137

[Sebastián Pratesi]

So, many of us have noticed that the number 137 has appeared a few times recently:

• On the notepad in the fifteenth and final puzzle piece.
• As the URL of the final WordPress page involved in the treasure hunt.
• On the skull in the album cover.
• As the sum of the durations of the 'Song 10 writing session' and 'Album teaser' videos. (Thanks, Atakan!)
• In '91311373', the mirror of Mike's domain. (OK, this one is probably stupid. )
• Just as 137 is the 33^rd prime number, the band has recently finished their 33^rd year of existence. (Thanks, Beatrice!)

I saw a few people here/Reddit say that 137 is also the number of songs already released by the band, and somehow related to the skull scene in Hamlet (which the artwork seems to reference), but I have no idea about those - I haven't checked.

Anyways - I figured there could be a thread about this, so everyone can share other occurrences they find of the number (in case this ends up being an Octavarium-type scenario), or simply to discuss hypothesis.

[Bertielee]

Good idea : I have checked page 137 of Hamlet : the scene when the clown throws a skull at Hamlet :

"1 Clown.
[Sings.]
But age, with his stealing steps,
Hath claw'd me in his clutch,
And hath shipp'd me intil the land,
As if I had never been such.
[Throws up a skull.]
Ham.
That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: how the
knave jowls it to the ground,as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that
did the first murder! This might be the pate of a politician,..."

The cover seems a reference at Hamlet's hand holding Yorick's skull.

B.Lee

[Elite]

Maybe they'll finally release the full version of Pull Me Under

[gzarruk]

Don't know anything about 137, but now I'm subscribed to the thread

[GasparXR]

Maybe DT is trying to return to the glory nugget days of old?

[Ninjabait]

From the other thread, it seems to be a reference to how many songs they've officially released up to this point

[Mladen]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the number is the song of the same name by the band Brand New. Here's what a comment says regarding the title of that particular song, but we'll see if there's any connection to the cover:

''The title refers to the radioactive isotope Caesium-137, of which there was no trace in the Earth's atmosphere or in nature before the first nuclear detonation. Ever since the introduction of nuclear weapons and reactors, trace amounts of the isotope have rapidly spread across the planet.''

[Bertielee]

From the other thread, it seems to be a reference to how many songs they've officially released up to this point

The reference to Hamlet and this reference are not mutually exclusive I think. And in fact, it would be really cool if it had more than one explanation.

B.Lee

[Dream Team]

From the other thread, it seems to be a reference to how many songs they've officially released up to this point

Actually that's only true if you don't count A Change of Seasons which seems absurd. It's an original song on an official EP.

[AboutToCrash]

WD&DU - 8
I&W - 8
Awake - 11
ACOS - 1
FII - 11
SFAM - 12
SDOIT - 6
TOT - 7
8VM - 8
SC - 7
BC&SL - 6
ADTOE - 9
DT - 9
TA - 34 (137 total)

I have counted both ITPOE and SDOIT as individual songs, so ACOS can be included in that sum... an obvious connection, question is why is their discography numbered on a skull being held by a robot?😂 must be some philosophical/higher meaning to it 

[Dream Team]

Yes, but the other thread said 136.

[Adami]

JP: So everyone is agreed on the final version of the cover art?
JR: Yea man, the robot hand holding the skull? To symbolize the drama of evolution and progression?
JLB: Maple Syrup.
JP: So it's done.
JM:.....I got an idea
JP: What's that?
JM: Let's put a totally random, meaningless number on the skull.
JR: Hmmm....why?
JM: To drive our fans crazy to attribute some significance to it. It'll be fun.
JP: CONSIDER IT DONE!

[gzarruk]

JP: So everyone is agreed on the final version of the cover art?
JR: Yea man, the robot hand holding the skull? To symbolize the drama of evolution and progression?
JLB: Maple Syrup.
JP: So it's done.
JM:.....I got an idea
JP: What's that?
JM: Let's put a totally random, meaningless number on the skull.
JR: Hmmm....why?
JM: To drive our fans crazy to attribute some significance to it. It'll be fun.
JP: CONSIDER IT DONE!

[RaiseTheKnife]

Maybe they'll finally release the full version of Pull Me Under

Haha, but they did -- it's a hidden track on the Ytse Jams I&W demo release.

[Zook]

Is Raw Dog not canon?

[Adami]

Is Raw Dog not canon?

I believe it was shot out of a cannon.

[gmillerdrake]

Is Raw Dog not canon?

Actually looked it up and Tried to listen to that just the other day. Ugh. I hope they got paid some good money for that. Such a blah song.....if you consider it a song.

[Zook]

Is Raw Dog not canon?

I believe it was shot out of a cannon.

[gzarruk]

Yes, but the other thread said 136.

That's because they counted only the songs on the 13 studio albums released so far. My complete DT playlist has 160 tracks

[lonestar]

I think it's the band's prediction of the number of threads we'll have micro-analyzing every aspect of the album.



I think they're way under personally.

[The Letter M]

Yes, but the other thread said 136.

That's because they counted only the songs on the 13 studio albums released so far. My complete DT playlist has 160 tracks

This is true, because even though you'd count ACOS (being the EP title track), you'd still miss singles like "Raw Dog", and B-Sides that were officially released on singles, like "Eve" and "To Live Forever", as well as a couple of the FII B-Sides that made it out on non-club discs. I guess if the number IS connected to their song count, they only count their 13 studio albums' songs, plus ACOS. I suppose singles are more forgettable these days...

As for the whole 137 thing, it'll be interesting to see if this pans out into anything bigger, or if it's just a tease.

-Marc.

[noxon]

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/why-the-number-137-is-one-of-the-greatest-mysteries-in-physics

[Chino]

I typed "137" into Amazon's search engine, and this toner cartridge was the first result.

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Original-137-Toner-Cartridge/dp/B00N99DC8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541424947&sr=8-1&keywords=137

In the item's description, it says "Genuine Canon Toner 137 yields approximately 2,400 pages"   


I'm not quite sure how this fits into the puzzle, but I definitely think there's something there. 

[Zydar]

The Printer Carries On

[erwinrafael]

137 songs from the past albums -> the skull
The future -> the robot

Must be the band signaling that they're moving on from their past and speeding (distance over time) into the future.

[Chino]

137 songs from the past albums -> the skull
The future -> the robot

Must be the band signaling that they're moving on from their past and speeding (distance over time) into the future.

I think they are emphasizing that their careers, but mainly life in general, went by quickly. Before you know it, your'e dead, never knowing what the future holds

In Ferris Bueller's Day off, he says "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.", and in that movie's 137th section of the script, Ferris is on the float having the time of his life. He's singing "Twist and Shout", a song written by a band that is probably liked by and an influence on the members of Dream Theater.

https://www.idiotsavant.com/bueller/script.htm

So the symbolism on this album cover, obviously, is our future overlords looking at our remains, relishing in the fact that unlike us humans, their time does not move by as quickly. They don't need to stop around and look around once in a while, because they are all knowing. They look into our empty eye sockets, constantly curious of what that feeling must have felt like, wondering whether or not they are truly living.

[Elite]

But they also did that with the self-titled album.

[Adami]

137 songs from the past albums -> the skull
The future -> the robot

Must be the band signaling that they're moving on from their past and speeding (distance over time) into the future.

The skull represents the organic, the robot represents the artificial.

I think this 100%, without a single bit of doubt, completely objectively, proves that the band will be moving on to completely digital instruments. No more acoustic drums, or anything. All digital. All synthetic.

Proven. Can't dispute it.

[Chino]

137 songs from the past albums -> the skull
The future -> the robot

Must be the band signaling that they're moving on from their past and speeding (distance over time) into the future.

The skull represents the organic, the robot represents the artificial.

I think this 100%, without a single bit of doubt, completely objectively, proves that the band will be moving on to completely digital instruments. No more acoustic drums, or anything. All digital. All synthetic.

Proven. Can't dispute it.

Truth

[jammindude]

In fact, she nice it's the first few odd numbers in sequence with the number 5 missing... this is proof that the 5 members of Dream Theater all died during the writing sessions and were replaced with exact replicas!

The truth is out there.

[erwinrafael]

But they also did that with the self-titled album.

With the self titled, I think they were trying to capture the essence of DT in a concise manner.

[Chino]

Every number in and arrangement of 137 is a prime.

- 1
- 3
- 7
- 13
- 17
- 31
- 37
- 71
- 73
- 137
- 173
- 317
- 371
- 713
- 731

[Adami]

New album is about Optimus Prime and will only feature digital instruments and is also a copy of Images and Words.


Fact.

[Zydar]

I guess Blob will be heavily involved in the visual stuff then.

[Sebastián Pratesi]

He's singing "Twist and Shout", a song written by a band that is probably liked by and an influence on the members of Dream Theater.

Just a minor detail: the song was not written by a band, but by two composers called Philip Medley and Bertrand Russell Berns, who used to work as a paid writer in the Brill Building.

Every number in and arrangement of 137 is a prime.

'1', and the last three on the list, are not:

• 371 =   7 x 53
• 713 = 23 x 31
• 731 = 17 x 43