Octavarium (song)
Encyclopedia
Octavarium is a song by progressive metal
band Dream Theater
, from the album of the same name
.
The song starts with Jordan Rudess
using his Haken Continuum
and his lap steel guitar
, drawing references from Pink Floyd
's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
", Tangerine Dream
, Marty Friedman
's Scenes
, and Queen
's "Bijou".
Beginning with a lengthy Continuum
/ lap steel guitar
solo by Jordan Rudess
, this section is told from a first-person perspective. It portrays the thoughts of a person as he decides on what to do in the course of his lifetime, as well as his wish to never become an ordinary person.
He succeeds in living an extraordinary life, but reflects upon it, and ends up wishing he had become an ordinary person, 'Someone like Him'. This is also in line with the 'Full Circle' theme of Octavarium: "this story ends where it began".
In the live performances of the complete version of Octavarium, John Petrucci
uses his custom-made "Blue Sparkle" twelve-string/six-string double-neck guitar for this section of the song. The only other songs he uses this particular guitar on are the live performances of Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence's
"Solitary Shell" and "Regression" from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
.
A person wakes up to discover a doctor sitting at his bedside. The doctor informs him that he has been in catatonic sleep
for 30 years. The doctor, however, believes he was able to cure him. Suddenly, the patient is in dire need of help as he feels his consciousness fading. The doctor prescribes a higher dosage of medicine, but it doesn't seem to help. Despite the doctor's failure in assisting him, the patient tells the doctor that he's not at fault, and that he shouldn't feel ashamed. Eventually, the patient slips back into unconsciousness. This is in line with the events of the movie Awakenings
.
Again, this also reflects the theme of 'Everything ends where it began.'
Full Circle is Mike Portnoy's ode to progressive rock
, shown in the lyrics by several underlying references to his favorite songs, bands and more. Once again a reference is made to the unifying theme of the song ('Everything ends where it begins'). The enumeration using the last syllable/word as the beginning of the next reference enhances the message that everything is linked, a common theme throughout Dream Theater's albums. (i.e. Day for Night, mare Cinema, Show). There is also another subtle nod to the theme in the references themselves; the section begins and ends with a Pink Floyd
reference.
Before each stanza in the lyrics, Mike Portnoy says a scale degree. In each stanza, a song from Octavarium
is referenced, and an audio clip from that song is played in the background.
To finish the Octave, LaBrie repeats the line "Trapped inside this Octavarium", meaning that the speaker is trapped in the Octavarium's full circle, which begins and ends the same. To enunciate the intensity of this statement, LaBrie screams the line, straining his voice more than he had done for over a decade. By the time the song reaches the fourth repeat of the line, his voice has reached as high as G5, the highest note heard on a Dream Theater studio song from vocals, beating the famous F# in "Learning to Live". During live performances, LaBrie usually sings the first three lines the with the same notes, then jumps to the note on the last two syllables of the word "Octavarium", sometimes going as high as G5, holding the note and doing trills downwards on the last.
This movement simply emphasizes the cyclical nature of all things, as well as the album, as it begins where it ends, using the same melody as the end to the first track, it also ends with the same note that The Root of All Evil begins with. There is also an alternative ending where the main flute theme is reprised and faded at the end of the song.
This movement also serves as the capstone for the song and the album which shares its name, being the fifth movement in the eighth song on the album. In this way, it continues the 5:8 theme. When performed live as part of "Schmedley Wilcox" on Chaos in Motion, Mike Portnoy adds in additional vocal emphasis to portions of this movement.
Another way in which this part ties in to the cyclical nature of the album is that it is part five of Octavarium. The first song on the album, The Root of All Evil, begins with part six (as it is continuing the Twelve-Step Suite).
This movements lyrics also references Rush's Progressive epic Hemispheres
, by mirroring the "Perfect Sphere Theme".
Hemispheres - "...With the heart and mind united in a single perfect sphere."
Octavarium - "A Perfect Sphere, colliding with our fate..."
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
, from the album of the same name
Octavarium (album)
Octavarium is the eighth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Released on June 7, 2005, it was the band's final release with Atlantic Records. Recorded between September 2004 and February 2005, the album holds the distinction of being the last album ever recorded at The...
.
The song starts with Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
using his Haken Continuum
Continuum (instrument)
The Continuum Fingerboard or Haken Continuum is a music performance controller developed by Lippold Haken, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, and sold by Haken Audio, located in Champaign, Illinois....
and his lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, drawing references from Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. The song is a tribute to former band member Syd Barrett, although it was not originally explicitly written with him in mind. It was first performed on their 1974 French...
", Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, Marty Friedman
Marty Friedman (guitarist)
Marty Friedman is a guitarist, well known for his tenure as the lead/rhythm guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth, which lasted almost a decade...
's Scenes
Scenes (album)
Scenes is the second studio album by guitarist Marty Friedman, released in 1992 through Shrapnel Records.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Marty Friedman – guitar, bass, production*Brian BecVar – keyboard, percussion*Nick Menza – drums...
, and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bijou".
I. Someone Like Him
- 0:00 - 8:47 (8:47)
- Lyrics by John PetrucciJohn PetrucciJohn Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
Beginning with a lengthy Continuum
Continuum (instrument)
The Continuum Fingerboard or Haken Continuum is a music performance controller developed by Lippold Haken, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, and sold by Haken Audio, located in Champaign, Illinois....
/ lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
solo by Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
, this section is told from a first-person perspective. It portrays the thoughts of a person as he decides on what to do in the course of his lifetime, as well as his wish to never become an ordinary person.
He succeeds in living an extraordinary life, but reflects upon it, and ends up wishing he had become an ordinary person, 'Someone like Him'. This is also in line with the 'Full Circle' theme of Octavarium: "this story ends where it began".
In the live performances of the complete version of Octavarium, John Petrucci
John Petrucci
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
uses his custom-made "Blue Sparkle" twelve-string/six-string double-neck guitar for this section of the song. The only other songs he uses this particular guitar on are the live performances of Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence's
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. It was released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002 by Elektra Records...
"Solitary Shell" and "Regression" from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is the fifth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released in 1999. It is a concept album that deals with the story of a man named Nicholas and the discovery of his past life, which involves love, murder, and infidelity as Victoria Page...
.
II. Medicate (Awakening)
- 8:48 - 13:49 (5:01)
- Lyrics by James LaBrieJames LaBrieKevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
A person wakes up to discover a doctor sitting at his bedside. The doctor informs him that he has been in catatonic sleep
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
for 30 years. The doctor, however, believes he was able to cure him. Suddenly, the patient is in dire need of help as he feels his consciousness fading. The doctor prescribes a higher dosage of medicine, but it doesn't seem to help. Despite the doctor's failure in assisting him, the patient tells the doctor that he's not at fault, and that he shouldn't feel ashamed. Eventually, the patient slips back into unconsciousness. This is in line with the events of the movie Awakenings
Awakenings
Awakenings is a 1990 American drama film based on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir Awakenings. It tells the true story of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as American Malcolm Sayer and portrayed by Robin Williams who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa...
.
Again, this also reflects the theme of 'Everything ends where it began.'
III. Full Circle
- 13:50 - 18:27 (4:37)
- Lyrics by Mike PortnoyMike PortnoyMichael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
Full Circle is Mike Portnoy's ode to progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, shown in the lyrics by several underlying references to his favorite songs, bands and more. Once again a reference is made to the unifying theme of the song ('Everything ends where it begins'). The enumeration using the last syllable/word as the beginning of the next reference enhances the message that everything is linked, a common theme throughout Dream Theater's albums. (i.e. Day for Night, mare Cinema, Show). There is also another subtle nod to the theme in the references themselves; the section begins and ends with a Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
reference.
- Isn't This Where We Came In?Isn't This Where We Came In?Isn't This Where We Came In is a hidden message in Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera The Wall.-Summary:The first words spoken on the disc one portion of the album during the song In The Flesh, before the driving riff of the song comes in and while the quiet Outside The Wall riff is playing, are "we came...
- Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
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IV. Intervals
- 18:28 - 19:51 (1:23)
- Lyrics by Mike PortnoyMike PortnoyMichael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
Before each stanza in the lyrics, Mike Portnoy says a scale degree. In each stanza, a song from Octavarium
Octavarium (album)
Octavarium is the eighth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Released on June 7, 2005, it was the band's final release with Atlantic Records. Recorded between September 2004 and February 2005, the album holds the distinction of being the last album ever recorded at The...
is referenced, and an audio clip from that song is played in the background.
| Root | Our deadly sins fill his mortal wrath Remove all obstacles from our path |
Fifth | Tortured insanity, a smothering hell Try to escape but to no avail |
|
| The Root of All Evil | Panic Attack | |||
| Second | Asking questions, search for clues The answer's been right in front of you |
Sixth | The calls of admirers who claim they adore Drain all your lifeblood while begging for more |
|
| The Answer Lies Within | Never Enough | |||
| Third | Try to break through, long to connect Fall on deaf ears with failed muted breath |
Seventh | Innocent victims of merciless crimes Fall prey to some madmen's impulsive designs |
|
| These Walls | Sacrificed Sons | |||
| Fourth | Loyalty, trust, faith and desire Carries love through each darkest fire |
Octave | Step after step, we try controlling our fate When we finally start living it's become too late |
|
| I Walk Beside You | Octavarium |
To finish the Octave, LaBrie repeats the line "Trapped inside this Octavarium", meaning that the speaker is trapped in the Octavarium's full circle, which begins and ends the same. To enunciate the intensity of this statement, LaBrie screams the line, straining his voice more than he had done for over a decade. By the time the song reaches the fourth repeat of the line, his voice has reached as high as G5, the highest note heard on a Dream Theater studio song from vocals, beating the famous F# in "Learning to Live". During live performances, LaBrie usually sings the first three lines the with the same notes, then jumps to the note on the last two syllables of the word "Octavarium", sometimes going as high as G5, holding the note and doing trills downwards on the last.
V. Razor's Edge
- 19:52 - 24:00 (4:08)
- Lyrics by John PetrucciJohn PetrucciJohn Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
This movement simply emphasizes the cyclical nature of all things, as well as the album, as it begins where it ends, using the same melody as the end to the first track, it also ends with the same note that The Root of All Evil begins with. There is also an alternative ending where the main flute theme is reprised and faded at the end of the song.
This movement also serves as the capstone for the song and the album which shares its name, being the fifth movement in the eighth song on the album. In this way, it continues the 5:8 theme. When performed live as part of "Schmedley Wilcox" on Chaos in Motion, Mike Portnoy adds in additional vocal emphasis to portions of this movement.
Another way in which this part ties in to the cyclical nature of the album is that it is part five of Octavarium. The first song on the album, The Root of All Evil, begins with part six (as it is continuing the Twelve-Step Suite).
This movements lyrics also references Rush's Progressive epic Hemispheres
Hemispheres (Rush album)
Hemispheres is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1978. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Trident Studios in London....
, by mirroring the "Perfect Sphere Theme".
Hemispheres - "...With the heart and mind united in a single perfect sphere."
Octavarium - "A Perfect Sphere, colliding with our fate..."
5 and 8 Theme
The song also uses the theme that things revolve around the numbers of 5 and 8 (this theme is used as the unifying theme of the album). "Octavarium" is the eighth song on the album (the prefix "octa" in the title also refers to the number eight) and it has five different sections.Personnel
- James LaBrieJames LaBrieKevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
- lead vocals - John PetrucciJohn PetrucciJohn Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - John MyungJohn MyungJohn Ro Myung is an American bassist, Chapman Stick player and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is considered a virtuoso player who is widely recognized for his technical proficiency....
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jordan RudessJordan RudessJordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, continuumContinuum (instrument)The Continuum Fingerboard or Haken Continuum is a music performance controller developed by Lippold Haken, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, and sold by Haken Audio, located in Champaign, Illinois....
, lap steel - Mike PortnoyMike PortnoyMichael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals