Your favorite verse variation

[erwinrafael]

Dream Theater has a lot of songs with the verse-chorus-verse structure, but they almost always change up the verse section in the second round, which makes their music sound dynamic and exciting. What are your favorite verse variations in Dream Theater songs? Here are three of my favorites:

Untethered Angel - What really makes the verse variation in this song stand out is that the first verse is really generic sounding. Then they changed it up with an amazing variation, which led into that beautiful pre-chorus (Fear can't live inside you...).

Surrender to Reason - the verse variation here is so unpredictable, when I first heard it I really didn't know where it was taking me.

In The Presence of Enemies Part 2 - this one is more straightforward, but when James sang "Angels fall all for you..." the second time around with the high register, I got goosebumps.

[DTA]

Along For The Ride comes to mind at the moment. Lots of cool stuff going on in the verses.

[The Walrus]

Beneath The Surface, when James comes back in at the end with the same lines but goes higher. CHILLS. Every time. "Until one day I stopped caring... and begaaaan to forget why I longed to be so close" Amazing song.

[MirrorMask]

Beneath The Surface, when James comes back in at the end with the same lines but goes higher. CHILLS. Every time. "Until one day I stopped caring... and begaaaan to forget why I longed to be so close" Amazing song.

I'll always remember the first time I heard the song. I was bracing myself for a final chorus sung higher, and James started softly again and I was like "Ok, it's still a nice song... but I wish he'd have gone higher for the final chorus". And then he immediately does!!! WHOOOO GO JAMES GO!!! YES, YES, YES!!

I agree, amazing song.

[hefdaddy42]

There's one that I like on the new album.

In At Wit's End, in the ending part with the melodic soloing by JP, James sings "Don't leave me now" twice.  The second time he sings it, the bass line is different, and it gives me chills every time I hear it.

[Madman Shepherd]

Beneath The Surface, when James comes back in at the end with the same lines but goes higher. CHILLS. Every time. "Until one day I stopped caring... and begaaaan to forget why I longed to be so close" Amazing song.

Beneath The Surface, when James comes back in at the end with the same lines but goes higher. CHILLS. Every time. "Until one day I stopped caring... and begaaaan to forget why I longed to be so close" Amazing song.

I'll always remember the first time I heard the song. I was bracing myself for a final chorus sung higher, and James started softly again and I was like "Ok, it's still a nice song... but I wish he'd have gone higher for the final chorus". And then he immediately does!!! WHOOOO GO JAMES GO!!! YES, YES, YES!!

I agree, amazing song.

Yes, great example. I remember the first time I heard it I was a little caught off guard. James has such a unique voice that I wasn't expecting it to sound so distinct. I immediately had to hear it again to figure out if I actually liked it and the second time through is when I got the chills. Moments like those are when you really appreciate that they have a singer with such a remarkable style.

[ReaPsTA]

I love the second verse in The Bigger Picture. The first verse is about the viewpoint character fawning over this person they clearly like, you get the chrous where you hear the viewpiont character's desire, then in the second verse you get why. The move from admiration to emotional turmoil is so good.

[fischermasamune]

One example I remember is from S2N. The second repetition of the chorus has the development "Our wounds begin to heal", and the third adds "The chatter disappears and the message is revealed", bringing the matter to a positive conclusion.

(Not sure if this counts.)

[zappafrank2112]

I love how in Honor Thy Father, the lyrics and delivery get more aggressive as the goes on in one part:


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the nerve to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So Ignorant to the damage he has done.
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
Oblivious to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this shit on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So fucking blind to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree

[zappafrank2112]

Strange Deja Vu

Studio: In her eyes, I sense a story never told (drops off a bit at the end)
Live: In her eyes, I sense a story never tooooOOOOLLLLLD!!!! (James slides higher and higher into a sudden burst of a high note that he cuts off immediately

[TheCountOfNYC]

Never Enough. The hi-hat groove in the second verse is among my favorite drum parts of all time.

[Another_Won]

I love how in Honor Thy Father, the lyrics and delivery get more aggressive as the goes on in one part:


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the nerve to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So Ignorant to the damage he has done.
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
Oblivious to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this shit on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So fucking blind to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree

Yes, this is exactly what I think about when listening to this song.  With each verse my  gets more pronounced each time. 

[Cool Chris]

In The Presence of Enemies Part 2 - this one is more straightforward, but when James sang "Angels fall all for you..." the second time around with the high register, I got goosebumps.

This was my first thought when I saw the thread title. One of my favorite JLB vocal moments in DT.

[The Walrus]

Excellent call with Honor Thy Father, and I love when James sings that line higher in ITPOE pt. 2 as well.

[cygnusx1jg]

I like the slight instrumental difference in the two "Call it bad luck, call it fate" parts in Barstool Warrior.

It's not DT, but my favorite Rush song (under ten minutes) doesn't even have a chorus.

[Sebastián Pratesi]

I love how in Honor Thy Father, the lyrics and delivery get more aggressive as the goes on in one part:


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the nerve to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So Ignorant to the damage he has done.
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this mess on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
Oblivious to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree.


How can you ever sleep a wink at night,
Pretending that everything is alright,
And have the balls to blame this shit on me?
Never in my life have I seen someone
So fucking blind to the damage he has done,
You're the rotted root in the family tree

This reminds me of Frank Black's vocals during the verses in the Pixies' "Blue Eyed Hexe".