Out of Reach appreciation thread

[Drinktheater]

I think this is one of their best ballads, it has this melancholic  sort of a dark fantasy vibe.

Something that will not be out of place in the Awake album.

Like in terms of lyrical themes about a man falling in love with a girl in a coffee shop but the girl is too broken to love again.

Its like a combination of lifting shadows of a dream and Space Dye Vest.



Some say the lyrics are too cheesy but I think its really relatable I think its my theme song lol.

[hunnus2000]

I think this is one of their best ballads, it has this melancholic  sort of a dark fantasy vibe.

Something that will not be out of place in the Awake album.

Like in terms of lyrical themes about a man falling in love with a girl in a coffee shop but the girl is too broken to love again.

Its like a combination of lifting shadows of a dream and Space Dye Vest.



Some say the lyrics are too cheesy but I think its really relatable I think its my theme song lol.

While I don't really agree with your Awake analogies, I do love the song and think that it's as powerful of a ballad as any in their catalogue. LOVE the guitar solo!! 

[Drinktheater]

I think this is one of their best ballads, it has this melancholic  sort of a dark fantasy vibe.

Something that will not be out of place in the Awake album.

Like in terms of lyrical themes about a man falling in love with a girl in a coffee shop but the girl is too broken to love again.

Its like a combination of lifting shadows of a dream and Space Dye Vest.



Some say the lyrics are too cheesy but I think its really relatable I think its my theme song lol.

While I don't really agree with your Awake analogies, I do love the song and think that it's as powerful of a ballad as any in their catalogue. LOVE the guitar solo!! 

The guitar solo is haunting and really compliments the song.  And  Labrie's lyrics is really good.  And it has an intriguing back story.

[hunnus2000]

Please expound on the backstory. I've read the lyrics and frankly, they're kind of confusing to me.

For instance, he sounds like he's infatuated with her but why is she letting her life slip away?

[Max Kuehnau]

I think this is one of their best ballads, it has this melancholic  sort of a dark fantasy vibe.

Something that will not be out of place in the Awake album.

Like in terms of lyrical themes about a man falling in love with a girl in a coffee shop but the girl is too broken to love again.

Its like a combination of lifting shadows of a dream and Space Dye Vest.



Some say the lyrics are too cheesy but I think its really relatable I think its my theme song lol.

While I don't really agree with your Awake analogies, I do love the song and think that it's as powerful of a ballad as any in their catalogue. LOVE the guitar solo!! 

well, I guess what he meant was that OOR has more of these darker aspects that the ballads on Awake have. Certainly more so than say any ballad on The Astonishing (but these are great in their own right too)

[Lupton]

I like this tune. It's a bit too reminiscent of Wither but that's alright

[Northern Lion]

I didn't like it very much when it first came out, but it really grew on me and now I love it.  Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

[Drinktheater]

I didn't like it very much when it first came out, but it really grew on me and now I love it.  Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

This may be an unpopular opinion but I love it when Dream Theater injects subtle romantic elements in their songs stories.

I would love a sequel to this song like a conclusion maybe create an epic.

I mean there are questions did the guy end up with the girl?

[wolfking]

Petrucci's solo is ridiculous.  Perfect emotion and execution.  Love this song, great melodies and love the structure.

[KevShmev]

Still love this song, and over a year i would say this is definitely one of my top 3 songs from D/T.  For being such a simple song, I like the unusual arrangement, how the guitar solo is between the first and second verses, and then we don't hear the chorus until the end of the song. 

[Max Kuehnau]

One of my favourites on the album, seriously. Still is. (along with PBD)

[krands85]

I wouldn't say it was one of my favourites on the album, but I still really like it and I think it's one of their best ballad-type songs.

[bosk1]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative. 

[Drinktheater]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I am really intrugued about the back story of Out of Reach.

I think James said its a personal story of one of his aquaintance.

[hefdaddy42]

This is my favorite song from Distance Over Time.

[hunnus2000]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I am really intrugued about the back story of Out of Reach.

I think James said its a personal story of one of his aquaintance.

I too would like to know the backstory. JLB used the phrase 'out of reach' in The Bigger Picture on DT12.

[geeeemo]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

That was one of the best days!! ever! 
And ya, I love James lyric writing - as my son described "very introspective"

[Trav86]

Love it!

[EPIC Outro]

More than one person has said that this song had a dark twist at the end, but I just dont see it. Am I missing something?

[Mladen]

This song grew on me immensely and is one of my favorites on the album, right behind Pale blue dot and Paralyzed. It's beautiful lyrically and LaBrie's performance conveys the emotion perfectly. In terms of instrumentation, it reminds me of so much amazing work John and Jordan did on The Astonishing, and although this one isn't quite on that level, it's still very well crafted.

I'm not seeing any dark twist at the end, the song actually finishes in a fairly optimistic way.

[Eldomm]

Petrucci's solo is ridiculous.  Perfect emotion and execution.  Love this song, great melodies and love the structure.

This.

[Podaar]

Love this song! It just may be my favorite from D/T.

Petrucci's solo is ridiculous.  Perfect emotion and execution.  Love this song, great melodies and love the structure.

Exactly. This guy gets it.

[Another_Won]

Really love this one and I am not usually very fond of their ballads.  The solo is REALLY great and I like that it comes early in the song.

[GasparXR]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I am really intrugued about the back story of Out of Reach.

I think James said its a personal story of one of his aquaintance.

I too would like to know the backstory. JLB used the phrase 'out of reach' in The Bigger Picture on DT12.

Didn't JP write the lyrics to The Bigger Picture?

[Dublagent66]

OoR is one of my all time favorite DT songs.

[Cool Chris]

Not a superb song, but still a great one, and more importantly, the right song on the right album as the right track number.

[pg1067]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I am really intrugued about the back story of Out of Reach.

I think James said its a personal story of one of his aquaintance.

I too would like to know the backstory. JLB used the phrase 'out of reach' in The Bigger Picture on DT12.

Didn't JP write the lyrics to The Bigger Picture?

You are correct.  The only song on DT12 that didn't feature JP lyrics was Surrender to Reason, which was credited to JM.

[Drinktheater]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I am really intrugued about the back story of Out of Reach.

I think James said its a personal story of one of his aquaintance.

I too would like to know the backstory. JLB used the phrase 'out of reach' in The Bigger Picture on DT12.

Yeah even though The bigger picture is written by JP and mostlikely has a different source of inspiration.

I can't help but connect the two songs.


"Long before the colors start to bleed
I can see the painting come alive
Clever like an angel in disguise
Moving in and out of reach "


The bigger picture it seems is about finding ones self and finding the purpose to ones life.  But you can clearly see there are atleast two characters in the song and if you are going to immerse your self in the DT universe where you will have a personal interpretation of their songs and you view them all as related then the Bigger picture really fits the story.


Maybe the Angel in disguise who is moving in and of reach is that woman?  The girl in out of reach?


In in the Dream Theater Subreddit some one posted about how a lot of Dream Theater songs seems to be connected even the ones that are not supposed to be connected seems to have some sort of connection.

And this is not really far off since those guys JP,JM,James and so on do communicate their ideas to one another.


Interesting take.

 Out of reach hits me on a personal level as the story there is similar to my hopeless romantic experience where I fell in love with a nice girl but due to life circumstances she said she is done with love for now so in a way despite she being friendly with me she is out of reach.

But she inspires me none the less, "It some kind of magic"


The thing is she is an artist a very good painter.

Maybe she is really that angel in disguise that made the painting come alive? Moving in and out of reach



BTW, here is a link Jame Labrie explaining the story of out of Reach.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/dream-theater/out-of-reach

[hunnus2000]

Thanks for the link! 

[MoraWintersoul]

Love that James calls himself "Mr. Dark Subject", imagine if one of the other songs they asked about was Disappear so that he'd have to explain another one of those 

[Dublagent66]

Love that James calls himself "Mr. Dark Subject", imagine if one of the other songs they asked about was Disappear so that he'd have to explain another one of those 

Not to mention most of his solo songs as well.  Mr. Dark indeed. 

[pg1067]

Love that James calls himself "Mr. Dark Subject", imagine if one of the other songs they asked about was Disappear so that he'd have to explain another one of those 

Well...SOMEONE should be made to answer for that song.

[DoctorAction]

Love this song. Beautiful. JLB is great with the lyrics. If i'm taking a small portion of DoT on a short car journey I tend to start from Out Of Reach.

[Madman Shepherd]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I complimented him on At Wit's End and let him know that almost universally it is considered by fans as one of the best on D/T.  I mentioned how heavy the lyrics were and his response was pretty profound. He said, "Ya know, I'm not a serious guy but I am observant."

I thought, ya know, that kinda sums up him and his style.

Anyway, I also told him how psyched I was he contributed more lyrics which is what I told him I hoped for when I met him in 2011. Obviously didn't work out for almost a decade but hopefully DT turned a corner in that regard.

Oh yeah, Out of Reach is awesome too. Really feels like a JLB solo song which isn't a bad thing at all.

[MoraWintersoul]

Labrie is a fantastic lyricist.

Indeed.  I complimented him on his lyric-writing on this album when I talked to him after the show in Reno, and he was very appreciative.

I complimented him on At Wit's End and let him know that almost universally it is considered by fans as one of the best on D/T.  I mentioned how heavy the lyrics were and his response was pretty profound. He said, "Ya know, I'm not a serious guy but I am observant."

I thought, ya know, that kinda sums up him and his style.

That's actually perfect. Know thyself, huh? Hats off to him. 

AWE is more of a male point of view but it always has to be mentioned how he is cognizant of the female perspective of things. His solo song Agony is one of the best songs about domestic abuse I know.