorus Continuum and Form in the Instrumental Music of Dream Theater...........................25A Formal Analysis of Erotomania (from A Mind Beside Itself)...............................................................26

Dreams and the Unconscious in the texts of Dream Theater.......................................................34Properties of Dreams and Their Occurrences in Dream Theater Texts....................................................34The Changing Role of Dreams and the Unconscious in Dream Theater’s Music.....................................38The Unconscious in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory............................................................40The Anima and the Shadow Archetypes...................................................................................................41The Anima in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory.....................................................................45The Shadow in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory...................................................................46Dreams and Dream Theater......................................................................................................................49

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: an Analysis................................................................................51Large-Scale Formal Structure in Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence..........................................................51The Text of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence..........................................................................................54A Movement-by-Movement Analysis of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.............................................56Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................86

Appendix 1................................................................................................................................................88Appendix 2................................................................................................................................................91Appendix 3................................................................................................................................................92Appendix 4................................................................................................................................................94Appendix 5................................................................................................................................................98Appendix 6..............................................................................................................................................100Appendix 7..............................................................................................................................................102Appendix 8..............................................................................................................................................104Appendix 9..............................................................................................................................................111

Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................112

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Introduction

Dream Theater is one of the premiere progressive rock bands on today’s music

scene. All virtuoso performers, Dream Theater also exhibits unusual depth in the areas of

formal organization and poetic composition. Dream Theater currently consists of James

LaBrie, vocals; John Petrucci, guitar; Jordan Rudess, keyboard; John Myung, bass; and

Mike Portnoy, drums and percussion. Their story begins in September of 1986, when

John Petrucci and John Myung—best friends since high school—decided while studying

at the Berklee School of Music in Boston that they wanted to form a band. They found

Mike Portnoy in a practice room, called Kevin Moore—an old friend from high school—

and subsequently found a vocalist named Chris Collins. In 1986, the band Majesty was

born.

In 1987, Collins left to pursue other musical interests, and a new singer, Charlie

Dominici, was hired to fill the role. While working on recording their first album,

Majesty was contacted by a band in Las Vegas which was already named Majesty. After

several possible new names were discarded, the name “Dream Theater”—after a

demolished California cinema—was suggested by Mike Portnoy’s father, Howard, and

the band took this as their new name.

After releasing their first album, When Dream and Day Unite, in 1989, Dream

Theater decided to expand their performances beyond small bars and clubs. They

dropped their current record company, fired Dominici, and went for a fresh start. After

hearing over 200 audition tapes, Dream Theater chose Kevin LaBrie to be their new lead

vocalist. However, with two Johns and a Kevin already in the band, Kevin LaBrie

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avoided doubling a second name by using his middle name, James. In 1993, Dream

Theater recorded Images and Words, their first big hit among progressive rock fans.

After recording Awake in 1994, keyboardist Kevin Moore left the band to pursue a

solo career. At this point Dream Theater pursued Jordan Rudess to fill the position, but

the Julliard-trained keyboardist has just taken a position with the Dixie Dregs. Dream

Theater hired Derek Sherinian to temporarily fill the spot, and they played with him for

several years. LaBrie, Petrucci, Sherinian, Myung, and Portnoy recorded A Change of

Seasons in 1995 and Falling Into Infinity in 1996.

Dream Theater then took some time off to pursue side projects as individuals,

such as Liquid Tension Experiment, Transatlantic, King’s X, and Explorer’s Club.

During this time, Dream Theater also released a live album/video comprised of music

from several concert tours. In 1999, Rudess finally became available, and Dream Theater

brought Rudess into the band. Since hiring Rudess, Dream Theater has released

Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and Train

of Thought.1

In the past sixteen years, the musicians of Dream Theater (and Majesty) have

produced some of the most exciting and most important music in the world of progressive

rock. Continuing in the pattern of bands like Yes, Rush, E.L.P., King Crimson, and The

Dixie Dregs, Dream Theater has transcended the traditional mold of rock music. Dream

Theater completes the liberation of verse and chorus that began with bands such as Yes,

composes texts that go beyond typical subject matter in rock music deep into the world of

the unconscious, and achieves higher levels of musical complexity, integration, and unity.

The world of progressive rock musicians and fans eagerly awaits every song they write, in

1 Dixon, Brad. “The Story So Far . . .” In Dream Theater – The Official Site [online]. Available fromhttp://www.dreamtheater.net/bio_dt.htm.

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order to hear what new musical developments and what great musicianship they have yet

to share.

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Formal Innovations in the Music of Dream Theater

Strongly rooted in traditional rock, and building upon innovations of earlier

progressive bands, Dream Theater has developed new ways of utilizing the traditional

building blocks of rock form: the verse and the chorus. Through what I will name the

verse-chorus continuum, Dream Theater creates from these building blocks a wider

variety of formal possibilities than is available in traditional rock, and enables a stronger

formal and thematic connection between their instrumental music and their vocal music.

The pieces become longer, often with several movements, and the sounds are fresh and

original, though their basic materials are entirely familiar. The result is music that is at

the same time more complex and more cohesive than traditional rock.

Traditional Rock Music and Verse-chorus Form

Traditional rock songs have a simple formal structure: verse-chorus form. It

typically consists of alternation between two musical ideas, the verse and the chorus,

where one idea—the verse—has the same music but different text every time it occurs,

and the other idea—the chorus—has fixed music and text. This form often has an

instrumental introduction, which can be a separate musical idea or tied to one of the two

main ideas (usually the chorus). At the end, the introductory material often returns. She

Loves You (CD 1, track 1), by the Beatles, is an example of this structure: introduction,

verse 1, verse 2, chorus, verse 3, chorus, closing. Here, the introductory material is

identical to the chorus. The Closing material is an abridged version of the Introduction.

Sometimes verse-chorus form contains a bridge, which is a new musical idea in

place of the last verse (i.e. preceding the last chorus). In the bridge, there is typically a

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musical intensification—it often becomes louder or more harmonically active or unstable

than the verses—and this builds more tension into the chorus, thus making a stronger

climax near the end of the song. An example of this is One (CD 1, track 2), by U2:

introduction, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, verse 3, chorus, bridge, chorus, closing. In

One, the introductory material is based on the music of the verses, and the closing

material is based on the music of the choruses. Though the texts of the choruses are not

identical in One, they have a parallel structure and some textual repetition. The climactic

nature of the chorus also sets it aside from the verses musically.

The text of the bridge also sets it apart, as it often represents a key thought, a

turning point, or a revelation on the part of the narrator. For example, the text of the

bridge in One is:

You sayLove is a templeLove a higher lawLove is a templeLove the higher lawYou ask me to enterBut then you make me crawlAnd I can’t be holding onTo what you gotWhen all you got is hurt

This bridge is the clearest statement of the conflict set out in the first three verses,

and it leads into the last chorus, where the idea presented in the first three choruses—“It’s

one love/We get to share it/It leaves you baby/If you don’t care for it,” and “We’re

one/But we’re not the same/We hurt each other/Then we do it again”—is not merely

recapitulated, but comes to a resolution about the way things should be: “One love/One

blood . . . One life/With each other . . . We get to carry each other.” In a song like this,

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the use of a bridge in place of the last verse emphasizes a pivotal part of the text, giving it

a unique and important position in the form of the song.

The verse-chorus form has its roots in the rondo form of the Classical era and in

the psalm-antiphon repetitions of pre-Renaissance church music. It is also prominent in

Western folk music and church hymns. Picking up any book of folks songs or hymns,

one can easily see verse-chorus form in many of the songs, where one melody is written

on the staff, while roughly half of the tune—the verse—has multiple lines of text below

it, and the other half—the chorus—has just one line of text.

Verse-chorus form works well for popular music. A song written in verse-chorus

form is usually not as complex and difficult to learn as a through-composed song may be.

On the other hand, a song written in verse-chorus form is more flexible than a song

written in strophic form, where one musical theme is repeated multiple times with no

variation. For these reasons, verse-chorus form has always been a prime candidate for

popular music structure, and is the principal formal structure of rock music, from Elvis to

Led Zeppelin to the Goo Goo Dolls.

Progressive Rock and Early Deviations from Traditional Verse-Chorus Form

Early in its history, rock as a genre was rebellious and counter-culture. However,

as it became accepted as the predominant form of American and British popular music,

rock bands had to pursue their originality in other ways. Some bands (Led Zeppelin and

Queen, for example) sought to raise their version of rock to a high level of artistic merit.

In addition to being virtuoso musicians, these bands also raised their level of artistry in

melodic and harmonic organization, lyric poetry, and formal structure (though for the

purpose of this project, I will focus only on formal structure right now).

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This evolution can be seen easily in the music of the Beatles. By the mid-60s, the

rock and roll genre was no longer shocking and original, and to remain ahead of the pack,

songs like Love Me Do would have to give way to songs like Strawberry Fields Forever

and A Day in the Life. The simple repeated text and I-IV-V harmony already saturated

the genre, so the Beatles’ music matured and became more harmonically and melodically

interesting, and lyrically more profound. Though the simple structure and sound of early

rock was still prominent, many bands began looking for newer, more mature, and more

artistic ways to express themselves within the genre of rock music.

Yes was one of these bands. Known for their longer-than-normal songs, multi-

movement works, and instrumental virtuosity, Yes explored many non-standard formal

structures in their works which were important precursors to the music of Dream Theater.

Yes’ Close to the Edge as an Example of Formal Evolution in Rock Music

Close to the Edge (CD 1, track 3) is a pivotal work in the repertoire of Yes that is

of utmost significance when studying Dream Theater. It is a single work made of four

movements, which proceed attacca, one into the next. Yes was one of the first bands to

compose multi-movement rock pieces, which is a key element in Dream Theater’s music.

In Close to the Edge, the movements are not independent works, but formal divisions of a

single cohesive whole, which is the primary way in which Dream Theater treats their

multi-movement works. So in analysis, one must look at the whole work at once, not at

individual movements. In doing so, one can gather many insights into Yes’ influence on

Dream Theater.

Close to the Edge exemplifies the beginning of the breakdown of traditional

verse-chorus form, which continues into the works of Dream Theater. In Close to the

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Edge, the traditional roles of the verse and the chorus give way to new concepts of formal

structure, and the emergence of the properties of the verse-chorus continuum. These are

key developments in rock form that help prepare the way for the formal developments to

come in the music of Dream Theater.

The Verse-Chorus Continuum

A verse-chorus continuum exhibits the breakdown of traditional verse-chorus

distinctions and their function within a rock song. The primary distinction between verse

and chorus in traditional rock music is that the chorus has a repeated text, where the verse

has a new text every time it occurs. Both verse and chorus repeat their respective melodic

materials. However, early in the history of rock (as well as in the older musical traditions

mentioned earlier from which rock derives its formal structure) other, more profound

distinctions between verse and chorus emerge.

The verse typically carries the narrative of the song. Since verse text does not

repeat, it can tell a continuous story, with choruses interjected. Because it focuses on the

narrative, the music of the verse tends to be less melodically active than the chorus,

allowing the narrative to come through. The chorus, on the other hand, incorporates the

same text each time it occurs between verses, so its text is rarely part of the narrative.

Rather, the text typically portrays a prominent emotional or psychological idea that is

explored or realized in the course of the narrative (for example, Help by the Beatles); or

in simpler songs, it is merely a catch phrase or summary of the ideas expressed in the

verses (like the fore-mentioned Love Me Do and Please, Please Me by the Beatles). Like

the verse, the chorus is set to the same music each time, but this music is typically the

climax of the song, or at least more melodically and harmonically active than the music

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of the verse. This not only draws attention to the central textual ideas, but it also keeps

the song exciting, as several repetitions of the same text and music can become boring.

These distinctions bear strong resemblance to the aria and recitativo distinctions

of Classical Opera. The aria, like the chorus, is musically climactic and repetitive, while

the text is simple, to the point, and usually reflects something emotional or psychological

about the character singing (for example, “Se Vuol Ballare” from Mozart’s Marriage of

Figaro, CD 1, track 4). The recitativo, like the verse, is musically simple, while the text

is prominent, fast-paced, and drives the narrative (for example, “Cosa Stai Misurando”

from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, CD 1, track 5).

As these types of distinctions between verse and chorus become more prominent

in rock music, a trend emerges where the verse and the chorus begin to take on a new

meaning as they are liberated from their traditional formal role. The simpler verse-chorus

distinctions based on the repetition—or lack of repetition—of text give way in

progressive bands like Yes to the qualitative distinctions more akin to aria and recitativo.

In Yes’ Close to the Edge, we see these distinctions grow in prominence as the verses’

and choruses’ attachment to traditional form loosens.

The first aspect of this liberation in the use of multiple verse and multiple chorus

themes. In Close to the Edge, there are a total of six verse and chorus themes, labeled A

through F in this analysis (CD 1, tracks 6-11, see appendix 4 for text). So how does one

distinguish between verses and choruses in Close to the Edge when there are six themes?

In traditional rock form, there would be two repeated musical themes: the verse with a

different text each time it occurs, and the chorus with repeated text. By these traditional

distinctions, there would be four verse themes (themes A, B, C, and E) and one chorus

theme (theme F). However, this would mean that no chorus appears until the third

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movement, and theme D is neither verse nor chorus, because it only appears once. The

only other possible traditional role this passage might fulfill would be that of a bridge, but

it comes between two verses in the middle of the second movement rather than setting up

the chorus late in the piece, so that is not possible. It is also very closely related to the

material of another theme, theme B (both text and music), which makes it still less likely

to be filling the role of bridge.

Another problem with traditional formal categorization in this song is that theme

B (which would be a verse by traditional standards) has a text that has a parallel structure,

and shares some text each time it occurs, making it at best a weak verse candidate which

is loosely related to another theme (D).

However, the biggest problem with this traditional categorization is that the piece

does not sound like it has one chorus, four verses, and one independent section that does

not fit into any formal mold. Though they do so to different degrees, themes B, D, and F

sound like choruses, and themes A, C, and E sound like verses. Why? It is because of

the other, more qualitative distinctions of verse and chorus mentioned before that each of

these formal sections sounds—and functions—the way it does. In general, the verse is

less musically climactic (often more rhythmically active or unstable) and has a text with a

narrative focus. The chorus is more musically climactic and has a text with an emotional

or psychological focus or expresses some key thought or idea. Following is an analysis of

the formal divisions of Close to the Edge with these distinctions in mind:

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Thematic Analysis of Close to the Edge, Non-Traditional Formal Distinctions

Theme A (CD 1, track 6):

Theme A is fast paced and rhythmic. The meter is 3/2, but the melody plays on repeated

groups of three eighth-notes (quarter-eighth), creating an interesting rhythmic complexity

that drives the verse forward (a 3/2 feel and a 12/8 feel juxtaposed—see brackets on m.

1). This is the most narrative-like text (or the most like recitativo) in the piece, setting up

the main textual idea to come in the first chorus. Because of its narrative-like text, its fast

pace, and the fact that it is rhythmic and driving forward rather than a climactic musical

arrival, this section best fits in the verse category (verse theme 1).

Theme B (CD 1, track 7):

The next prominent formal section contains not only the title of the piece (a good

indication of a chorus in a rock), but it is the central text of the piece:

Down at the edge, round by the cornerNot right away, not right awayClose to the Edge, down by a riverNot right away, not right away

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It summarizes the main idea which the narrative texts describe. Musically it contrasts

theme A (verse 1) greatly by being an arrival, a settling of the musical and rhythmic

direction. In fact, there is some great text setting on the phrase “Not right away,” where

the accompaniment freezes temporarily before moving on. These texts will be explained

by verses to come. Because this formal section is a musical arrival and because it states

central textual themes that are elaborated on in the verses, this section is a chorus (chorus

theme 1).

Theme C (CD 1, track 8):

Like theme A, theme C is predominately in 3/2, with two bars per phrase (two groups of

three). It is more stable than theme A, since there is no metrical juxtaposition. However,

there is a similar rhythmic play at the end of theme C, where the expected final 3/2 bar is

replaced with three 2/2 bars. Thus the phrase that begins with a phrase of two bars of

three beats ends with three bars of two beats, reminding the listener of theme A's

rhythmic nuance.

Like theme A (verse 1), the texts to the theme C sections are explanatory of the

main theme set out in theme B (chorus 1). These texts are less narrative than the verse 1

texts, and explain the central ideas more clearly. Though they are more closely related to

the central texts of the choruses—with lines like “Leaving all the changes far from far

behind” and “As we cross from side to side/We hear the total mass retain” actually

making reference to the titles of their respective movements—they are explanatory texts,

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more representative of the narrative-like verse model. The music is more melodic than

verse 1, with less forward drive, though it shares some rhythmic properties with verse 1.

However, because it is more chorus-like than verse 1, and because both the music

and the text set up chorus 1, one may be tempted to call this formal section a bridge.

However, this does not work because the bridge rarely appears more than once, and never

this close to the beginning of a piece. If theme C only appeared once in the last

movement, and never anywhere else, it would make a fine bridge. However, its role in

the piece as a whole is most definitely verse, because it possesses more tendencies

towards verseness than chorusness, and does not meet the necessary criteria for a bridge.

Theme D (CD 1, track 9):

This is the hardest formal section to categorize. It only appears once, so differences or

similarities in multiple repetitions cannot shed any light on its role in the piece. To

complicate matters further, this section contains music and text adapted from chorus 1, in

the meter of verses 1 and 2. In spite of these difficulties, I have decided to categorize this

theme as a chorus (chorus theme 2). First, the text in this case gives a strong argument

for its role as a chorus in the piece. The centrality of the textual theme overrides the

relation of the music to verse 1.

More importantly, when sketched side by side, the formal structures of the first

two movements are almost identical:

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The Solid Time of Change Total Mass Retain

Instrumental OpeningVerse – Theme 1Verse – 1Chorus 1 Interlude (instrumental)Verse – 2Chorus 1Foreshadow Chorus 3Instrumental Transition

Verse – 1Verse – 1Chorus 1

Verse – 2Chorus 1Foreshadow Chorus 3Instrumental Transition

In context of the large scale form (which will be explained later), Total Mass Retain is a

condensed and varied repetition of The Solid Time of Change. The only difference, aside

from the absence of some instrumental passages in The Solid Time of Change, is the

substitution of chorus 2 for chorus 1. The sequence of verse 1-verse 1-verse 3-verse 2-

chorus 1 does not make sense when compared to the formal structure of the first

movement. When one takes both this pattern and the text of theme D into account, this

passage makes the most sense categorized as a chorus, which possesses some qualities of

verseness.

Theme E (CD 1, track 10):

This passage, which opens movement III, I Get Up, I Get Down, is thus far the most

musically sedated—a stark contrast from everything in the first two movements. There

are no drums, just vocals with a steady 4/4 pulse in the keyboard and some guitar and

bass sound effects making reference to the introduction of movement I. In spite of the

relaxed nature of this movement, theme E is quite active both rhythmically and

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melodically. The texts of theme E are clearly narrative in focus (see appendix 4), and are

different each time (though the background text is repeated). This theme definitely

belongs in the verse category (verse theme 3).

Theme F (CD 1, track 11):

This is the simplest of the formal themes. It consists of one line of text repeated: “I get

up, I get down,” which is the title of the movement, and is introduced in the first

movement. The music is very simple: an ascending melody on “I get up,” and a

descending melody on “I get down,” with one chord per phrase. The piece reaches its

two highest climaxes (at the end of movements 3 and 4) on this theme. It is a chorus

(chorus theme 3), even by traditional definitions.

The Verse-Chorus Continuum in Close to the Edge

Analyzing Close to the Edge with these new verse-chorus distinctions in mind

helps sort out the formal divisions in a complex piece, but it is the verse-chorus

continuum that helps to organize these formal divisions into a cohesive whole, and it is

the verse-chorus continuum that demonstrates the formal connections between traditional

rock, Yes, and Dream Theater.

The verse-chorus continuum is a way of organizing formal sections according to

tendencies of “verseness” or “chorusness.” When composing a piece with multiple verse

and chorus themes, rarely are the choruses equally chorus-like and the verses equally

verse-like; rather, there is a wide range of possibilities for formal roles. Some verses are

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more narrative in focus than others; some choruses are more climactic than others. By

plotting the verses and choruses on a continuum, one can see more clearly the roles of

verses and choruses within the large-scale form of a progressive rock work. For example,

a simple verse-chorus continuum can be drawn up for traditional verse-chorus form:

Verseness ChorusnessVerse Bridge Chorus

Verse-chorus form is based on alternation between two ideas: the verse and the chorus.

The roles are distinct, obvious, and simple. However, even early in rock history, the use

of a bridge is evidence that rock musicians felt that a more varied palette of formal

building blocks was necessary to create a song that is formally interesting. Based on this

idea, groups like Yes began adding still more formal divisions, i.e. multiple verses and

choruses. However, one can easily see that the verse themes in Close to the Edge do not

have an identical quality of “verseness,” nor do the choruses have an identical quality of

“chorusness.” verses 1 and 3 have a stronger narrative focus than verse 2, and verses 2

and 3 are more melodically active and rhythmically sedated than verse 1. Chorus 3 has

the only text which is identical every time it occurs, while chorus 1 is slightly varied each

time; chorus 2 bears strong textual resemblance to chorus 1, but is more like verses 1 and

2 metrically. With these distinctions in mind, one can place these along a verse-chorus

continuum like so:

Verseness ChorusnessVerse 1 Verse 3 Verse 2 Chorus 2 Chorus 1 Chorus 3

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By doing this, one gains insight into the reasoning behind the formal role given to each

section. For example, chorus 3, having the most chorusness, is the theme used for the

two most significant climaxes, and occurs in some form in each movement. chorus 2,

being the most verse-like of the choruses, is used only once in the piece. It adds interest

as a new melody, but because there are two chorus themes with more chorusness and

three verse themes with more verseness, its most significant feature is its fresh melodic

setting of a previously used text; thus, once is enough for this theme.

The verse-chorus continuum is not a formal structure. Rather it is a way of

analyzing (or creating) pieces with multiple verse and chorus themes. It presents clearly

the tendencies of each formal section in order to understand their roles in the large-scale

form. Once a verse-chorus continuum has been sketched for a piece with multiple verses

and choruses, large-scale formal analysis becomes easier and makes more sense.

Large-Scale Formal Analysis of Close to the Edge

Close to the Edge exhibits a large-scale ternary form. The Solid Time of Change

and Total Mass Retain make up the A section, where Total Mass Retain is a loose,

abbreviated repetition of The Solid Time of Change; I Get Up, I Get Down is the

contrasting B section; and Seasons of Man is the recapitulatory A’ section. Below is a

table which shows the makeup of the formal divisions and parallel structures of the A and

A’ sections:

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A A'I. The Solid Time of Change II. Total Mass Retain IV. Seasons of ManSound effectsInstrumental openingVerse 1Verse 1 Chorus 1Interlude (instrumental)Verse 2Chorus 1Foreshadow Chorus 3Instrumental Transition

Verse 1Verse 1Chorus 2

Verse 2Chorus 1Foreshadow Chorus 3Instrumental Transition

Instrumental intro. (verse 1)Verse 1Verse 1

Verse 2Chorus 1Chorus 3Sound effects

B

III. I Ger Up, I Get DownSound EffectsVerse 3Chorus 3Verse 3Chorus 3Verse 3Chorus 3Organ TransitionChorus 3

Without considering the verse-chorus continuum, one can easily see how the different

verses and choruses comprise the structure of the A, B, and A’ sections. The three

movements of the A and A’ sections (1, 2, and 4) are nearly identical in structure, and the

B section—though loosely based on the same model (verse-chorus form)—is the most

contrasting structurally. One can also see that Yes has preserved the traditional role of

instrumental passages as interludes and transitions, something that will change in the

music of Dream Theater.

However, when considering the verse-chorus continuum in Close to the Edge, one

finds more interesting formal characteristics. The two strongest verses (i.e. the verses

with the most verseness)—verse 1 and verse 3—have more structural significance than

verse 2. Verse 1 occurs twice at the beginning of each A-section and A’-section

movement, and thus appears more times than any other verse, carrying the bulk of the

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narrative text. Verse 3 occurs three times in movement III (the most verse occurrences in

a single movement), and is the only verse within that movement, carrying all of the

narrative text of the contrasting B section.

Chorus 3, the strongest chorus, is the driving motive of the piece. There is a

progression to the occurrences of this material. In the first and second movements, the

chorus 3 material is foreshadowed; in the third movement, it occurs in its entirety

repeatedly—the only chorus of that movement; and in the fourth movement, it occurs in

its entirety, both music and text, as a recapitulation. It is interesting that the most restful,

stable, and unchanging musical material in the piece is used as the driving force formally.

The verses and choruses in the middle of the continuum are no less significant

than the “stronger” verses and choruses. If Yes only used the strongest (the most verse-

like) verse and the strongest (the most chorus-like) chorus, Close to the Edge would

either be much shorter or quite boring; it would not be able to have such a simple large-

scale structure; it would not be able to have such a complex local structure; and there

would be too great a contrast between the verse and the chorus to have musical

coherence. By using multiple verses and choruses of varying degrees of verseness and

chorusness, Yes can create a piece that is longer and more contrasting than a traditional

rock song, as well as being more complex locally while still maintaining its large-scale

simplicity. The verse-chorus continuum can help the listener or the analyst to make sense

of the formal complexity, while still keeping close to the traditional rock roots that are so

important to groups like Yes and Dream Theater.

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Formal Evolution Continued in Dream Theater’s Home

Home, from Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory (CD 1, track 12) is a

prime example of Dream Theater’s formal innovation. It falls at the beginning of Act II.

In Act I, the main character, Nicholas, under the guidance of a hypnotherapist in the year

2000, falls into a hypnotic trance. While under this trance, he recalls memories of a past

life which has been haunting his dreams for some time. He discovers that in 1928, he

was a young woman named Victoria, who was murdered. According to the newspaper,

she died in a murder-suicide at the hands of her lover, whom she had decided to leave.

In Act II, Nicholas learns that this account is false. Victoria and her lover, Julian

(The Sleeper), had been struggling through some tough times, which led at one point to

some time off from their relationship. Julian was addicted to gambling and alcohol, and

Victoria could not stay with him as long as he continued on that path. Julian’s brother,

Edward (The Miracle), stepped in to help Victoria through her heartache and fell in love

with her. Julian finally decided to put aside his other life to run away with Victoria.

When Edward found this out, he killed them both, and disguised it as a murder-suicide

with himself as the only witness. Home is the point at the beginning of Act II where

Nicholas discovers the inner struggles of The Miracle and The Sleeper, which reveal

things that cast doubt on the official account of what happened.

The text of Home (appendix 5) is clearly divided into three large sections: one

spoken by The Sleeper, one by The Miracle, and one by Nicholas. The music sets these

three sections apart by instrumental sections, totaling seven sections in all:

Shaffer 23

Instrumental IntroductionThe SleeperInstrumental InterludeThe MiracleInstrumental solosNicholasInstrumental Conclusion, segue to The Dance of Eternity

As in Close to the Edge, the formal structure is based on the textual passages and the

instrumental passages play a more passive role formally. There are six such passages,

which make up themes A through F (see appendix 5 for text, CD 1, tracks 13-18), and

this is where the verse-chorus continuum comes in. The large-scale form—through-

composed, with some thematic repetition—is based on progressing towards a musical

climax or a psychological realization. Because gradual progression is such a prominent

theme in this song, and because the differences in verseness and chorusness between

adjacent themes are subtle, I have decided not to label these sections as verses and

choruses, but to keep the labels sections A through F. However, this song does cover the

entire continuum, from a spoken narrative (section B), to a climactic, chorus-like passage

(section F). Beginning with the most narrative and going towards the most emotional and

climactic, the verse-chorus continuum for Home is as follows:

Verseness Chorusness

Section B Sections A andC Section D Section E Section F

In Home, the verse-chorus continuum not only shows the variety of verse and

chorus properties in its different formal sections, but also outlines several progressions

within the song. First of all, each large formal division progresses from the verse end to

the chorus end: in The Sleeper it is A-D-E-F, in The Miracle it is B-C-D-E-F, and in

Shaffer 24

Nicholas it is E-F. This progression from verseness to chorusness is evident in the

properties of both the music and the text. In music, it is evident in the melodic and

harmonic activity, as well as the direction towards the climax: section B is spoken (no

melody, static harmony); A and C have melodies, but no functional harmonic motion,

only a pedal with a repeating riff in the background; D begins with a harmonic shift to a

new pedal and riff, and it ends with a faster harmonic rhythm, and throughout is more

melodic than A, B, or C; E is still more active harmonically and melodically leading into

F, the climactic arrival. The texts of A, B, and C are narrative, describing the situation in

which the character finds himself2; D represents the conflict of this situation and the

character’s obsession and weakness; E depicts the emotional, psychological hold the

obsession has on the character; and F is a cry for help from this obsession.

There is another progression in the text, as texts become more similar in each

occurrence as they approach the chorus end of the continuum. Sections A, B, and C,

though occupying the same formal position, are so different in music and text that they

are distinct themes; section D has the same music and a couple identical or related lines

of text; section E has more lines in common in each occurrence, and in section F over

half of the textual material is the same in each occurrence. Sections D, E, and F are all

built on parallel text structures, which become closer to actual repetition in each section.

Every aspect of these sections—melody, textual themes, and textual parallels in multiple

occurrences—becomes less verse-like and more chorus-like as the music progresses

towards the climax of section F.

2 The lack of a narrative section in Nicholas' passage is due to the fact that 1) the whole piece thus far isNicholas' story and 2) in this song, the first two passages (the Sleeper and the Miracle) directly relate theevents prompting Nicholas' emotional output in his sections E and F.

Shaffer 25

There is also a progression amongst the three large divisions. The first division

describes the inner conflict of The Sleeper that strains his relationship with Victoria. The

next division describes the relationship between Victoria and The Miracle that occurs in

response to the conflict between The Sleeper and Victoria. The third is Nicholas’

reaction to this whole conflict from 1928 that is invading his dreams.

Home stretches the concepts of verse and chorus even farther than Close to the

Edge. The formal progressions of the song are derived completely from the

psychological conflicts of the characters. However, the formal roles of the individual

sections are still related to traditional verses and choruses; though, in place of the verse-

chorus alternation is a verse-to-chorus progression. Progressive rock musicians like

Dream Theater prefer to maintain ties to traditional rock and its formal characteristics.

However, as the verse-chorus continuum shows, rock musicians can expand on the

concepts of verse and chorus to create a piece that is locally more complex, but on the

whole, more formally and dramatically coherent.

The Verse-Chorus Continuum and Form in the Instrumental Music of DreamTheater

Instrumental music plays a large role in the works of Dream Theater. Quite often,

as in traditional rock and early progressive rock, instrumental passages can be

introductory, transitory, or closing material, and may or may not be derived from verse or

chorus themes. However, instrumental music also plays a more independent formal role

in many of Dream Theater’s works. Pieces such as A Mind Beside Itself, Trial of Tears,

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory contain

whole movements that have no vocals. In these pieces, the instrumental movements have

Shaffer 26

their own identity and their own formal tendencies. Since there are no verses or choruses

in the instrumental movements, the formal structures of these movements are distinct

from verse-chorus form or the properties of the verse-chorus continuum. However, the

properties of the instrumental formal structure often bear strong resemblance to the

formal principles illustrated by the verse-chorus continuum.

A Formal Analysis of Erotomania (from A Mind Beside Itself)

Erotomania (CD 1, track 19), movement I of A Mind Beside Itself, is a prime

example of instrumental formal structure that is related to the principles of the verse-

chorus continuum (see appendix 7 for thematic catalogue). The large-scale form is

ternary, ending with a transition to movement II. The opening A section (at 0:00)

consists of themes with asymmetrical meters (mixing beats that are 2 and 3 eight-notes in

length) and chromaticized blues and diatonic modes. The contrasting B section (1:57)

consists of themes with symmetrical meters (mostly 4/4) and strict blues (5-note) and

diatonic modes. In addition to being a contrasting section, the B section also develops

material from the A section and utilizes altered versions of the A section material in the

retransition. The recapitulatory A’ section (5:44) contains the opening material—slightly

modified—and a coda/transition to the second movement. In addition to the three large-

scale formal sections, there are six distinct themes (A-F), much like the formal properties

of Close to the Edge and Home. Following is an analysis of each of the six themes:

Theme A (CD 1, track 20):

Shaffer 27

Theme A is a repeated 4-bar phrase that makes use of the blues scale with chromatic

passing tones:

The first bar is on F-sharp, and it is repeated sequentially in the second bar on G-sharp.

These two bars are repeated with the eighth-rest dropped from the last bar. In this theme,

scale degrees lowered-7 and lowered-2 are very prominent, with lowered-2 (G) ending the

gesture each measure in its respective key, and lowered-7 (E) being fixed as the subtonic

(acting as a leading tone substitute) for the home key of F-sharp. Rhythmically, this

theme features a mixture of 2- and 3-eighth-note beats. It begins with three bars of 10/8

(2+2+3+3), and the last bar of theme is 9/8 (2+2+2+3), where the eighth-rest from the last

beat of the 10/8 bars is dropped.

Theme B (CD 1, track 21):

Theme B embodies many of the same properties of theme A, but in new ways. Modally,

the theme incorporates diatonicism as well as the chromaticized blues scale. The first and

Shaffer 28

third bars are on E Lydian. The second bar is the chromaticized blues scale on E, with an

emphasis on lowered scale degree 2 (F). The last three bars combine diatonicism and

chromaticism, leading to the dominant of E (B) for the repeat. Rhythmically, theme B

continues the pattern of theme A, where mixed beats of two and three eighth-notes make

up the meter. The first and third measures are 10/8, divided exactly like the first three

measures of theme A (2+2+3+3). The second measure, however, is in 5/4, with all

quarter-note beats. To balance this, the fourth and fifth bars are in 6/8, with all beats

lasting three eighth notes. This separation of the 2- and 3-eighth-note beats into separate

measures in a trend that will continue throughout the piece. In the last three bars, the

melodic interval of the third also begins to take prominence, not only as an open interval,

but also filled in stepwise both diatonically and chromatically. The major, minor, and

diminished thirds are all present in these three measures. This emphasis on the third

began subtly in theme A, where G (lowered-2) and E (lowered-7) were the most

prominent cadential notes, and this emphasis continues to grow later.

Theme C (CD 1, track 22):

In theme C, the instruments are separated into two musical lines. The melody in the

keyboard is diatonic in G major, with a chromatic neighbor note (raised scale degree 1,

G-sharp) for embellishment only. The bass and guitar line is chromatic, descending from

G to E, a minor third, and the two prominent notes from theme A are now even more

prominent. Rhythmically, the 3-eighth-note beats have come to dominate, with regular

Shaffer 29

quarter-note beats only at the ends of measures to add rhythmic propulsion to the next

downbeat.

Theme D (CD 1, track 23):

Theme D brings, for the first time, the strict 5-note blues scale on G-sharp. Though the

blues scale has played an important role already in the piece, it has never appeared in its

pure form until now. The key of G-sharp minor is significant, because the pitch G-sharp

plays an important role in this piece: it is the secondary modal center for theme A, it is

the color pitch in the E-Lydian section of theme B, and it is the only chromatic note

appearing in theme C. One other prominent aspect of this theme is that every measure of

the theme ends on F-sharp, the subtonic (as leading tone substitute) that we have seen

before, and the modal center of theme A. F-sharp and G-sharp are important tonal centers

for the piece, and they always work together.

This theme is strictly in 4/4, the first time that there has been a 4/4 bar in the

piece, and this meter will dominate the piece for some time to come. The 3-eighth-note

beats have been dropped completely, signaling the beginning of a new formal division.

Shaffer 30

Themes E and F (CD 1, tracks 24 and 25):

Theme E:

Theme F:

In theme E (G-sharp minor, 4/4), there is a significant relaxation of both texture and

metric rhythm. There is a static, repeated rhythm in the melody, and the bass has an

ascending line of half-notes. However, there is still a rising tension, particularly in the

bass pattern. These circumstances do not seem to make sense. There has been a

rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic relaxation in the music, and all the forces that once

were fighting are gone. The music is sitting on G-sharp minor and 4/4, but there is a rise

in tension anticipating something. And in m. 89, with the cadence in B major and the

statement of theme F, the theme from The Silent Man (the third movement of A Mind

Beside Itself), it becomes clear. Starting with theme D, the rhythmic tension that has been

driving the work forward disappears and is replaced by a feeling of anticipation. There is

something unsettling—in spite of the metrical stability—that gradually grows in urgency.

This anxiety, together with the rising bass line, builds tension in anticipation of the

climax. This tension is finally resolved with the entrance of theme F, the theme from The

Shaffer 31

Silent Man. Here, the rhythmic and modal fighting has been resolved; the role of G-

sharp minor (which became the bridge to the arrival key of B) and the thirds that became

so prominent (and are all over theme F) are now apparent.

In analyzing these themes, it becomes apparent that these are not merely six

different themes; rather they are six distinct but related themes. Themes A and B share

the chromaticized blues scale and similar metrical structures; themes B and C share the

emphasis on the interval of a third and have loosely related metrical and modal bases;

themes C and D are together responsible for the loss of chromaticism; themes D and E

share the 4/4 meter and the G-sharp minor tonal center; and themes E and F also share

the 4/4 meter, while theme F is in the relative major of theme E. Like a verse-chorus

continuum, these six instrumental themes can be laid out in a thematic continuum,

beginning with theme A and ending with theme F, where each theme is related by pitch,

rhythmic, or metrical organization to the theme(s) adjacent to it:

Home DistantTheme A Theme B Theme C | Theme D Theme E Theme F

Not surprisingly, the relationship of these themes is central to understanding the large-

scale formal structure (for complete formal sketch, see appendix 7). The relationship

from one theme to another binds together each formal section and the piece as a whole.

The degree of closeness of the relationship between adjacent themes then marks the large-

scale formal divisions. For example, themes C and D are the most contrasting of any pair

of adjacent themes; the emergence of a symmetrical meter (4/4) in theme D is

particularly striking. This contrast is what makes the break between the large-scale A and

Shaffer 32

B sections clear. The return of theme A in its original form at 5:44—not its occurrence

superimposed on a 4/4 meter at 5:30—marks the recapitulation.

But Erotomania is not merely divided into three sections, each containing three

similar themes that are contrasting to the themes of another group. There is continual

progression away from the home theme (theme A) and back again that unifies the

movement and builds tension towards the recapitulation. Beginning with theme A, each

new theme is related to the previous theme, but less closely related to theme A. Each new

theme also expands upon one or more of the three driving motives of the home theme

(the interval of a third, the F-sharp minor to G-sharp minor relationship, and the emphasis

on the subtonic and the lowered supertonic) as a sort of development of the opening

theme. When the movement finally reaches its farthest point from the home theme—

theme F, the principal theme of The Silent Man—then a developmental section leads the

piece through a quasi-retransition beginning at 4:14, a false recapitulation on theme C at

4:23, a real transition (sitting on the subtonic, E, of the home key, F-sharp minor) at 5:22,

and ultimately the real recapitulation on the home theme at 5:44.

This progression from the home theme to theme F and back again is similar to key

relationships in sonata form. The exposition begins with two themes, one in the home

key and one in the dominant (or relative major). Then a contrasting, developmental

section takes the movement further from the home key—using varied versions of material

from the exposition, and sometimes new, but related, material—and after reaching the

most distant point, there is a retransition to the dominant (much like Erotomania’s

subtonic). This sets up the recapitulation with both original themes in the home key.

Properties of the verse-chorus continuum are also evident in Erotomania’s formal

structure. Though there is no text, and thus no verses or choruses, there are multiple

Shaffer 33

themes, each slightly related to the next, which are used in a progression, as illustrated

above. Each section has its distinct role, but they all work together to create one large

unified structure. By using this kind of structure, Dream Theater can create a wide

variety of instrumental pieces that are complex and unique, yet coherent and unified on

the large-scale. They also connect the structures of their instrumental and vocal pieces,

creating a more unified body of work than most progressive rock bands. Indeed, the

relationship between Dream Theater’s vocal and instrumental music, as well as their

influences from the traditional worlds of rock and classical music create yet another

formal continuum:

Popular/Rock High Art/ClassicalVerse-Chorus DT Vocal DT Instrumental Sonata

They have not only brought the concepts of verse and chorus closer together, resulting in

a wider variety of formal options, but they have also brought rock and Classical structures

closer together, paving the way for musicians to draw from the formal and musical

innovations of traditionally exclusive genres. In the next chapter, we will see that Dream

Theater has also begun to draw from sources outside of the music world to redefine what

it means to be a rock artist.

Shaffer 34

Dreams and the Unconscious in the texts of Dream Theater

As the name Dream Theater suggests, dreams play a major role in the texts to

many of Dream Theater’s songs. Not only are dreams the central topic of many of their

songs (Surrounded, Under a Glass Moon, and Wait for Sleep, for instance, where

dreaming, sleeping, and night are prominent themes), but the properties of dreams are

evident in their textual and musical styles. Dreams commonly exhibit certain properties,

such as associative logic, non-chronological narration, elements of the mystical and

eternal, as well as religious and archetypal symbolism, and these properties are common

in Dream Theater’s texts, even when dreams are not the principal topic or theme of the

song.

Properties of Dreams and Their Occurrences in Dream Theater Texts

Associative logic is a property of dreams whereby the plot of the dream does not

follow the same continuous chronological pattern of the conscious world, but jumps from

scene to scene, with links of association, much like Faulkner’s concept of stream of

consciousness. Most people who remember their dreams can attest to this property’s

presence in many of their dreams. Associative logic is evident in songs like Hollow

Years, where the two verses are two different stories written within the same textual

skeleton:

Shaffer 35

Verse 1 Verse 2

He's just the kind of manYou hear aboutWho leaves his family forAn easy outThey never saw the signsHe never said a wordHe couldn't take another day

She's not the kind of girlYou hear aboutShe'll never want anotherShe'll never be withoutShe'll give you all the signsShe'll tell you everythingThen turn around and walk away

Here stories that, in the conscious world, are alien from each other are linked by a

common poetic structure. Additionally, the verse have no internal rhyme scheme, but key

lines rhyme with the corresponding line in the other verse. Home (see previous chapter)

provides another example of this poetic device, where the inner struggles of three

different characters are illustrated in similar poetic settings, making the similarities and

differences of each struggle more obvious.

Non-chronological narration is a property of dreams, related to associative logic,

where an otherwise coherent story is portrayed out of time order, again much like

Faulkner’s stream of consciousness narration. Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a

Memory is a perfect example of this. In this text, the action jumps back and forth

between the years 2000 and 1928. Nicholas, the protagonist, lives in 2000, and dreams of

a past life as Victoria in 1928. Within this structure, the dreams in 1928 do not occur in

chronological order, but begin with vague memories that become more and more specific,

with little regard to order.

Dreams often offer views into the mystical and eternal realms. This is evident in

the numerous religious references in the texts of Dream Theater. Songs such as

Innocence Faded, Voices, and Lines in the Sand have religious subject matter. Songs

such as Scarred, The Mirror, and The Great Debate have religious references while

Shaffer 36

dealing with moral or relational issues. Dream Theater’s cover art also has religious and

mystical references. The flaming heart surrounded by a crown of thorns, which appears

on several album covers, including Images and Words3, makes reference to a Catholic

icon of the sacred heart.

The Dali-esque landscape of Awake4 and the open-ceiling view of the sky from the

bed on Images and Words create an aura of mysticism.

The plot of Metropolis also represents much in the way of the mystical and eternal. The

opening of Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper represents a symbolic view

of the death of Victoria and the passing of her soul onto Nicholas. Reincarnation and the

3 Dream Theater. Images and Words. ATCO compact disc 792148-2, cover art.4 Dream Theater. Awake. Eastwest Records America compact disc 90126-2, cover art.

Shaffer 37

attraction between souls based on past-life relationships in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes

From a Memory are further examples of the mystical and eternal in Dream Theater’s

texts.

The spiritual side of the human mind also finds its way into the works of Dream

Theater. Beyond what man can see or hear is what man believes about the universe. As

Dream Theater seeks to reach beyond the world of the conscious and into the world of

dreams, it makes sense that they also reach beyond the tangible and into the ineffable,

into the inner beliefs that determine how one views the world. This applies not only to

religious belief, but religious disillusion and inner struggle. For example, in the second

movement of A Mind Beside Itself—Voices—the narrator is confronted with demonic

voices in his mind casting doubt on his religious beliefs. The narrator says, “Should I

turn on my religion?/These demons in my head tell me to.” However, the narrator learns

early on that these are not foreign voices attacking his mind, but they are his own doubts

and uncertainties. “‘Feeling threatened?’” they say to him, “‘We reflect your hopes and

fears.’”

In Lines in the Sand,5 the text (see appendix 6) comments on the gospel story of

the woman caught in adultery (John 8). The “Sacred conflict” exposed in the song is, on

the surface, the conflict between the Pharisees and the woman and the conflict between

the Pharisees and Jesus, but also represents the religious conflict within the Pharisees

themselves. In teaching and enforcing the letter of the Law, they miss the fact that the

Grace of God is at work in their very midst. This conflict is, in the end, applied to all of

humanity: “Sometimes a view from sinless eyes/Centers our perspective/And pacifies

our cries.” Lines in the Sand asserts that just as one can get caught up in the passion of

5 Dream Theater. Falling Into Infinity. Eastwest Records America compact disc 62060-2.

Shaffer 38

sin—as the woman did in her act of adultery—and thus miss an opportunity for God to

work through her, one can get caught up in the passion of the Law and religion—as the

Pharisees did—and miss an opportunity for God to work through him. The latter is the

more dangerous of the two, and both are common.

This song is a commentary on the biblical text as well as a commentary on the

inner psyches of the characters involved, including an application of these insights to

modern man. Though this situation has nothing to do with a dream, this song addresses

the various psychological conflicts that arises from this situation. In fact, this is

becoming a new focus at this point in Dream Theater’s music (this song was released in

1997 on Falling Into Infinity). Though the inner psychological conflict has always been

present in Dream Theater’s music, Falling Into Infinity is the first album to have no

mention of dreams in it. The texts of the entire album are focused on the inner mind and

its struggles.

The Changing Role of Dreams and the Unconscious in Dream Theater’s Music

At this time in Dream Theater’s career, this concept was making itself manifest in

several ways. In 1995, they recorded A Change of Seasons,6 a twenty-three minute piece

that looks at the entire life of the narrator and the changes that happen throughout that

time and the psychological effect it has on him. This piece was originally written in

1989, first performed in 1993, and was compositionally reworked throughout that entire

time. Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper7 was also written in 1989, as the

beginning of what was to become their most elaborate and profound psychological work.

In 1996, the next step in that process occurred, when Dream Theater composed an early

6 Dream Theater. A Change of Seasons. Eastwest Records America compact disc 61842-2.7 Dream Theater. Images and Words.

Shaffer 39

and shorter version of Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory, the full version of

which was not completed until 1999. This progression is very telling of the way that

Dream Theater penetrates deeper and deeper into the human mind.

1989 Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper composedA Change of Seasons composition begun

1993 Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper recordedA Change of Seasons first performed

1995 A Change of Seasons composition completed and recorded

1996 Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory early versioncomposed

1997 Falling Into Infinity released (the first fully dream-free album)

1999 Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory final version released

2002 Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence released

Even though dreams have diminished recently as the principal topic of Dream

Theater’s texts, they still are very important to their later works. Dreams are the gateway

into the unconscious. For most people, dreams are the only contact they have with their

unconscious, and for scholars and psychologists, the groundbreaking studies of the

unconscious were largely conducted in the form of dream analysis. In the work of Carl

Gustav Jung, this work revealed such important aspects of the unconscious as archetypal

images, such as the anima and the shadow. The insights into the unconscious gained by

Jung’ studies can enliven one’s understanding of the content of Dream Theater’s two

most recent albums: Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999) and Six Degrees

of Inner Turbulence (2002). In these works—as will be shown—the anima, the shadow,

and all kinds of inner conflict come into prominence, both through dreams and

independent of them. In analyzing and understanding the texts to works like these, it is

Shaffer 40

necessary to explore the world of the psyche, and in this, the writings of Jung are

especially helpful. By understanding his work in the study of the unconscious and

archetypal imagery, one achieves a greater understanding of these particularly interesting

Dream Theater texts, and by understanding these texts, one achieves a greater

understanding of their music as a whole.

The Unconscious in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory

Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory is a journey through the psyche of one

man, Nicholas. Through dreams and hypnotherapy, Nicholas—living in the year 2000—

discovers in his unconscious a whole other world of which he feels a part. In this world,

Victoria—a past incarnation of Nicholas—is caught in a love triangle with two brothers

back in 1928. She is conflicted in deciding which of the brothers she wants to be with

exclusively, Julian (The Sleeper), her original lover, or Edward (The Miracle) who has

helped her through her tough times with Julian. Julian is conflicted because he wants to

be with Victoria, but is addicted to alcohol and gambling and cannot break with this other

life. Edward sees himself as the hero, rescuing Victoria from his brother’s evil lifestyle.

At the end of the 1928 drama, Julian decides to give up his other life to be with

Victoria, and they plan to run off together. Edward discovers this, is angered, and he kills

the two of them, making it look like a murder-suicide by planting the gun and a note on

Julian. In the end of the 2000 drama, Nicholas discovers all of this in his hypnotherapy,

as does his hypnotherapist. In an interesting twist, the hypnotherapist is the reincarnation

of Edward, and at the end of the piece (which is only apparent live or on the DVD, not on

the CD), the hypnotherapist comes into Nicholas’ house, says “Open your eyes, Nicholas”

(while on the screen there is a subliminal flash—seen only in slow motion—to the scene

Shaffer 41

in which Edward said, “Open your eyes, Victoria,” right before shooting her), and the

audience is to assume that Nicholas is about to be killed by the hypnotherapist as he

screams, the screen goes black, and the music ends.

The Anima and the Shadow Archetypes

In this story, there exist two principle archetypes of the unconscious, The anima

and the shadow. In A Primer of Jungian Psychology, Hall and Nordby define the anima

as “the feminine side of the male psyche” which resides in the unconscious (the animus is

“the masculine side of the female psyche”)8. The shadow is similar to the anima, but is

the same-sex part of the unconscious. Jung, in Psyche and Symbol, says that the

archetypes of the shadow, animus, and anima are part of the “collective unconscious,”

meaning that they are instinctive and passed down from one’s ancestors, in contrast to the

“personal unconscious,” the contents of which are “acquired during the individual’s

lifetime.”9

Both the anima and the shadow manifest themselves in human relationships

through projections. For example, a man will project his anima on women in his life.

Hall and Nordby explain this well:

8 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby. A Primer of Jungian Psychology. (New York: The NewAmerican Library, Inc., 1973), 46.

9 Jung, C. G. Psyche and Symbol. Edited by Violet S. de Laszlo. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday AnchorBooks, 1958), 6.

Shaffer 42

The first projection of the anima is always on the mother, just as the first

projection of the animus is on the father. Later he projects it on those

women who arouse his feelings in a positive or negative sense. If he

experiences a “passionate attraction,” the woman undoubtedly has the

same traits as his anima-image of woman. Conversely, if he experiences

“aversion,” the woman would be one that possesses conflicting qualities to

his unconscious anima-image.10

In Psychology and Alchemy, Jung concluded from his dream analysis that the archetype

of the anima was represented in dreams by the “unknown woman.”11 This archetype

represents Woman in general, not a specific woman, and its development and relationship

to the persona are critical in the developments of relationships with the opposite sex.12

The shadow, on the other hand, “is the source of all that is best and worst in man,

especially in his relations with others of the same sex.” A result, like the anima, of the

collective unconscious, the shadow represents “man’s basic animal nature” and in the

shadow abides “spontaneity, creativity, strong emotions, and deep insights.”13

When a person’s ego and shadow are well balanced, “consciousness is expanded

and there is a liveliness and vitality to mental activity.”14 That person is generally very

creative, well aware of his emotional state of being, and is capable of deep insights.

However, if one’s shadow regularly overbalances one’s ego, that person is likely to be

crude, unrefined, and often immoral. The animal instincts take over, and the manners and

morality of society are put aside. For this reason, it is important for one to develop a10 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby, 47.11 Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy. Translated by R. F. C. Hull. (New York: Pantheon Books, Inc.,

1953), 53.12 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby, 46-47.13 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby, 48-49.14 Ibid., 49.

Shaffer 43

strong persona and to be acutely aware of one’s shadow as well, in order to live a healthy

and productive life.

Problems can result when one has an overly powerful or overly confident persona.

If one’s persona too strongly overpowers one’s shadow, that person “cuts himself off

from the wisdom of his instinctual nature . . . A shadowless life tends to become shallow

and spiritless.”15 Even more dangerous is when one’s persona becomes overly confident:

A person might think that when the evil elements are eliminated from

consciousness they are disposed of once and for all. This is not the case.

They have simply withdrawn into the consciousness [until] . . . the person

experiences a traumatic, adverse, or conflict-containing situation that he

could not handle. The shadow then steps in with little resistance from the

weakened ego.16

Hall and Nordby give an example of an alcoholic who believes he has recovered, that

alcohol no longer has any power over him. However, when a traumatic situation arises

that weakens his ego, he easily reverts to old habits that had been waiting in his

unconscious the entire time. It is implied, but not stated, that had the man realized that he

had not eliminated his weakness to alcohol, but merely suppressed it into the

unconscious, he could have taken preventative measures to prevent a relapse, should an

unexpected trauma arise.

Jung writes, “Although, with insight and good will, the shadow can to some

extent be assimilated into the conscious personality”—that is, the shadow and the persona

can be well balanced—experience shows that there are certain features which offer the

15 Ibid.16 Ibid., 50.

Shaffer 44

most obstinate resistance to moral control and prove almost impossible to influence.

These resistances are usually bound up with projections.”17 This is similar to the anima,

except that in this case, the traits projected are all perceived as flaws, and they are

projected on someone of the same sex.

Generally, this projection occurs as a person perceives a flaw in another, though it

really resides in his unconscious. That flaw may actually exist in the other person

(though rarely does it exist to the degree that it is perceived), and that flaw may have been

dealt with and eliminated (i.e. suppressed into the unconscious) by the person whose

unconscious is making the projection. In any case, the flaw is perceived by the person

according to the degree it exists in his unconscious, and the anger or moral indignation

that exists as a result is also directed towards the person upon whom the projection is

placed.

A very mild example of this projection is a person with a pet peeve. This person

has spent quite a bit of time and effort breaking themselves of a bad habit, cracking one’s

knuckles, for example. After he believes he has rid himself of this problem, even a minor

instance of another person cracking his knuckles in front of him can make him

excessively annoyed. Jung would most likely argue that his annoyance is not derived

from the act of knuckle cracking per se, but exists (or is greatly amplified) because it

unconsciously draws attention to the presence of this perceived evil in his shadow.

17 Jung, C. G. Psyche and Symbol, 7.

Shaffer 45

Jung writes that “Projections change the world into the replica of one’s own

unknown face . . .they lead to an autoerotic or autistic condition in which one dreams a

world whose reality remains forever unattainable.”18 If one continually fails to realize the

origin of these projections and the relational problems they create, one’s life can be

utterly destroyed:

It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the

lives of others yet remains totally incapable of seeing how much the whole

tragedy originates in himself, and how he continually feeds it and keeps it

going. Not consciously, of course—for consciously he is engaged in

bewailing and cursing a faithless world that recedes further and further

into the distance. Rather, it is an unconscious factor which spins the

illusions that veil his world. And what is being spun is a cocoon, which in

the end will completely envelop him.19

The Anima in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory

The character Victoria in Metropolis Part 2 represents the anima of Nicholas’

psyche. There are some inconsistencies between Victoria and the anima—such as the fact

that Victoria is a real person who is reincarnated as Nicholas—but there is substantial

evidence to support the idea that the character of Victoria represents the anima archetype.

Even though Victoria was a real person in 1928 whose memory is part of Nicholas’

unconscious, she only appears in the story as part of Nicholas’ psyche, and thus is

important to the story because of her relationship to Nicholas as his anima. Jung states

18 Jung, C. G. Psyche and Symbol, 8.19 Ibid.

Shaffer 46

that the anima appears in dreams as an “unknown woman,”20 and this is how Victoria

appears in the story. In the beginning of Metropolis Part 2, Victoria appears as a girl

looking into a mirror. Nicholas does not know who she is or any of the details of her life.

As the story goes on, more dreams reveal the context within which Nicholas can place

this girl, but she still remains unknown to him. In Psychology and Alchemy, Jung’s

subject often had recurrences of archetypes—like the anima—in multiple dreams, as well

as dreams that helped to explain previous dreams, so it makes sense that Victoria appears

in multiple dreams, gradually revealing more and more information concerning her

existence. Ultimately, through a series of dreams and a session of hypnotherapy with a

psychologist, Nicholas discovers the truth about Victoria and her death as well as the role

that she plays in his life. Nicholas says, “I’m learning all about my life/By looking

through her eyes.” Unfortunately, Nicholas is, presumably, murdered just after the music

for Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory ends, and he is never given the chance to

live a more fulfilling life as a result of his discoveries.

The Shadow in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory

Julian’s Brother, Senator Edward Baynes (The Miracle), represents the shadow in

Metropolis Part 2. He is a character in Nicholas' dreams who has an unhealthy balance

between his persona and his own shadow. As mentioned previously, the shadow is the

part of the unconscious that deals with relationships with the same sex, and it manifests

itself in projections; it is the home of creativity, emotions, spontaneity, and the evil side

of the psyche. The Miracle, like the alcoholic mentioned by Hall and Nordby, has a

suppressed shadow, one overpowered by his persona. Jung would call him “shallow and

20 Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy, 53.

Shaffer 47

spiritless.”21 Little of his day to day life is revealed in the story, but The Miracle is a flat

character for the most part, up until the murder, that is. The Miracle is a source of

stability and comfort for Victoria while she is struggling through her problems with The

Sleeper, but not the one with whom she is to run away. However, in Home, the shadow

of this otherwise flat character begins to appear.

First of all, in Home (for text, see appendix 5), The Miracle’s delusion becomes

evident by his false reality that “remains forever unattainable.”22 He says, “I remember I

was told there’s a new love that’s born/For each one that has died.” He believes that

Victoria’s love for The Sleeper is over and that her love for himself has begun. The

Miracle also says:

I’ll make her my wifeHer sweet temptation calls me home . . .Home . . . It’s what I long forMy home . . . where she belongs

He convinces himself that Victoria will marry him and that she “watches and thoughtfully

smiles” upon him and their love for each other. However, this belief of his does not come

from signs that she gave him of her love for him, but from signs that there were problems

in her relationship with his brother. The occasion that prompted his remembrance of the

phrase “there’s a new love that’s born” is when Victoria came to The Miracle and

“Poured her soul out all night and cried.” She was upset about The Sleeper, but

expressed no love for The Miracle. What prompted him to decide to make her his wife

was not a profession of Victoria’s love, but the fact that “Living their other life/Is getting

them nowhere.” The obsessive evil that belongs to The Sleeper’s unconscious (as will be

21 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby, 49.22 Jung, C. G. Psyche and Symbol, 8.

Shaffer 48

evident in his future actions) is being projected upon The Sleeper, and in the end upon

Victoria as well. In his world of illusion, The Miracle “is engaged in bewailing and

cursing a faithless world,” believing that he is the solution to Victoria’s problems, and

she will embrace him for that reason. However, he is spinning “a cocoon, which in the

end will completely envelop him.”23

He says, “I can’t resist myself/No matter how hard I try,” and “Her ecstasy means

so much to me/Even deceiving my own blood.” Though he thinks that he is in the right,

that he is the one who truly loves Victoria, it becomes evident in this song that he is being

unconsciously motivated by the evil desires of his shadow.

In Finally Free, the true details of the double murder are revealed. Victoria and

The Sleeper reconcile their problems and decide to run off together, leaving The Miracle

behind. Victoria reveals that The Sleeper—for all their trials—has always been her true

love, and that her relationship with The Miracle was only temporary. Somehow, The

Miracle finds out about this plan, and is deeply angered. When The Sleeper and Victoria

meet that evening, The Miracle shows up and kills them both, making it look like a

murder-suicide.

The Miracle’s statements in Home make it evident that he believes Victoria and

The Sleeper to be the evil ones in this story, and himself the righteous one. The Sleeper

is consumed by drinking and gambling and cannot break with this part of his life even for

Victoria’s sake (when the two meet and are killed, one of the bullets shatters a glass

bottle of alcohol that Julian had on him). This evil angers The Miracle, who believes

himself to be a better suitor for Victoria. Victoria, however, is ungrateful (or so he

thinks) for all he has done for her, and has been mentally and emotionally poisoned by

23 Jung, C. G. Psyche and Symbol, 8.

Shaffer 49

The Sleeper, who has convinced her to go with him rather than with The Miracle, which

is “where she belongs.” He believes that the evil deeds in this story have been committed

by Victoria and The Sleeper.

However, in reality, they are the two characters who worked through their

problems. Though The Sleeper has not completely given up his drinking habits,

apparently he has made a worthy enough effort for Victoria. The strains on their

relationship have been dealt with positively, and they feel that they have made significant

enough progress that they can commit fully to each other. On the other hand, The

Miracle has suppressed his evil and his selfish desires for Victoria into his unconscious.

When he “experiences a traumatic, adverse, or conflict-containing situation that he could

not handle, the shadow then steps in with little resistance from the weakened ego,”24 and

he kills Victoria and The Sleeper. He has created a world of illusion where all faults lie

in others, and where he is the savior. This illusion has so consumed his mind, that when

this fantasy falls apart, he can do nothing but destroy those upon whom he has created it.

Dreams and Dream Theater

Dreams and the unconscious are prominent in the texts of Dream Theater. Not

only in Metropolis Part 2, but also in other songs like Voices, The Mirror, Lie, and Six

Degrees of Inner Turbulence, the unconscious and inner conflict are dominant themes.

Dream properties such as associative logic, non-chronological narration, symbolism, and

aspects of the mystical, religious, and eternal can all be found throughout Dream

Theater’s texts as well. Jung was one of the pioneers of the study of the unconscious and

of dream analysis, and his works are critical in understanding these concepts. By

24 Hall, Calvin S. and Vernon J. Nordby, 50.

Shaffer 50

understanding his work in these areas, one can better understand the conscious, the

unconscious, and the inner conflicts that find themselves in Dream Theater’s texts.

Shaffer 51

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: an Analysis

The work Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (CD 2, tracks 1-8) was released on

Dream Theater’s two-disc album, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, in January, 2002.

Dream Theater’s most recent multi-movement piece, Six Degrees is the pinnacle of

Dream Theater’s work thus far in the areas of text, form, and musical integration. The

progression of text from the surface of dreams into the deep unconscious, outlined in the

previous chapter, reaches its culmination in Six Degrees; the entire scope of Dream

Theater’s formal structures can be found in Six Degrees; and the text and music of Six

Degrees is the most integrated of all of Dream Theater’s works.

Six Degrees is not chronological in structure, driven by a plot, or driven by the

gradual unfolding of an event as past works have been (e.g. A Change of Seasons or

Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory). Instead, Six Degrees is a conglomeration of

scenes of “inner turbulence,” that is, mental disorders or conflicts of the psyche, such as

depression, hallucination, or delusion. The piece is unified not by a coherent plot, but by

a common textual theme, shared and related musical ideas, and an intricate formal

structure that is illustrated in condensed form in the overture.

Large-Scale Formal Structure in Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Six Degrees consists of eight movements that all proceed attacca, one into the

next. The first movement is an instrumental overture, which contains musical themes

from all of the other movements, except the movement that directly follows it—About to

Crash—and its reprise (movement VII). The Overture also outlines the tonal structure of

the piece—a progression from C major to E major with several radical shifts in between

—in its key structure, and it foreshadows the final cadence of the work—C major to D

Shaffer 52

major to E major—in its final cadence. The inner six movements are scenes of “inner

turbulence,” where the main character of that movement struggles with a mental or

psychological problem. The last movement contains one more of these scenes and a

Grand Finale, which comments on the scenes and provides the moral of the piece.

Just as the content of the text of each movement determines, for the most part,

that movement’s form, so the content of the text as a whole determines the large-scale

structure. The text’s format is that of seven individual scenes, with a concluding passage.

Four of these scenes are part of one story (movements II, V, VII, and VIII), and the other

three are separate stories. The unifying factor of these seven scenes is that they all deal

with crises of the unconscious. The trauma or depression of an event or series of events

has led each of these characters to separate themselves from reality, creating their own

world of illusion. In Jung’s words, they have created “an autoerotic or autistic condition

in which one dreams a world whose reality remains forever unattainable.”6 This

discrepancy between realities is illustrated in the text by devices like the parallel textual

structure seen previously in Home and Hollow Years. A similarity in structure, but

difference in detail, highlights the differences between true reality and the false reality of

the character:

Shaffer 53

Standing in the darknessWaiting for the lightThe smell of pure adrenalineBurning in the night

Random blinding flashesAiming at the stageIntro tape begins to rollIgniting sonic rage

Curled up in the darknessSearching for the lightThe smell of stale sweat and shitSteaming through the night

Random urine testingPills red, pink and blueCounseling and therapyProvided not a clue

Still they keep me between these hollow wallsHoping to find in meThe answers to the test that stumped them all

(from IV. The Test That Stumped Them All)

This technique appears in every movement with text except the last, and it usually is

employed to illustrate a duality of conflicting realities.

Another unifying factor of Six Degrees is the property of association. Seen earlier

as a property of dreams, in more general terms it is a property of the unconscious as a

whole. The unconscious mind works more by association than by chronology. The

movements of Six Degrees are arranged as an unconscious mind would arrange them:

fragmented and scattered non-chronologically, but linked by commonalities.

There is one discrepancy here. The four scenes that are part of the same story are

presented chronologically. However, these movements are dispersed between other

movements, and subtlety of connection between the four movements make it difficult—if

not impossible—to recognize their connection and their chronology upon a first hearing.

Movements II and VII (About to Crash and its reprise) are obviously connected, and

movements V and VIII (Goodnight Kiss and Losing Time) are less obvious but still

strongly connected. However, the connection that binds the four together is an

instrumental statement in About to Crash which returns in Losing Time. It takes a very

Shaffer 54

sharp ear upon a first hearing to catch this connection when Losing Time comes along,

and even then the association with Goodnight Kiss may be lost late in the piece. Because

of this subtlety, the overall structure of Six Degrees still resembles the working of the

unconscious mind: several separate scenes are dispersed and connected by association,

an association of which the conscious mind may not be immediately aware.

The Text of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Over the past ten years, Dream Theater's texts have been steadily progressing

through the dream world deeper into the unconscious. Six Degrees is Dream Theater’s

most profound step in this direction thus far. The piece focuses not on dreams, or on

elements of the unconscious revealed in dreams, but on six different mental disorders or

conflicts of the psyche. In fact, there is only one reference to dreams in the whole piece.

In the fifth movement, Goodnight Kiss, the mother says to her baby, “Sweet dreams that

run through your head,” referring only to the fact that the baby is innocent and asleep.

There is no focus on dreams in this piece, nor do dreams act as the door to the

unconscious as they do in Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory. Instead, Dream

Theater delves deep into the unconscious, focusing on things that disturb the mind “in the

light of the day” (III. War Inside my Head).

Movements II, V, VII, and VIII (About to Crash, Goodnight Kiss, About to Crash

(Reprise), and Losing Time) tell the story of a woman who suffers from bipolar disorder

(for full text, see appendix 8). In her youth, she was the “perfect girl,” but the stress in

her life finally got to her and sent her into depression. She experiences violent mood

swings, at times thinking her depression is gone, but it always comes back. When she

discovers she is pregnant, it gives her a new sense of hope, and she thinks she has

Shaffer 55

“weathered/This depression.” However, not long after the birth of her daughter, the baby

dies, and the woman plunges once again into depression. She feels anger, guilt, and

sadness all at once. A few years later, she believes she is finally over it, but discovers

that it is really worse than ever. As a result, she withdraws from the world, “dresses in

black everyday,” and remembers nothing that happens to her. This defense mechanism is

the only thing that keeps her alive, for she feels as if she died along with her baby girl.

The other three movements with text (III. War Inside My Head, IV. The Test that

Stumped Them All, and VI. Solitary Shell) describe men suffering from differing “degrees

of inner turbulence.” War Inside My Head tells of a Vietnam veteran who is haunted,

even when awake, by images of the war. These images are predominately made up by his

unconscious mind; they are not merely memories. He cannot escape these

hallucinations, as they haunt him daily. The Test that Stumped Them All portrays an

insane man who believes that he is a rock star. He does not realize that he lives in a

mental institution. Solitary Shell describes a man who for most of his life was thought to

be normal, but shy or reserved. Even in the present, he appears normal most of the time,

however, he suffers from occasional episodes of insanity, attempting to break out of his

“shell.”

The text concludes with the Grand Finale, where Dream Theater steps back and

reflects on the scenes presented. It is the moral of the piece, explaining that the conflicts

observed are part of the “journey to find/The answers inside/Our illusive mind.” Though

the turbulence may be better understood, it still “takes hold of our lives,” and for all of

the characters in Six Degrees, and presumably for the audience as well, the journey is just

beginning.

Shaffer 56

A Movement-by-Movement Analysis of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence begins with a movement without text—the

Overture—which sets the stage for rest of the piece to come. It does this in several ways.

First of all, as mentioned before, the Overture presents prominent themes from all the

subsequent movements except for About to Crash and its reprise. This absence of the

themes of the second movement is easily explained by the desire to maintain forward

motion. By beginning the second movement with a new theme (especially when

proceeding attacca from the Overture), the new movement is fresh. The themes stated in

the Overture are given several minutes off of the listener’s ear before they return, and they

rarely return in exactly the same form. (A catalogue of themes included in the Overture

can be found in appendix 9. Since in this piece the specific themes and the order in

which the occur is not critical to understanding the piece—it is the fact that they are

included and the way they all relate to each other that is important—no greater detail

regarding them is included here.)

Second, the Overture establishes the associative structure of the work. The

Overture has several abrupt modulations to distantly-related keys (especially mediant

relations like C major or minor to E-flat or E-natural major or minor), and sudden

changes in texture. Like the seven other movements the themes are not ordered according

to chronology (of the plot or of the subsequent movement structure), but are organized

according to common musical motives or by the textual ideas applied to these themes

later in the piece.

The Overture also sets up the key structure of the piece. The most prominent key

in the piece is E major; four of the seven movements with text are predominately in E

major, and one is in E minor. The overture, though, begins in C major, and ends in E

Shaffer 57

major. This pattern reflects that of the piece as a whole, as the work begins in C and ends

in E. However, that is because the Overture begins the piece. If the Overture did not

exist, the piece would start and end in E major. Why then does the Overture, and thus the

piece as a whole begin in C major? C major is the second most prominent key in Six

Degrees. This is largely due to the fact that a particularly prominent theme is in C major:

the instrumental countermelody of vocal theme D in the Grand Finale that underlies the

moral of the piece (CD 2, track 1, 0:21):

This is also the theme and text that appear in the Grand Finale with that theme are (CD 2,

track 8, 2:12):

This is the only part of the piece to step outside all the scenes of “inner turbulence” and

comment on them. It is the moral of the piece, the musical climax, and it is a theme that

Shaffer 58

has been fighting its way into the entire piece, occurring in almost every movement,

usually in its home key of C major.

However, that only explains the inclusion of C major in the Overture and its

prominence in the piece. It does not explain the progression from C major to E major

which drives the form of Six Degrees and the Overture, and is the cadential progression

(C – D – E) at the end of both the Overture and the Grand Finale. C major is the key of

the moral of the piece. It represents “hope,” understanding, “grace,” and “answers” (from

Grand Finale). E major is the predominate key in the scenes of “distress,” “turbulence,”

“shame and disgrace,” and “sorrow” (from Grand Finale). It would seem that the

progression would be the opposite, that the message of hope at the end would signal a

realization and possibly even healing, that the piece should begin with “turbulence” and

end with “answers.” However, the fact that the woman gives up in About to Crash and

Losing Time suggests the opposite. In fact all the characters started out healthy, but

something triggered their “turbulence.” And even the moral at the end concludes by

calling this a “journey to find/The answers.” The journey is not complete, and the

answers have not been found. In fact, the mysterious C – D – E cadence at the end of Six

Degrees occurs over the phrase, “Our illusive mind.” The mind can be deceiving and in

this case, the expected hope to be found in C major quickly—though smoothly—side-

slips into the “turbulence” of E major, as the journey to find the answers continues. This

mediant-relation modulation also relates to several other mediant-relation modulations in

other movements, all of which represent the same psychological journey.

This journey begins with movement II, About to Crash (CD 2, track 2, for text see

appendix 8), which opens with an instrumental introduction. It is in a brisk 7/4 meter

Shaffer 59

with lots of energy, and the key of E major. At 0:56, the text begins. The first two

stanzas introduce the protagonist of this movement: a woman, full of energy and vigor;

her thoughts are “Set on overdrive.” It is evident from stanza 2 that she is pregnant:

It takes a villageThis she knows is trueThey’re expecting herAnd she’s got work to do

The line “It takes a village” implies the rest of the saying, “to raise a child.” In light of

this, line three suggests that the “her” they are expecting is the baby (see V. Goodnight

Kiss). At this point in the text, there is no indication that anything is wrong (except for

the title of the movement). The woman is happy, has lots of energy, and has a lot of work

to keep her busy. This state of mind is evident in the musical setting of the text (vocal

theme A, CD 2, track 2, 0:56):

The beat is full of life and the melody is perky, but the asymmetrical meter (in contrast to

most of the 4/2 themes in this movement) foreshadows some of the turbulence to come.

It sounds happy, but something is not right.

Stanzas 3 and 4 explain what is wrong. A man—presumably her husband—has

seen this happen to her before, only this time it is worse. He knows that her manic

depression will bring her crashing down eventually (vocal theme B, CD 2, track 2, 1:19):

Shaffer 60

At first this meter seems more stable. However, by inserting 3/2 bars between 4/2 bars in

unexpected places, Dream Theater shows that the apparent stability of the woman is

really part of her instability. Part of the bipolar disorder is experiencing states of apparent

normalcy where the person is actually unstable and “about to crash” at any moment, and

this is depicted in the use of irregularly alternating 3/2 and 4/2 bars.

Stanza 4 ends with a cadence on the dominant (B major), setting up stanza 5

(vocal theme C, CD 2, track 2, 2:01):

This stanza is in 4/2, because it is a picture of the woman’s youth before she became

depressed. The stable meter depicts a stable girl. It is in B major because this stanza sets

the stage for her depression. E major is the key that represents her bipolar state, so its

dominant—B major—is utilized for the events leading to that state.

Shaffer 61

Stanza 6 remains in 4/2, but returns to E major (vocal theme D, CD 2, track 2,

2:23):

This is the stanza where the depression begins, so the key of her state of depression and

the stable meter of her youth are juxtaposed here where those two stages in her life meet.

The phrase “lost her mind” brings a tonicization of C-sharp minor, the relative minor.

Though E major is the key that represents her state of depression, the sudden shift of tonal

center on this phrase to a closely related key is a successful way of highlighting the

change in mental state. It is followed by a couplet, stanza 7 (vocal theme E, CD 2, track

2, 2:46):

This brief statement in C-sharp minor highlights the change in her state of mind.

Stanzas 8 and 9 further highlight this change. Set to the same music as stanzas 3

and 4, a parallel textual structure highlights the role reversal that accompanies her mental

shift:

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Stanzas 3 and 4: Stanzas 8 and 9:He helplessly stands byIt's meaningless to tryAs he rubs his red-rimmed eyesHe says I've neverseen her get this bad

She helplessly stands byIt’s meaningless to tryAll she wants to do is cryNo one everknew she was so sad

Even though she seems so highHe knows that she can't flyAnd when she falls out of the skyHe'll be standing by

Cause even though she gets so highAnd thinks that she can flyShe will fall out of the sky(new ending)

Previously, her husband was left helpless, watching her go through her phase, waiting for

her to collapse and to be there for her. However, when she is suffering from one of her

states of deep sadness, she is left helpless, watching life go by. But this time is different.

“In the face of misery/She found hopefulness.” She has a baby coming to look forward to

(alternate ending to vocal theme B, CD 2, track 2, 3:24):

The modulation to B major in this theme shows that she believes that her baby will be the

thing that helps her out of her depression so she can return to the way she was before

(stanza 5 in B major, 4/2). However, the asymmetrical 10/8 meter hints that this is not

the case; she is merely returning to the appearance of normalcy. This is illustrated

further by the shift to C minor after only a few bars on B, and the highly chromatic theme

in C minor that follows the instrumental section (vocal theme F, CD 2, track 2, 3:53):

Shaffer 63

The text is similar to the opening stanzas, but the music is much less stable. The

meter is asymmetrical, the melody is chromatic, and the stanza modulates from C minor

to A minor in 8 bars. This instability continues through an instrumental section,

modulating up by half steps through B-flat minor and B minor to C minor (where stanza

10 began). Here a guitar solo states one of the two most important themes in the piece. It

is vocal theme C from movement VIII, Losing Time. It appears in movement VIII as

follows (CD 2, track 8, 1:40):

This theme’s statement in About to Crash is significant because it shows that the woman,

though she thinks she is getting better, has unconsciously detached herself from reality.

Her emotions and reactions to events are not based on reality, but are determined by her

mental illness. Her unstable state of mind is further illustrated by the cadence on C-

sharp, and the rapid shift to E-flat minor for the beginning of War Inside My Head.

Shaffer 64

The formal structure of About to Crash lies somewhere between verse-chorus

form and through-composed form. There is too much thematic and textual repetition to

be through-composed, but there is too little repetition to be verse-chorus form. However,

by evaluating each of the formal divisions (i.e. the vocal themes) in terms of verseness

and chorusness and drawing up a verse-chorus continuum, one can make sense of the

formal structure.

There are six vocal themes (A-F) in About to Crash, which occur in the following

order: theme A, theme B, theme C, theme D, theme E, theme B, theme F. Theme A is

narrative in focus, and—though quite melodic—has a slow and static harmonic rhythm,

and thus is not musically climactic. It falls in the verse category. Theme B is the only

theme that is repeated musically, and the text is different in each occurrence, though with

a parallel structure, as demonstrated above. The text of both occurrences still deals with

the narrative, but the emotional and psychological effect of the events in the narrative and

the woman’s mental disorder receive prominence here. In addition, the melody is more

vibrant than in theme A, and the harmonic rhythm is quicker, making this passage

musically climactic. Theme B belongs in the chorus category. Theme C returns to the

narrative, and has a similar harmonic rhythm to theme A, but this theme is more melodic

and less rhythmic in nature. It exhibits slightly less verseness than theme A, but it still

belongs in the verse category. Theme D again brings more of the narrative and has a

relatively static harmonic rhythm. However, the modulation and the increase in melodic

activity make it more climactic than themes A and C. Also, this theme brings the turning

point in the narrative where the woman first experiences depression, so there is a

psychological aspect to the text as well. Though it contains more properties of

chorusness than themes A and C, it is still closer to the verse end of the spectrum than the

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chorus end. It will be placed towards the center of the continuum, slightly more to the

verse side. Theme E exhibits all the traits of a traditional bridge. It is short, occurs once

before the last statement of the chorus (in this case, the most chorus-like theme), has a

new melody, and leads into the chorus. It even has its own key. It will be placed between

the verse-like themes and the chorus-like themes on the continuum. Theme F acts as a

coda to this movement and sets up the transition to War Inside My Head. It is very active

harmonically and is musically energetic. However, the melody is more rhythmic,

chromatic, and forward moving than it is climactic, and the text is more narrative than

emotional or psychological (though it includes traits of all). For these reasons, it will be

considered a verse-like theme, but it is the most chorus-like of the verse themes. Here is

the resulting verse-chorus continuum:

Verse-like Bridge-like Chorus-likeTheme A Theme C Theme D Theme F Theme E Theme B

With these properties of verseness and chorusness in mind, the formal structure resembles

verse-chorus form quite a bit:

Theme A Theme B Theme C Theme D Theme E Theme B Theme FVerse Chorus Verses Bridge Chorus Verse/Coda

Dream Theater adapts verse-chorus form in this way to facilitate a stronger sense of

forward motion and a better text setting. With all the musical repetition of verse-chorus

form, they could not do the kind of meticulous setting of the text—emphasizing

important points in the text through changes of key, meter, and melodic style—that they

did in this song. But by replacing the repeated first verse theme with multiple second

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verse themes, and by using a parallel text structure in the chorus rather than identical text,

they are able to set the text the way they want to, within a familiar and workable formal

structure.

Movement III, War Inside My Head, on the other hand, is in verse-chorus form:

introduction, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, chorus (textual variation). It begins in 12/8

in the key of E-flat minor with an instrumental introduction. This introduction consists of

a keyboard theme built on top of the guitar and bass riff that will be the background to the

first vocal theme. Here is the keyboard theme (CD 2, track 3):

At 0:42, the text begins. This song describes a Vietnam veteran’s experience in

Vietnam and the resulting mental unrest he experiences. Stanzas 1 and 2 (verse 1) and

stanzas 4 and 5 (verse 2) are a brief description of the Vietnam War and the psychological

effects it has on the character’s mind. In the first verse, Dream Theater describes the

horrors the character faced: witnessing “Napalm showers,” experiencing “heat

exhaustion,” and the beginnings of the “mind distortion” that would take over his life

(verse theme, CD 2, track 3, 0:42):

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The second verse, set to the same music, continues with similar images:

Years and years of Bloodshed and warfareOur mission was only to get in and kill

A free vacationOf palm trees and shrapnelTrading innocence for permanent psychotic hell

The violence of the images in these verses are portrayed by an increase in chromaticism

from the previous movement, more electric and distorted sounds from the guitar and

keyboard, and a harsher vocal timbre. Consistent with the properties of verseness, these

verses have narrative texts and are less melodic than the chorus and have more static

harmonic motion than the chorus.

The chorus describes the character’s current state of mind (chorus theme, CD 2,

track 3, 0:57):

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This text shows how the horror of war has taken over this man’s mind. These are not

memories that haunt him, but things that never actually happened. These “things never

said” have been created by his mind, so deep is his “inner turbulence.” This turbulence is

depicted musically quite well. First, there is an abrupt modulation from C minor to E-flat

minor. As in the previous movement, Dream Theater uses one key to denote the past, and

another key to denote the present (here, E-flat minor denotes the past, and C minor

denotes the present). However, here the mediant relationship is much more abrupt and

disturbing than the fifth relationship used in About to Crash, in keeping with the haunting

images being depicted. The turbulence is also highlighted by the use of one of Dream

Theater’s most chromatic melodies from any of their vocal pieces. The addition of the

synthesized choral parts in the second and third occurrences of the chorus make the theme

even spookier. The last occurrence of the chorus is cut off right before the last word,

“head,” and segues immediately into an intense instrumental interlude in A major

(another mediant-relation modulation) and 7/8 (the predominate meter of movement IV,

The Test That Stumped Them All) which leads into the following movement.

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Movement IV, The Test That Stumped Them All—a picture of a mental patient who

believes he is a rock star—has a seemingly simple form with some interesting twists. The

text (see appendix 8) illustrates this story from two perspectives: the patient (stanzas 1-3

and 6-8) and the doctors (stanzas 4-5 and 9-10). Additionally, the patient's story is

divided into two passages: his illusion (stanzas 1-3) and his reality (stanzas 6-8).

However, when examining the text and the music together, one finds that the movement

is best analyzed as two parallel stories under a threefold division:

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Section 1:

Stanzas 1 and 2:Standing in the darknessWaiting for the lightThe smell of pure adrenalineBurning in the night

Random blinding flashesAiming at the stageIntro tape begins to rollIgniting sonic rage

Stanzas 6 and 7:Curled up in the darknessSearching for the lightThe smell of stale sweat and shitSteaming through the night

Random urine testingPills red, pink and blueCounseling and therapyProvided not a clue

Section 2:

Stanzas 3 and 8:Still they keep me between these hollow wallsHoping to find in meThe answers to the test that stumped them all

(from IV. The Test That Stumped Them All)

Section 3:

Stanzas 4 and 5:"The boy is just simply crazySuffering from delusionsWe honestly think that maybeHe might need an institution

He lives in a world of fictionAnd really could use some helpWe have just the place to fix himTo save him from himself”

Stanzas 9 and 10:“We can’t seem to find the answersHe seemed such a clear cut caseWe cannot just let him leave hereAnd put all this work to waste

Why don’t we try shock treatmentIt really might do some helpWe have just the tools to fix himTo save him from himself”

Though the text of stanzas 3 and 8 are extensions of the preceding stanzas, this three-fold

division is important. Stanzas 1, 2, 6, and 7 exhibit strong verse properties: static

harmonic motion, melody of two alternating pitches, narrative text, and differing text

between the two occurrences of the section (CD 2, track 4, 0:45). Stanzas 3 and 8 exhibit

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strong chorus properties: the harmonic motion increases in that the bass and guitar riff

becomes more active and begins to imply chords instead of just the Phrygian mode; the

melody is more active; the text is identical both times and includes the title of the

movement (CD 2, track 4, 1:05).

This division is also important because each of the three sections (vocal themes A,

B, and C) depicts a different perspective on the situation. Section A shows the conflict

between what the character believes is true and what is actually true. Section B shows the

one thing that the patient gets right. And Section C (CD 2, track 4, 1:26) shows the

perspective of the doctors working with the patient.

From these differing perspectives, several different forms of “turbulence” are

made evident, which are also depicted in the music. The first and most obvious is the

mental condition itself. Not only does the patient suffer from his delusion, but the

conflict between his thoughts and reality add confusion to his already overwhelming

problems. The patient also harbors bitterness towards the doctors who keep him

“between these hollow walls.” He feels—and rightfully so—that the doctors keep him

institutionalized more because they cannot figure him out than because they actually

believe they can help him. In addition, the doctors’ confusion over what to do creates

turbulence within and between themselves. These states of turbulence and mental unrest

are depicted by both the frantic sound of the music and the asymmetrical meters with a

constantly changing pulse. Most of the movement is in 7/8, 10/8, or an alternation of one

of these meters with a symmetrical meter, such as 3/4. The key for most of the movement

is E minor—the parallel minor of E major, the key depicting the mental unrest in About

to Crash—which is where it stays for the entire setting of the text, showing the constant

nature of the “inner turbulence” for both the patient and his doctors.

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Following The Test That Stumped Them All is an extended instrumental passage

(CD 2, track 4, 2:46) that leads into movement V, Goodnight Kiss. Continuing the

turbulent intensity of The Test That Stumped Them All, this passage of wild instrumental

solos derives its foundational material from instrumental motives of movement IV: the

7/8 + 3/4 16th note passage that opened the movement (CD 2, track 4), the rhythmic

cadence that ended stanzas 3, 5, and 9 (CD 2, track 4, 1:16), and the three-note cell (scale

degrees 7, 1, and 2 of the E Phrygian scale: D, E, and F) that accompanied vocal theme A

in the guitar and bass. Though this section does not portray any profound thoughts or

connections in regards to the text, the style of this passage is consistent with the textual

themes presented in movement IV, this passage acts as a good transition to movement V,

and this passage displays some amazing virtuosity on the part of the performers. This

extended, high-energy passage also prepares the slow movement to follow, which gives

the listeners a chance to settle down and relax for the first time since the Overture.

In movement V, Goodnight Kiss, the woman of About to Crash returns, but now

her baby has been born. The movement begins with the woman putting her daughter to

bed (vocal theme A, CD 2, track 5, 0:56):

This placid, peaceful text is set to a lyrical melody over an alternation of tonic and

subdominant chords in 4/4. However, it is set in E major, which—though it sounds stable

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and peaceful—is the key of “inner turbulence.” Something is not right. In stanza 2, it

seems that the baby is not merely asleep (vocal theme B, CD 2, track 5, 1:23):

Though it is not clear from this stanza exactly what happened to the baby, the text

suggests that the baby is possibly dead. What is clear from this stanza, however, is the

turbulence that the woman feels. This is apparent not only in the text but in the music as

well. The melody is filled with longing, just as the text is. Beginning in G-sharp minor,

the theme alludes to B major—the key that in About to Crash represented a time when all

was well—but there is no cadence in B major, it is only suggested. With linear

chromaticism, the harmony seems to be stepping around the key that the represents where

the woman longs to be (B major). An abrupt shift brings a keyboard solo that is in D

major—a distantly related key to both E and B—which is based on the music of stanza 1,

when the woman’s baby was alive. Here her longing has given into a distant, hazy

memory of what once was.

When vocal theme A returns in stanza 3, the woman has completely resigned to

the reality that her baby is gone:

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It's been five years to the day andMy tainted blood's still the sameI can't help acting this way andThose bastard doctors are gonna pay

After five years, the woman still experiences depression. Not only is she sad that her

daughter died and angry at the doctors that could not save her, but she also feels guilty as

well (line 2). This depression is so deep that it is as if she died with her daughter. In

order to illustrate this, Dream Theater uses a parallel text structure (similar to the one

used in Home):

Stanza 2: Stanza 4:Are you lonely without I’m so lonely without

Mommy’s love? baby’s loveI want you to know I’d die I want you to know I’d die

for that moment for one more momentYou’re just a poor girl I’m just a poor girlAfraid of this cruel world Afraid of this cruel worldTaken away from it all Taken away from it all

After this last vocal episode of the woman’s longing and mourning for what once was,

Dream Theater tells the story again instrumentally. Beginning with a guitar solo (at 3:14)

in E major based on the first stanza—when the baby was alive and the woman was happy

—the band then moves into the countermelody of vocal theme D from the Grand Finale

(the message of hope in Six Degrees). Both the guitar and the keyboard state this theme.

However, this gives way to a faster section in C minor, with samples of hospital sounds

accompanying the music, indication the scene of the baby's death. This music rises in

intensity continually through four ascending mediant-relation modulations: from C minor

to E-flat minor to F-sharp minor to A major and finally to a perfect authentic cadence in

C-sharp minor, the relative minor of E major. This section tells the story of the baby’s

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death non-specifically, but chronologically, and sets up the next movement—Solitary

Shell—which is in, again, E major.

Movement VI., Solitary Shell—the story of a man who grew up a loner and

suffers from occasional episodes of insanity—is in a modified verse-chorus form. The

following formal pattern is repeated twice (all themes are in E major): introduction,

theme A, theme B, theme C1, theme C2. This pattern progresses from the most verse-like

theme—theme A—to the chorus-like themes—themes C1 and C2.

The keyboard solo of the introduction is not connected thematically to any other

part of the movement, but effectively sets the mood for the rest of the movement.

Vocal theme A (CD 2, track 6, 0:35, stanzas 1, 2, and 6), a verse, is the most narrative in

focus of all the themes, and it deals only with facts about the main character’s life—

stanzas 1 and 2 as a boy, stanza 6 as an adult. Though this theme is quite melodic, it is

more rhythmic than the other themes, and it is the least climactic of all the themes in this

movement.

Vocal theme B (CD 2, track 6, 1:07, stanzas 3 and 7), a theme with moderate

degrees of verseness and chorusness, embodies a rise in musical energy, textual

parallelism, and psychological significance:

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The thicker orchestration, the rise in melody, and the addition of background vocals make

this theme more climactic than the one that precedes it, setting up the chorus to come.

The texts of its two occurrences contain a parallel structure, putting it in the center of the

verse-chorus continuum:

As a boy he was consideredsomewhat odd

Kept to himself most of the timeHe would daydream in and out

of his own worldBut in every other way he was fine

As a man he was a danger to himself

Fearful inside most of the timeHe was drifting in and out

of sanityBut in every other way he was fine

There is also an increase in psychological focus and a decrease in narrative focus in this

theme from the previous theme. Where the verse theme is primarily narrative in focus,

this theme exhibits traits of both verseness and chorusness in that it tells of things that

happened, but also comments on their psychological significance. These mixed

properties of verseness and chorusness make is a perfect go-between in the progression

from the verse theme (A) to the chorus theme (C).

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Vocal theme C (CD 2, track 6, 1:26, stanzas 4, 5, 8, and 9) is the chorus theme of

this movement. It is completely psychological in focus, with no narrative involved.

Musically it is the most climactic, with the highest melody and the thickest orchestration.

Textually it is the most repetitive of all the themes in this movement. The first stanza (4

and 8, subdivided C1) is exactly the same both times, and the second stanza (5 and 9,

subdivided C2) has a parallel structure with only the last line exactly the same each

occurrence.

This movement is fairly straight-forward. The text clearly describes the story of

this man who has grown up developing this “Monday morning” lunacy, as Dream Theater

calls it. It progresses twice (once for his youth, once for his adulthood) from narrative to

psychological evaluation. The music reflects this clearly with a steady increase of energy

towards a climax. The key is E major for the entire text setting—the key of “inner

turbulence”—and the meter is asymmetrical (7/4) in the more rhythmic verse theme and

symmetrical (4/4) in the more melodic and climactic go-between and chorus themes.

Following the last chorus of Solitary Shell is an instrumental section (beginning at

3:45). Thematically, this section is independent of any other sections in Six Degrees,

whether instrumental or vocal. The prominent meters (11/4 and 12/4) do not make

significant connections either (though 12/8 and 12/4 occur elsewhere in Six Degrees, it is

unlikely that this is a reference to those places). However, the tonal structure is

significant. The solos in this section are harmonized by modes rather than chords. Every

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so many bars, the mode shifts, bringing the melody and the harmony with it. This is a

technique used by progressive Jazz composer John Coltrane, among others, as well as

progressive rock group Led Zeppelin, among others.

These modes shift by whole-step intervals with occasional mediant-relation

harmonies. At 3:45, the song modulates from E major to G major, a mediant-relation

modulation. For almost one and a half minutes, the song alternates between G Lydian

mode and A Mixolydian mode. At 5:21, another median-relation modulation brings the

material from 3:45 up to B-flat Lydian and C Mixolydian. This modulation sets up the

final harmonic progression which emphasizes the two most important keys of the piece

and foreshadows the final cadence of the piece: C – D – E, which prepares About to

Crash (Reprise).

In movement VII, About to Crash (Reprise), the woman from About to Crash and

Goodnight Kiss returns, once again thinking that she has finally defeated her depression

and that nothing can stop her. This new-found hope is illustrated with a new verse-like

theme (vocal theme A, CD 2, track 7, 0:49):

The music is upbeat, exciting, full of life, and in a stable meter, but it is still in E major,

showing that it will not last long. And it does not. Immediately following these two

stanzas is the same chorus theme from About to Crash, but this time in the first person

(vocal theme B, CD 2, track 7, 1:14):

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In spite of the fact that this is the same theme as in movement II, there are some critical

differences, which reflect the change in the woman’s situation. The tempo is slightly

slower, giving it less forward motion than before. In addition the theme is entirely in 4/2

(except the very last measure, which is in 3/2—part of an Elliot Carter-like metric

modulation to 12/8), rather than an irregular mix of 4/2 and 3/2 as before. Elsewhere in

this piece, this phenomenon has meant increased stability. However, in this movement, it

means a melody that drags. In addition to being slower than before, there are several

lines at the end of which the listener must wait longer for the next line to come than in

movement II. Whereas before there were no unnecessary beats—when the line was over,

it moved right into the next—now there are extra beats adding anxiety and stalling the

forward motion. This is the woman’s final resignation, where she gives in to her

depression.

At the end of this chorus, there is a metric modulation from 4/2 through 3/2 to

12/8, and a cadence on B minor. This contrasts the end of the chorus in About to Crash,

where the cadence is on B major. B major, the dominant of E major, would have a strong

role in this movement and somewhere to go. However, the minor dominant is weak. It

lacks a pull towards the tonic, and in most classical music, requires at least one go-

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between modulation before returning to the tonic, further illustrating the woman's

resignation.

In this passage, the 12/8 rhythm of the instrumental opening of War Inside My

Head

is developed, as well as a theme from the Overture (at 1:06), which is a variation on the C

major countermelody of vocal theme D in the Grand Finale,

and a theme from the Overture (at 1:53).

This passage gradually transforms the rhythmic motive from War Inside My Head to the

actual theme at 3:36, using the above themes from the Overture as catalysts.

This inclusion of a theme from War Inside My Head accomplishes three things.

First of all, it depicts the war going on inside the woman’s head as she is giving in to her

depression. It also recalls the Overture, which makes much use of these themes, and in a

similar manner. And lastly—just as in the Overture—this conglomeration of

recognizable themes builds tension as energy rises into a cadence and climactic arrival in

E-flat minor at the start of the last movement: Losing Time/Grand Finale.

Movement VIII is divided into two parts. The first part, Losing Time, concludes

the story of the woman from About to Crash and Goodnight Kiss. It is entirely in 12/4

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and is through-composed. The movement begins in E-flat minor with an instrumental

theme (CD 2, track 8):

This theme is a transposition of vocal theme C of this movement, and has appeared in the

Overture and in the end of About to Crash. It foreshadows the text:

Wanting to escapeShe had created a way to surviveShe learned to detach from herselfA behavior that kept her alive

This theme not only makes reference to the fact that the woman has detached from reality

in order to protect herself, but prepares the listener for the description of how she does

this. Immediately following this theme, the text enters on vocal theme A (CD 2, track 8,

0:37, stanzas 1 and 2):

This theme in C minor is also related to the opening instrumental theme and vocal theme

C. Already similar in meter and harmonic motion, vocal theme C is quoted in the

background of the beginning of stanza 2 of vocal theme A. The mental detachment

alluded to by this theme is explained in the narrative of stanzas 1 and 2:

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She dresses in black everydayShe keeps her hair simple and plainShe never wears makeupBut no one would care if she did anyway

She doesn't recall yesterdayFaces seem twisted and strangeBut she always wakes upOnly to find she'd been miles away

She is constantly in a state of mourning, and is removed from and confused by the events

of reality. This is reflected in stanza 3, set to vocal theme B (CD 2, track 8, 1:07):

However, she unconsciously believes that this detachment from reality will protect her

(according to stanza 4, vocal theme C, CD 2, track 8, 1:40):

What she unconsciously believes is a defense mechanism which will protect her from

further episodes of depression is really the ultimate manifestation of the bipolar disorder

taking over her life.

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Musically, this movement has been gradually building from the melancholy

narrative that opened the movement to the climax of the whole piece, which is the Grand

Finale. This climax begins with a message of hope, which is ironic, because Losing Time

does not express the woman’s hope, rather her despair and defeat. The arrival of the C

major, climactic vocal theme D (CD 2, track 8, 2:12) seems out of place:

However, this theme immediately repeats with a new text:

Shame and disgrace over mental unrestKeeps us from saving those we loveThe grace within our heartsAnd the sorrow in our souls

The hope which the woman acquired when her baby was born led her to believe that she

could conquer the depression. This failed, but again in movement VII, the woman

believes that she has defeated it, but she crashes just as she did before. In every case of

hope in this piece (they only apply to the woman, never to any of the other characters), it

gives way to “shame,” “disgrace,” and “mental unrest,” therefore, this text sums up well

the pattern of events in the woman’s life.

However, though the hope in this passage refers to those experiencing the

turbulence in their own life, the “Shame and disgrace over mental unrest” refers to those

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whose loved ones suffer from “inner turbulence.” Line 5 does not read, “Keeps us from

saving ourselves,” but reads instead, “Keeps us from saving those we love.” The next

two lines, “The grace within our hearts/And the sorrow in our souls,” refers not to the

inner conflict of the one suffering from the mental condition, but to the inner conflict of

the friend or family member. This specifically refers to the husband in About to Crash,

who at first “helplessly stands by/It’s meaning less to try,” but in the end will “be

standing by.” Though he does not know what to do, he wants to help, and will be there

for her. However, after the death of the baby and the five years of non-stop depression,

the woman—in About to Crash (Reprise)—says, “And when I fall out of the sky/Who’ll

be standing by[?]/Will you be standing by[?]”. There is no response from her husband,

and the hanging question implies that the “grace” and “sorrow” within his heart has given

in to “shame and disgrace.” Though there was hope for her, the one closest to her gave

up, and so did she. Thus the moral that there is hope is overshadowed by the failure of

those around the woman—and also those around the other characters in Six Degrees who

were ignored or maltreated—to save them from their “inner turbulence.”

The next six lines of text outline each of the “six degrees of inner turbulence” that

are manifest in this piece:

Deception of fame [The Test That Stumped Them All]Vengeance of war [War Inside My Head]Lives torn apart [Goodnight Kiss]Losing oneself [Losing Time]Spiraling down [About to Crash]Feeling the walls closing in [Solitary Shell]

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The last three lines tie these “six degrees” together as part of “A journey to find/The

answers inside/Our illusive mind.” Throughout these last nine lines of text, the journey is

outlined quite effectively by the music to which it is set (CD 2, track 8, 3:20):

The countermelody in the background is a variation of the countermelody at the

beginning of vocal theme D, which has been prominent throughout Six Degrees. The

“tour of keys” approach to the harmony of this section portrays the journey, a trip through

all kinds of mental “turbulence,” and in particular the six portrayed in this piece. On the

last three lines, the two most important keys in the piece—C major and E major—are

employed to make a strong musical statement about the events that have transpired over

the past 44 minutes. The bass begins with a pedal on E, representing the key of

turbulence, E major, and for the line “Our illusive mind,” the bass steps down to a C,

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representing the key of hope. But in this line, the music—just like the mind—is illusive

and leads upwards by step from a C major chord to a D major chord to a cadence on E

major:

This illustrates that hope in this piece gives way to turbulence. Just as the woman gave

up hope and resigned to her depression, Six Degrees gives up its obsession with C major

and resigns to E major, the key of “inner turbulence.”

Conclusion

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the culmination of Dream Theater’s work as

progressive musicians thus far in their career. Throughout their body of work, Dream

Theater has challenged traditional rock norms in the areas of form, text, and integration,

and no piece of theirs has done this more than Six Degrees. This piece contains a wide

variety of small-scale formal structures. They cover the entire spectrum, from a

movement in verse-chorus form—War Inside My Head—to a through-composed

movement—Losing Time/Grand Finale—to a movement requiring use of the verse-

chorus continuum for analysis—About to Crash. The concepts of verse and chorus have

never been more liberated—and still used as distinct but related entities—than in this

work. No Dream Theater text deals as profoundly or exclusively with the unconscious as

this work. And no Dream Theater work is as integrated in the areas of musical themes,

text-music relationships, and key structures.

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However, Six Degrees will probably not be the ultimate picture of innovative rock

composition in Dream Theater’s repertoire. For years, Dream Theater has pushed the

envelope, creating pieces like A Change of Seasons, and Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From

a Memory, each of which transcends the musical and textual innovations of the previous

piece. And there are no signs that Dream Theater plans to stop creating masterpieces

which exceed all precedence and expectations. As one of the most progressive rock

bands in the world today, it will be both fascinating and amazing to see what musical

innovations they will produce before the end of their career.

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Appendix 1

Dream Theater Discography(excluding singles, re-releases, and live recordings)

When Dream and Day Unite (1989)25

A Fortune In Lies Status Seeker The Ytse Jam The Killing Hand

i.The Observance ii.Ancient Renewal iii.The Stray Seed iv.Thorus v.Exodus

Light Fuse And Get Away After Life The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun Only A Matter Of Time

Images and Words (1992)26

Pull Me UnderAnother DayTake the TimeSurroundedMetropolis—Part I “The Miracle and The Sleeper”Under a Glass MoonWait For SleepLearning to Live

Awake (1993)27

6:00Caught in a WebInnocence Faded

25 Kizer, Michael. Dream Theater Unofficial Songbook. In Dream Theater – The Official Site [databaseonline]. Available from http://www.dreamtheater.net/songb.htm.

26 Dream Theater. Images and Words, liner notes.27 Dream Theater. Awake, liner notes.

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A Mind Beside Itselfi. Erotomaniaii. Voicesiii. The Silent Man

The MirrorLieLifting Shadows Off a DreamScarredSpace-Dye Vest

A Change of Seasons (1995)28

A Change of SeasonsFuneral for a Friend/Love Lies BleedingPerfect StrangersThe Rover/Achilles Last Stand/The Song Remains the SameThe Big Medley

i. In the Flesh?ii. Carry On Wayward Soniii. Bohemian Rhapsodyiv. Lovin, Touchin,. Squeezinv. Cruise Controlvi. Turn It On Again

Falling Into Infinity (1997)29

New MillenniumYou Not MePeruvian SkiesHollow YearsBurning My SoulHell’s KitchenLines in the SandTake Away My PainJust Let Me BreatheAnna LeeTrial of Tears

i. It’s Rainingii. Deep in Heaveniii. The Wasteland

28 Dream Theater. A Change of Seasons, liner notes.29 Dream Theater. Falling Into Infinity, liner notes.

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Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)30

Act IScene 1: RegressionScene 2: i. Overture

ii. Strange Déjà VuScene 3: i. Through My Words

ii. Fatal TragedyScene 4: Beyond This LiveScene 5: Through Her Eyes

Act IIScene 6: HomeScene 7: i. The Dance of Eternity

ii. One Last TimeScene 8: The Spirit Carries OnScene 9: Finally Free

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)31

The Glass Prisoni. Reflectionii. Restorationi. Revelation

Blind FaithMisunderstoodThe Great DebateDisappearSix Degrees of Inner Turbulence

i. Overtureii. About to Crashiii. War Inside My Headiv. The Test That Stumped Them Allv. Goodnight Kissvi. Solitary Shellvii. About to Crash (Reprise)viii. Losing Time/Grand Finale

30 Dream Theater. Scenes From a Memory. Eastwest Records America compact disc 62448-2, liner notes.31 Dream Theater. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Elektra compact disc 62742-2, liner notes.

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Appendix 2

She Loves You32

Lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

She loves you, yeh, yeh, yehShe loves you, yeh, yeh, yehShe loves you, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh

You think you’ve lost your loveWell I saw her yesterdayIt’s you she’s thinking ofAnd she told me what to sayShe says she loves you and you know that can’t be badShe loves you and you know you should be glad

She said you hurt her, so she almost lost her mindBut now she says she knows you’re not the hurting kindShe says she loves you and you know that can’t be badYes, she loves you and you know you should be glad

She loves you, yeh, yeh, yeh, she loves you, yeh, yeh, yehAnd with a love like that you know you should be glad

You know it’s up to you, I think it’s only fair,Pride can hurt you too, apologize to her because She loves you and you know that can’t be badYes, she loves you and you know you should be glad oo

She loves you, yeh, yeh, yeh, she loves you, yeh, yeh, yehWith a love like that you know you should be gladWith a love like that you know you should be gladWith a love like that you know you should be gladYeh, yeh, yeh, yeh yeh yeh yeh

32 Beatles, The. 1962-1966. Capitol compact disc CDP 0777 7 97036 2 3, liner notes.

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Appendix 3

One33

Lyrics by U2

Is it getting betterOr do you feel the sameWill it make it easier on youNow you got someone to blame

You sayOne loveOne lifeWhen it’s one needIn the nightIt’s one loveWe get to share itIt leaves you babyIf you don’t care for it

Did I disappoint you?Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?You act like you never had loveAnd you want me to go without

Well it’s too lateTonightTo drag the past outInto the lightWe’re oneBut we’re not the sameWe get to carry each otherCarry each otherOne

33 U2. Achtung Baby. Island compact disc 314-510 347-2, liner notes.

Shaffer 93

Have you come here for forgivenessHave you come to raise the deadHave you come here to play JesusTo the lepers in your headDid I ask too muchMore than a lotYou gave me nothingNow it’s all I gotWe’re oneBut we’re not the sameWe hurt each otherThen we do it again

You sayLove is a templeLove a higher lawLove is a templeLove the higher lawYou ask me to enterBut then you make me crawlAnd I can’t be holding onTo what you gotWhen all you got is hurt

One loveOne bloodOne lifeYou got to do what you should

One lifeWith each otherSistersBrothers

One lifeBut we’re not the sameWe get to carry each otherCarry each other

One

One

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Appendix 4

Close to the Edge34

Lyrics by Jon Anderson and Steve Howe

I. The Solid Time of Change

Verse 1A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgraceAnd rearrange your liver to the solid mental graceAnd achieve it all with music that came quickly from afarThen taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour.

Verse 1And assessing points to nowhere, leading every single oneA dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun and take away the plain in which we move and choose the course you’re running.

Chorus 1Down at the edge, round by the cornerNot right away, not right awayClose to the edge, down by a riverNot right away, not right away

Verse 2Crossed a line around the changes of the summer,Reaching out to call the colour of the sky.Passed around a moment clothed in mornings faster than we see.Getting over all the time I had to worry,Leaving all the changes far from far behindWe relieve the tension only to find out the master’s name.

Chorus 1Down at the end, round by the corner.Close to the edge, just by the river.Seasons will pass you byI get up get downNow that it’s all over and done,now that you find, now that you’re whole.

34 Yes. Close to the Edge. Atlantic compact disc 82666-2, liner notes.

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II. Total Mass Retain

Verse 1My eyes convinced, eclipsed with the younger moon attained with love.It changed as almost strained amidst clear manna from above.I crucified my hate and held the word within my hand.There’s you, the time, the logic, or the reasons we don’t understand.

Verse 1Sad courage claimed the victims standing still for all to see,as armoured movers approach to overlook the sea.There since the cord, the license, or the reasons we understood will be.

Chorus 2Down at the edge, close by a river,Close to the edge, round by the corner.Close to the end, down by the corner,Down at the edge, round by the river.

Verse 2Sudden call shouldn’t take away the startled memory.All in all the journey takes you all the way.As apart from any reality that you’ve ever seen and known.Guessing problems only to deceive the mention,passing paths that climb halfway into the void.As we cross from side to side we hear the total mass retain.

Chorus 1Down at the edge, round by the corner,Close to the end, down by a river.Seasons will pass you by,I get up, I get down.

III. I Get Up, I Get Down

Verse 3 (Background melody)

In her white laceYou can clearly see the lady sadly lookingSaying that she’d take the blame for the crucifixion of her domain

Chorus 3I get up I get downI get up I get down

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Verse 3Two million people barely satisfyTwo hundred women watch one woman cry too lateThe eyes of honesty can achieveHow many millions do we deceive each day

Chorus 3I get up, I get down. I get up, I get down.

Verse 3In charge of who is there in charge of meDo I look on blindly and say I see the wayThe truth is written all along the pageHow old will I be before I come of age for you

Chorus 3I get up, I get downI get up, I get downI get up, I get downI get up, I get down

IV. Seasons of Man

Verse 1The time between the notes relates the color to the scenesA constant vogue of triumphs dislocate man so it seemsAnd space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love.As song and chance develop time,lost social temperance rules above.

Verse 1The according to the man who showed his outstretched arm to spaceHe turned around and pointed revealing all the human raceI shook my head and smiled a whisper knowing all about the place

Verse 2On the hill we viewed the silence of the valleyCalled to witness cycles only of the pastAnd we reach all this with movements in between the said remark

Shaffer 97

Chorus 1Close to the edge, down by the river,Down at the end, round by the corner,Seasons will pass you byNow that it’s all over and donecalled to the seed, right to the sunNow that you find, now that you’re wholeSeasons will pass you by

Chorus 3I get up, I get down.I get up, I get down.

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Appendix 5

Home35 Lyrics by Mike Portnoy

The Sleeper: The Miracle: Nicholas: Section A Section B

Shine- lake of fire I remember the first time Lines take me higher she came to meMy mind drips desire Poured her soul out all Confined and overtired night and cried

I remember I was told there's a new love that's bornFor each one that has died

Section C

I never thought that Icould carry on with this lifeBut I can't resist myselfNo matter how hard I try

Section D

Living this charade Living their other lifeIs getting me nowhere Is getting them nowhereI can't shake this charade I'll make her my wifeThe city's cold blood Her sweet temptation calls me home calls me homeHome. . .It's what I long for Home. . .It's what I long forBack home. . .where I belong My home. . .where she belongs

35 Dream Theater. Scenes From a Memory, liner notes.

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Section E

The city- Her ecstasy- Her story- it calls to me means so much to me it holds the keyDecadent scenes from Even deceiving my Unlocking dreams my memory own blood from my memorySorrow—eternity Victoria watches and Solving this mystery thoughtfully smilesMy demons are coming She's taking me to my home Is everything that is to drown me a part of me

Section F

Help—I'm falling, Help—he's my brother, Help—regression, I'm crawling but I love her obsessionI can't keep away I can't keep away I can't keep away from its clutch from her touch from its clutchCan't have it, this habit Deception, dishonor Leave no doubt, to find outIt's calling me back It's calling me back It's calling me back to my home to my home to my home

Shaffer 100

Appendix 6

Lines In The Sand36

Lyrics by John Petrucci

Sometimes, for a moment of bliss And the passion, we're craving There's a message we miss Sometimes when, the spirits left alone We must believe in something To find if we've grown

Tragic reflex, shattered calm Static progress, senses gone Numb awareness, final psalm

Swept away with the tide Through the holes in my hands Crown of thorns at my side Drawing lines in the sand

Sometimes, if you're perfectly still You can hear the virgin weeping For the savior of your will Sometimes, your castles in the air And the fantasies you're seeking Are the crosses you bear

Sacred conflict, blessed prize Weeping crosses, stainless eyes Desperate addict, faith disguised

Swept away with the tide Through the holes in my hands Crown of thorns at my side Drawing lines in the sand

We fabricate our demons Invite them into our homes Have supper with the aliens And fight the war alone We conjure up our skeletons Enlist the den of thieves Frightened from our closets Then sewn upon our sleeves 36 Dream Theater. Falling Into Infinity, liner notes.

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In the stream of consciousness There is a river crying Living comes much easier Once we admit We're dying

Sometimes, in the wreckage of our wake There's a bitterness we harbor And hate for hatred's sake Sometimes we dig an early grave And crucify our instincts For the hope we couldn't save

Sometimes a view from sinless eyes Centers our perspective And pacifies our cries Sometimes the anguish we survive And the mysteries we nurture Are the fabrics of our lives

Swept away with the tide Through the holes in my hands Crown of thorns at my side Drawing lines in the sand

Shaffer 102

Appendix 7

A Mind Beside Itself: Erotomania37

A Section

0:00 Intro. – keyboard solo (Background chords for coming theme A)3x10/8 (2+2+3+3) + 1x9/8 (2+2+3+2), F-sharp minor

0:08 Theme A – guitar and bass3x10/8 (2+2+3+3) + 1x9/8 (2+2+3+2), F-sharp minor

0:23 Theme B – guitar and bass3x5/4 + 2x6/8 + 1x2/4, E/e

0:40 Theme A0:55 Theme B1:13 Theme C

11/8 (3+3+3+2) + 10/8 (3+3+2+2), g1:13 keyboard melody, octaves in guitar and bass background1:22 hocket (of background) between bass, guitar, and keyboard1:30 melody in keyboard, fifths in bass and guitar on eighth-notes (G, F-

sharp, F, no E)1:41 Theme A – guitar and bass with keyboard solo above

10/8 (2+2+3+3), F-sharp minor

B Section

1:57 Theme D – guitar and bass, keyboard solo above – sometimes fragments orchords, blues scalebegins 4/4, then irregular, G-sharp minor

2:38 Theme E – keyboard melody, guitar active background, bass half-notes ascendingscale leading to V-I at 3:054/4, G-sharp minor - B

3:05 Theme F – melody from III. The Silent Man – keyboard melody, then guitar, tonicpedal in background4/4, B

3:43 Developmental (quasi-retransition to theme C, includes theme F)3:43 4x4/4 + 1x2/4, D4:14 12/8, D

4:23 Theme C (false recap.), G4:31 guitar solo

begins irregular, settles into 4/4 more or less, G5:22 drum solo, setting up recap.

4/4, pedal on E (which is not the tonic)5:30 Theme A in keyboard – juxtaposed with 4/4 meter over unison rhythm in guitar,

bass, drums

37 Dream Theater. Awake.

Shaffer 103

A’ Section

5:44 Theme A – as beginning, but with added guitar sounds at ends of measuresF-sharp minor

5:59 Theme B – as beginningE/e

6:16 guitar and bass solos – fluid, arrhythmic transition to II. Voicesc

Shaffer 104

Appendix 8

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence38

Lyrics by John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy

I. Overture

(instrumental)

II. About to Crash

She can't stop pacingShe never felt so aliveHer thoughts are racingSet on overdrive

It takes a villageThis she knows is trueThey're expecting herAnd she's got work to do

He helplessly stands byIt's meaningless to tryAs he rubs his red-rimmed eyesHe says I've never seen her get this bad

Even though she seems so highHe knows that she can't flyAnd when she falls out of the skyHe'll be standing by

She was raised in a small Midwestern townBy a charming and eccentric loving fatherShe was praised as the perfect teenage girlAnd everyone thought highly of her

38 Dream Theater. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, liner notes.

Shaffer 105

And she tried everydayWith endless driveTo make the gradeThen one dayShe woke up to findThe perfect girlHad lost her mind

Once barely taking a breakNow she sleeps the days away

She helplessly stands byIt's meaningless to tryAll she wants to do is cryNo one ever knew she was so sad

Cause even though she gets so highAnd thinks that she can flyShe will fall out of the skyBut in the face of miseryShe found hopefulnessFeeling betterShe had weatheredThis depression

Much to her advantageShe resumed her frantic paceBoundless powerMidnight hourShe enjoyed the race

III. War Inside My Head

Napalm showersShowed the cowardsWe weren't there to mess around

Through heat exhaustionAnd mind distortionA military victory mounted on innocent ground

Hearing voices from miles awaySaying things never saidSeeing shadows in the light of the dayWaging a war inside my head

Shaffer 106

Years and years ofBloodshed and warfareOur mission was only to get in and kill

A free vacationOf palm trees and shrapnelTrading innocence for permanent psychotic hell

Hearing voices from miles awaySaying things never saidSeeing shadows in the light of the dayWaging a war inside my head

Feeling strangers staring my wayReading minds never readTasting danger with each word I sayWaging the war inside my head

IV. The Test That Stumped Them All

Standing in the darknessWaiting for the lightThe smell of pure adrenalineBurning in the night

Random blinding flashesAiming at the stageIntro tape begins to rollIgniting sonic rage

Still they keep me between these hollow wallsHoping to find in meThe answers to the test that stumped them all

"The boy is just simply crazySuffering from delusionsWe honestly think that maybeHe might need an institution

He lives in a world of fictionAnd really could use some helpWe have just the place to fix himTo save him from himself"

Shaffer 107

Curled up in the darknessSearching of the lightThe smell of sweat and shitSteaming through the night

Random urine testingPills red, pink and blueCounseling and therapyProviding not a clue

Still they keep me between these hollow wallsHoping to find in meThe answers to the test that stumped them all

"We can't seem to find the answersHe seemed such a clear cut caseWe cannot just let him leave hereAnd put all this work to waste

Why don't we try shock treatmentIt really might do some helpWe have just the tools to fix himTo save him from himself"

V. Goodnight Kiss

Goodnight kiss in your nightgownLavender in your bedSo innocent as you lie downSweet dreams that run through your head

Are you lonely without Mommy's love?I want you to know I'd die for that momentYou're just a poor girlAfraid of this cruel worldTaken away from it all

It's been 5 years to the day andMy tainted blood's still the sameI can't help acting this way andThose bastard doctors are gonna pay

Shaffer 108

I'm so lonely without baby's loveI want you to know I'd die for one more momentI'm just a poor girlAfraid of this cruel worldTaken away from it all

VI. Solitary Shell

He seemed no different from the restJust a healthy normal boyHis mama always did her bestAnd he was daddy's pride and joy

He learned to walk and talk on timeBut never cared much to be heldAnd steadily he would declineInto his solitary shell

As a boy he was considered somewhat oddKept to himself most of the timeHe would daydream in and out of his own worldBut in every other way he was fine

He's a Monday morning lunaticDisturbed from time to timeLost within himselfIn his solitary shell

A temporary catatonicMadman on occasionWhen will he break outOf his solitary shell

He struggled to get through his dayHe was helplessly behindHe poured himself onto the pageWriting for hours at a time

As a man he was a danger to himselfFearful and sad most of the timeHe was drifting in and out of sanityBut in every other way he was fine

Shaffer 109

He's a Monday morning lunaticDisturbed from time to timeLost within himselfIn his solitary shell

A momentary maniacWith casual delusionsWhen will he be let outOf his solitary shell

VII. About to Crash (Reprise)

I'm alive againThe darkness far behind meI'm invincibleDespair will never find me

I feel strongI've got a new sense of elationBoundless energyEuphoria fixation

Still it's hard to just get byIt seems so meaningless to tryWhen all I want to do is cryWho would ever know I felt so sad

Even though I get so highI know that I will never flyAnd when I fall out of the skyWho'll be standing by

Will you be standing by

VIII. Losing Time/Grand Finale

She dresses in black everydayShe keeps her hair simple and plainShe never wears makeupBut no one would care if she did anyway

She doesn't recall yesterdayFaces seem twisted and strangeBut she always wakes upOnly to find she'd been miles away

Shaffer 110

Absence of awarenessLosing timeA lapse of perceptionLosing time

Wanting to escapeShe had created a way to surviveShe learned to detach from herselfA behavior that kept her alive

Hope in the face of our human distressHelps us to understand the turbulence deep insideThat takes hold of our livesShame and disgrace over mental unrestKeeps us from saving those we loveThe grace within our heartsAnd the sorrow in our soulsDeception of fameVengeance of warLives torn apartLosing oneselfSpiraling downFeeling the walls closing inA journey to findThe answers insideOur illusive mind

Shaffer 111

Appendix 9

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: Overture39

Catalogue of Themes

0:00 Introduction0:21 movement VIII., theme D, 4/4, C1:06 Overture theme, based on VIII., theme D, 4/4, C1:25 VIII., theme D, 4/4, C1:45 transition1:54 variation on material from III., 4/4, c2:13 material from III., 12/8, e-flat2:41 new variation on material from III., 12/8, c3:10 sixteenth-note material from IV, irregular meter, on C3:22 VIII., theme D, plus I., 1:06 material, 4/4, E3:54 material from V., 4/4, E4:24 like 1:06, 4/4, C4:40 transitory theme, 4/4, C5:00 VI., theme C, 4/4, E5:19 VIII., theme C, 4,4, c5:49 closing material from II., 4/4, c6:02 VIII., theme D, repeated modulations, 4/4, C – E-flat – a6:32 VIII., closing chord progression

39 Dream Theater. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

Shaffer 112

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