Subject: [themirror] Re: Did I really hear that??
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6:00 is not about Santa Claus...Kevin Moore wrote this song about a friend
of his who regrets missed opportunities throughout his life.
"Voices", as well as other songs like "Scarred" and "The Silent Man", have
very obvious Religious innuendoes. I find Petrucci's lyrics to be the most
fascinating.
-----Original Message-----
From: Calle Rydberg [mailto:calle_rydberg@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 1998 11:42 PM
To: themirror@egroups.com
Subject: [themirror] Re: Did I really hear that??
I agree with you!!!
But have you ever thought about the lyrics in "voices"?
"Judas on the ceiling, the devil in my bed. I guess easter愀 never
coming so I惻l just wait inside my bed."
or from 6:00:
"Six o될clock on the christmas morning" and "6:00 a siren kicks him from
a dream". I mean, is that song about SantaClaus and christmas or what???
Anyway, It愀 a really good song!!!
Greetings from Sweden!!!
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Subject: [themirror] Re: "Religious innuendoes"
I agree with you about Petrucci's lyrics. They're fascinating,
especially in regard to his use of religious/Christian imagery etc. And
this brings up an interesting topic. I have heard some fans proposing
that Dream Theater holds "contempt for Christianity", but, personally, I
don't think that's true.
I WOULD say (from reading some lyrics) that they've been very turned off
by a lot of things they've seen or experienced in the Catholic church
(especially Kevin Moore, when he was in the band). For instance, lyrics
like "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, kiss the boys and made them
wary...(Lie)" seem to show this pretty clearly, (I'm assuming) 'Mary'
symbolizes the Catholic Church and 'the boys' refer to the band.
What Dream Theater seems to be disgusted with (and rightly so) is the
hypocrisy that is, unfortunately, all too common among Christians (being
a Christian myself, I realize hypocisy is something we're all guilty of,
to one degree or another). Thankfully, the true message of Christianity
is that Jesus Christ made a way for all of us to be forgiven for our
faults, and to have relationship with God.
What I love about Dream Theater (besides there amazing musicianship,
inspiring music and incredible live shows) is their compelling
song-writing. They explore deeply spiritual themes inluding temptation,
faith, forgivenesss, and love.
For example, check this out. "Seen my diary on the newsstand, seems
we've lost the truth to quicksand, it's a shame no one is praying cause
these voices in my head keep sayin... 'Love, just don't stare. Reveal
the Word when you're supposed to (Voices)'" (Interestingly, Petrucci's
capitalization of "Word" is a reference to Jesus, who is described in
the New Testament as the "Word of God" (see John's Gospel, Ch 1.)
Also, check out the song, "Scarred" from Awake. Petrucci promotes some
powerful spritual themes including forgiveness and salvation.
"Blood...Heal me, Fear...Change me, Belief will always save me,
Blood...swearing, Fear...Staring, Conviction made aware". In these
lines, John Petrucci promotes some of the central beliefs a Christian
holds to.
One of Dream Theater's most compelling songs for me (lyric-wise) is
"Lines in the Sand" on Falling Into Infinity. Again penned by John
Petrucci, it explores spiritual conflict in our lives and encourages us
to look to Jesus for truth and meaning in life. "Sometimes a view from
sinless eyes centers our perspective and pacifies our cries". On a song
which explores such implicitly Christian themes as "Lines in the Sand",
it's cool to see a great singer like Doug Pinnick (himself, an outspoken
Christian) from King's X, sharing vocal duties with James Labrie. The
fact that the guys in Dream Theater and King's X are good friends seems
to show that DT has an open mind in regard to matters of faith.
Finally, I admire Dream Theater (for many things, but especially) for
not being afraid to discuss these kinds of spiritual issues and
Christian themes in their songs when most bands are either too
closed-minded or concerned that it might be "un-cool" to do so.
Carpe Diem,
Alistair
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Subject: [themirror] Re: "Religious innuendoes"
>I agree with you about Petrucci's lyrics. They're fascinating,
>especially in regard to his use of religious/Christian imagery etc. And
>this brings up an interesting topic. I have heard some fans proposing
>that Dream Theater holds "contempt for Christianity", but, personally, I
>don't think that's true.
my understanding of it was that they had a contempt for organized
religion, which many people (including christians) do. Many of their
religious allusions could be taken in that context to mean that these
things have been perverted into a harmful form.
I must, as a reference, state that I don't agree with much of what you
said after that, but that doesn't really matter. I think something
weird/cool about DT is that they have songs that can be understood in
different ways. One could say that Surrounded supports free thought
over religion, but my description would be very detailed and probably
more off-topic than this reply requires.
Anyway, my point is: Yes, DT uses many religious allusions, but no,
they don't necessarily support a religion or specific sect. Most of
these symbols are also a cultural thing, and many are also in famous
NON-religious stories. I'd like to go into this in detail, but for the
sake of the readers I won't.
BTW, no offense intended if I unintentionally offended someone; it has
a tendency to happen when religion comes up.
rI=, carry on _ - _
\|_/ [pardon my english, i'm american] fluke@dmci.net /|\|/|\
_I__ FLuke's Stuff: http://www2.dmci.net/users/fluke \|/Y\|/
=== This Neverworld that you desire is only in your mind ~ - ~
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Subject: [themirror] Re: Dream Theater and religion
I agree that a lot of Dream Theater's lyrics can be interpreted in
different ways (including the religious ones). One aspect of good poetry
(usually) is that it can be analyzed on many different levels and it has
several "layers" of meaning. I think DT's lyrics are particularly
interesting since they encourage us to think and reflect on important
issues like our existence, spirituality and purpose.
Love, just don't stare... (Voices)
Alistair
p.s. I'd be interested to hear anybody else's opinion on this kind of
stuff...
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Subject: [themirror] Re: "Religious innuendoes"
2 things:
For one, the "Mary, Mary " part from lie is more of a nursery line than a
reference to the Virgin Mary.
Secondly, there are hypocrisies in all religions but they are made by man not
God. If DT has contempt, it is for the hypocrisy.
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Subject: [themirror] Re: "Religious innuendoes"
One of my favorite lines is from "voices" it goes something like.."good
behaviour brings the saviour to his knees" Wouldnt you think this is more of
an attack on some religions (christianity)?? Also i heard that Petruci was
interviewed by a christian magaizine, anyone know anything about that??
~ESH~
http://welcome.to/Phosphenes
P.S. Forgive me for i canot spell. HAHA!!
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Subject: [themirror] Re: Did I really hear that??
i was listening to peruvian skies :
if you thought you heard :
underoos in the sky
im sure it was :
under peruvian skies./
and if you thought you heard
just let me beegee
just let me breathe ( but. ....was he drunk on " just let me breathe " ? )
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Subject: [themirror] Re: Dream Theater and religion
I agree, there are totalyy different ways the people can perceive poetry, but
after speaking to Derek personally, he assured me that DT has nothing against
Christianity
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Subject: [themirror] Re: Did I really hear that??
I think that all of you guys have made a quite interesting study on the
band's lyrics. I agree with everything you've written. Let me now write
about my assumptions.While Petrucci and Myung are more sofisticated
about their lyrics writting , Portnoy seems to be more sentimental and
concentrates on everyday experiences. Though "A Change Of Seasons" is
really quite sofisticated and sentimental , there still is a touch of
life's cruelty , as we all experince it. This feeling is radianting from
the other members' lyrics too but I think that Portoy is really a master
when he decides to write about these topics.
And when I sit and force myself to find out what I really enjoy about
this BAND is the exploding mixture of the GREATEST rock music I've ever
heard and the astonishing vocal performances combined with deeply
emotinal lyrics."Love , just don't stand , she used to say to me every
Sunday morning..."
ARIS