DT's meaning of Surrounded....

[PC269]

Hey all:

I am new to the forums and as of late, something has been bugging me.

What is the meaning of the song "Surrounded" off of I&W? I have heard it's about AIDS or someone with AIDS but there is a lot of spiritual undertones in the lyrics and AIDs doesn't jump out to me. What gives?

[Dcrupi]

I have heard it's about AIDS or someone with AIDS but there is a lot of spiritual undertones in the lyrics and AIDs doesn't jump out to me. What gives?

You may be thinking of Learning to Live...

[lonestar]

Hey all:

I am new to the forums and as of late, something has been bugging me.

What is the meaning of the song "Surrounded" off of I&W? I have heard it's about AIDS or someone with AIDS but there is a lot of spiritual undertones in the lyrics and AIDs doesn't jump out to me. What gives?

Welcome, have some bacon

As for the DT's meaning of Surrounded, I couldn't tell you.  I always hold the spiritual side of the song very dear to me, it has alwaays been a song that gives me strength and comfort.

[Quadrochosis]

I always thought it was simply about what it feels like to be surrounded in bright lights.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Here is a thread devoted to Surrounded that you may be interested in.  It's one of my favorite DT songs.

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=9842.msg321575#msg321575

In that thread is this quote:

A very spiritually themed song, Surrounded was often dedicated to Arthur Ashe (the first major African-American tennis player) who died tragically of AIDS, and therefore may bear some relation to Learning To Live.

Source:  https://dt.spatang.com/song/surrounded

I think the consensus in the above DTF thread was that most people didn't see the link to AIDS.

[Mebert78]

"Surrounded" is a tough song to figure out.  But despite that, the lyrics are poetic and beautiful.  My interpretation is that it's about a man dealing with the death of a female loved one that keeps "dancing in his head" as he dreams each night.  The man literally looks forward to dreaming each night and says "nighttime falls to late," etc.  Finally, he has a moment of realization where the woman's spirit speaks to him and tells him to live -- stop hiding in the shadows and "let the light surround you."

I could be totally totally wrong, but that's how I see it.  If someone interprets it differently, feel free to share.  I'm not confident in my explanation at all.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Also, if you're interested:

https://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/67281/

[Silver Tears]

"Surrounded" is a tough song to figure out.  But despite that, the lyrics are poetic and beautiful.  My interpretation is that it's about a man dealing with the death of a female loved one that keeps "dancing in his head" as he dreams each night.  The man literally looks forward to dreaming each night and says "nighttime falls to late," etc.  Finally, he has a moment of realization where the woman's spirit speaks to him and tells him to live -- stop hiding in the shadows and "let the light surround you."

I could be totally totally wrong, but that's how I see it.  If someone interprets it differently, feel free to share.  I'm not confident in my explanation at all.

This is almost exactly the same as my interpretation. The man is drifting through life since she died, dreaming about her and remembering their time together. He has a religious awakening when the girl speaks to him, realising there is more to life and embraces his new-found spirituality.   

I always overlook Surrounded because the other songs on the album are so amazing but it really is a beautiful song.

[wasp2020]

I posted my general interpretation here: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=5529.msg165350#msg165350
Basically summarized as "Depressed man finds love and happiness".

Mebert's is also very interesting and keeps in the same spirit. But regardless of interpretation, I don't see the AIDs connection at all, and it doesn't make much sense. It sounds like something they just said for the show.

[robwebster]

It's about baby-eating robots.

Or robot-eating babies. I can't remember.

[BlobVanDam]

Surrounded is about flying around in the clouds on a red bi-plane being piloted by an orange squirrel. But beware of the flying turtle guns and jet birds.

[robwebster]

I spent about a minute trying to work out why that was familiar, before I realised it was the Sky Chase Zone.

[yeshaberto]

Surrounded is about flying around in the clouds on a red bi-plane being piloted by an orange squirrel. But beware of the flying turtle guns and jet birds.

that is what I remember reading in an interview some time ago

[BlobVanDam]

I spent about a minute trying to work out why that was familiar, before I realised it was the Sky Chase Zone.

2 cred points to you, good sir.

[PC269]

These are great interpretations of the song. I checked out the thread and it had some great information on the subject.

I always felt that surrounded was about a man who is dealing with the loss of a woman close to him and continues dreaming about her and looking forward to dreaming about her and then he realizes that he is wasting his life doing this and he decides to finally make closure with the issue and remember all of the good times he had with the person he had lost and goes back to living his life to his fullest.

This could be incorrect, but frankly, this song is unreal. I&W is a wonderful album and Live in Japan is an AWESOME DVD, I love the spandex Portnoy has on.

[Mebert78]

It's kinda cool when you look back at WDADU through Train of Thought, DT's main concepts and album titles/themes had to do with the mind -- dreams, thoughts, awakening, memories, etc.  I'm not saying every song, but the studio album titles and themes.  They stopped at Octavarium.  I guess there's only so many album titles and such that you can do on that topic.  

[Bone_Daddy]

Surrounded is about flying around in the clouds on a red bi-plane being piloted by an orange squirrel. But beware of the flying turtle guns and jet birds.

Love me some Sky Chase Zone!