What is the significance of New York City in TOT??

[Glass Moonlight]

Gonna assume you all know what I'm talking about, but is New York City a major part of this song?? I assume it's not, but I just want to know whether someone can explain this to me, or it really is just some lyrics, that could be swapped for anything. Like, just, why??

[Lolzeez]

Well,It was raining on the streets of New York City.

[Sycsa]

Well,It was raining on the streets of New York City.

/thread 

[Another_Won]

I don't get it.  I don't think I heard NYC once on the whole Train of Thought CD.

[YtseJamittaja]

I don't get it.  I don't think I heard NYC once on the whole Train of Thought CD.

My first thoughts too 


If you weren't joking, have you ever heard the song called Trial of Tears...?

[Ben_Jamin]

Gonna assume you all know what I'm talking about, but is New York City a major part of this song?? I assume it's not, but I just want to know whether someone can explain this to me, or it really is just some lyrics, that could be swapped for anything. Like, just, why??

New York City could mean Opportunity, as it's the one big known city, and is the place most immigrants imagine when imagining America(maybe?).

I imagine a man experiencing what New York City has to offer, while the atmosphere is a bluish color that is represented by the musics atmosphere. As most who hope to dream big, he finds it hard and it all rains down within himself, himself and his dream being Heaven.

[theseoafs]

New York City has no significance in TOT.  The lyrical references to the "rain on the streets of New York City" are actually metaphors for rain on the streets of Chicago.

[Ħ]

New York City has no significance in TOT.  The lyrical references to the "rain on the streets of New York City" are actually metaphors for rain on the streets of Chicago.

Wait, really? Elaborate!

[bout to crash]

 

Dude is from the NY area. Probably reason enough...

[drummerThatShreds87]

Well,It was raining on the streets of New York City.

/thread 

lol. /thread

[erik16]

Probably noyt true butv offering abother explanation:: Raining ojn the  syrreets of Mew York symbolises the suffering of people in the postmoderb world. As weäre idolated from each other we silently weep inside, and NYC cpould be a õperfect example of 6that being that it is a metropolis and really loads of peoplre live there.

[Lucidity]

As much as I love Trial of Tears, this line has always struck me as beyond stupid. It bugs me so much. It's like saying "It's cloudy in Chicago."

[bout to crash]

Clearly, like all New Yorkers, John Myung thinks NYC is the center of the universe. Therefore he compares it to Heaven. And the rain symbolizes the tears of the angels.

[Cedar redaC]

Clearly, like all New Yorkers, John Myung thinks NYC is the center of the universe. Therefore he compares it to Heaven. And the rain symbolizes the tears of the angels.

That's probably no sweat off of John Myung's back.

Get it? Backs, angels?

Yeahhhh..........

[IdoSC]

We shall never understand the mysterious ways of the ninja warrior.

[?]

We shall never understand the mysterious ways of the ninja warrior.

He'll never be open again so his rituals and secrets remain a mystery.

[The Stray Seed]

To me, New York is there because it's the quintessential metropolis of our modern world. The big city provides the perfect setting for the feelings of distress expressed in this song. The city is a place of contrasts, it's the place where the modern man lives, it's the place where he fakes his smiles in order to survive in a social context, keeping all his feelings and thoughts for himself. And these thoughts become a hiding place, they're "wrapped around" us, to protect us fom the cold of the outside world, from all its uncertainties, to save us from the emptiness of the wasteland.

As I walk through all my myths
Rising and sinking like the waves
With my thoughts wrapped around me
Through a trial of tears

The powerful images written by Myung look like a movie scenery. It's night in the city and it's raining, the fuss and the noise is over, everyone has left except a man that walks alone in the streets of New York. And if during the day he can live his life without asking himself questions, in the loneliness of the rainy night he cannot escape from his most controversial thoughts (so distant from his daylight life that they are pictured as if they were coming from "a stranger").

Under the sun, there is nothing to hide
Under the moon, a stranger waits inside
People disappear
The music fades away
Splashing through the rain
I'll dream with them one day

Caught in the spiderweb of our own distress we live hiding our intimate feelings in the darkness, and our fears, that we were supposed to fight, become our safe harbor where we can stay forever, without ever trying to gather the courage to venture into the outside world.

I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears

Torn in two, we live a day by day fight. Sometimes we try to react and bring inspiration and vitality into ourselves and to the world that surrounds us, but it's something thrown to the wind. We cannot escape from the wasteland, despite all our efforts. And tired of this losing battle, in the end all we are longing for is to get back to a place we can call home.

Welcome to the wasteland
Where you'll find ashes, nothing but ashes
Still awake
Bringing change, bringing movement, bringing life
A silent prayer thrown away,
Disappearing in the air
Rising, sinking, raining deep inside me
Nowhere to turn,
I look for a way back home

[Scorpion]

Great analysis! It fits the vibe of the song perfectly, and it's more or less how I've always thought of it, but you've put it into words better than I could.

[El JoNNo]

Wish I had the source but I'm pretty sure he said he was inspired by the rain as he was being driven to a studio or gig or something. I don't think it has any big significance. 

[Another_Won]

To me, New York ..........
I look for a way back home[/i]

Is this one of your favorite songs or can you do this for any DT song?

[cramx3]

New York City = Metropolis

[erik16]

Trial of Tears - a true sequel to Metropolis?

[Zydar]

New York City = Metropolis

So it's raining on the Lake Of Fire?

[DebraKadabra]

It wouldn't be a Lake of Fire if it got rained on.  Duh.

[Ben_Jamin]

@ The Stray Seed: you just said what i was trying to convey. I see the scenary after the wasteland more like a grim cloudy afternoon. Exactly how the FII photos look,

[hefdaddy42]

Probably noyt true butv offering abother explanation:: Raining ojn the  syrreets of Mew York symbolises the suffering of people in the postmoderb world. As weäre idolated from each other we silently weep inside, and NYC cpould be a õperfect example of 6that being that it is a metropolis and really loads of peoplre live there.

WTF is going on in this post

[CrimsonSunrise]

Well done Stray Seed!!  I know we "Personalize" what lyrics mean too us as individuals, but I really like your analysis!

[The Stray Seed]

Great analysis! It fits the vibe of the song perfectly, and it's more or less how I've always thought of it, but you've put it into words better than I could.

Thank you Scorpion.

Is this one of your favorite songs or can you do this for any DT song?

I have always been very passionate in finding meaning to songs, poems and other forms of spoken/written expression. To me it's like digging to find gold. This is why I miss so much the lyrics DT used to write back in the 90s. I think I could write a book just to try and explain the hidden significance of the Awake tracks, and maybe half of it would be about Voices.

@ The Stray Seed: you just said what i was trying to convey. I see the scenary after the wasteland more like a grim cloudy afternoon. Exactly how the FII photos look,

Yes, I do too. I didn't mean to say that the whole song is set in nighttime. It's just a phew images I get from the first verses, but it could be just me.

Well done Stray Seed!!  I know we "Personalize" what lyrics mean too us as individuals, but I really like your analysis!

Yes, that's what I was trying to tell in the answer above. Mine was not meant to be a 100% objective analysis, it was just an effort to try and communicate what I feel when I listen to Trial of Tears.

Trial of Tears - a true sequel to Metropolis?

The funny thing is that the two songs share a lot in terms of topic and meaning. They're both about disillusion and sorrow, worries and social distress, they both picture the night as a setting for feelings and revelations that are hidden during the day, they both tell us about haunting past memories, efforts to survive in a hostile reality, and desire for getting back to the place where you belong.


The smile of dawn arrived early may...the night shed a tear to tell her of fear and of sorrow and pain...
Under the sun there's nothing to hide, under the moon a stranger waits inside

The city's cold blood teaches us to survive, just keep my heart in your eyes and we'll stay alive
I know the air is cold, I know the streets are cruel, but I'll enjoy the ride today

Somewhere like a scene from a memory, there's a picture worth a thousand words. Eluding stares from faces before me, it hides away...
I may have wasted all those years, they're not worth their time in tears. I may have spent too long in darkness, in the warmth of my fears

As a child I thought I could live without pain, without sorrow, as a man I found it's all caught up with me, I'm asleep yet I'm so afraid
As I walk through all my myths, rising and sinking like the waves, with my thoughts wrapped around me, through a trial of tears

Metropolis watches and thoughtfully smiles, she's taken you to your home
Nowhere to turn, I look for a way back home

[Big Hath]

Probably noyt true butv offering abother explanation:: Raining ojn the  syrreets of Mew York symbolises the suffering of people in the postmoderb world. As weäre idolated from each other we silently weep inside, and NYC cpould be a õperfect example of 6that being that it is a metropolis and really loads of peoplre live there.

WTF is going on in this post

alcohol

[jonnybaxy]

Probably noyt true butv offering abother explanation:: Raining ojn the  syrreets of Mew York symbolises the suffering of people in the postmoderb world. As weäre idolated from each other we silently weep inside, and NYC cpould be a õperfect example of 6that being that it is a metropolis and really loads of peoplre live there.

WTF is going on in this post

alcohol

Or a person with really large hands trying to type?

Nah probably alcohol, but where does a DTFer get friends to socialise over alcohol with?

[erik16]

Or a person with really large hands trying to type?

Nah probably alcohol, but where does a DTFer get friends to socialise over alcohol with?

My hands aren't that big. I think I was typing with one hand. Friends are from university. And indeed we were having a drinking party. Also included were women. And multiple bowls of really good punch  . And vodka, rum etc. Life was pretty good. Unfortunately I'm sort of ill right now. Sorry for the off-topic.

Some great contributions from the Stray Seed. Cheers!

[RaiseTheKnife]

NYC = home, thematically speaking.