4. A Change Of Seasons
I've only become aware of the need to listen to ACOS after I've finished with all the then-available full studio albums, which means early 2010. Dream Theater had an amazing effect on the way I perceive and seek out music, but if I had to pinpoint one song that marked the biggest shift in the way I think, it would be the one that "sealed the deal", the last.
Me and Dream Theater, after a shy period where I eyed them for awhile, too afraid to seek further contact, entered a whirlwind romance near the beginning of 2009, got engaged quickly, and were now together. After a painful time period after the split until the end of 2011, our happy reunion was celebrated by listening to songs that reminded me of all the good things Mike Portnoy left Dream Theater fans with, besides phenomenal drumming (present in the song) and communication (and who knows whether they would have had this tune finally recorded if there weren't for fans writing to the band and band response?), and that is a strong sense of direction and his good lyrics. How do you write lyrics such as these so young? There's nostalgia, love, loss and pain, defiance, acceptance, vision, all in the same song.
3. Surrounded (Images and Words)
As a Queen fan, this song hit me really hard with its happy, major sound, prominent keyboards, perfectly timed solo and soaring vocals. It also kept on hitting me harder and harder each time I listened to it. You know that old, worn out sentence, that there's nothing more to add? Sure, there always is more to add. But there are sometimes simple songs so beautiful where even bands like Dream Theater don't want to add anything more to them.
It would be pretty interesting to draw a parallel between 6:00 and Surrounded, as they both started out as Kevin's babies and feature lyrics by him, moreover that they both deal with some sort of awakening. It's interesting to see how much his approach to Dream Theater has changed in the meantime, from music, in the choice of synth sounds, to lyrics. Both scenes of the physical awakening are equally "violent" to the senses - set sirens wake up tired eyes, memories rush into the protagonist's head/the siren kicks him from a dream and can't be shaken off. The theme of 6:00 is more down to earth, and Surrounded is very Dream Theater, with an obscure storyline and ending, with dramatic images of stained glass shattering, shadows, stars, blinding light and a mystical "her"-entity dancing and whispering words to clear the protagonist's mind. It is also more beautiful in the traditional sense of the word.
In both songs, the spiritual awakening is harder to achieve than the physical one, but it seems that, for that too, you need a "siren" to wake you up, that you must seek it out, and that it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye. But you must answer the call while you can still hear it from an ivory tower. You must answer it while it's loud and clear.
Topic: Re: MoraWintersoul's top 50 DT songs v. feeling my heart pull west (Read 20738 times)