Lyrics: "The Glass Prison", by Dream Theater
I. REFLECTION
Cunning, Baffling, Powerful
Been beaten to a pulp
Vigorous, Irresistable
Sick and tired and laid low
Dominating, Invincible
Black-out, loss of control
Overwhelming, Unquenchable
I'm powerless, have to let go
I can't escape it
It leaves me frail and worn
Can no longer take it
Senses tattered and torn
Hopeless surrender
Obsession's got me beat
Losing the will to live
Admitting complete defeat
Fatal Descent
Spinning around
I've gone too far
To turn back round
Desperate attempt
Stop the progression
At any length
Lift this obsession
Crawling to my glass prison
A place where no one knows
My secret lonely world begins
So much safer here
A place where I can go
To forget about my daily sins
Life here in my glass prison
A place I once called home
Fall in nocturnal bliss again
Chasing a long lost friend
I no longer can control
Just waiting for this hopelessness to end
II. RESTORATION
Run - fast from the wreckage of the past
A shattered glass prison wall behind me
Fight - past walking through the ashes
A distant oasis before me
Cry - desperate crawling on my knees
Begging God to please stop the insanity
Help me - I'm trying to believe
Stop wallowing in my self pity
"We've been waiting for you my friend
The writing's been on the wall
All it takes is a little faith
You know you're the same as us all"
Help me - I can't break out this prison all alone
Save me - I'm drowning and I'm hopeless on my own
Heal me - I can't restore my sanity alone
Enter the door
Desperate
Fighting no more
Help me restore
To my sanity
At this temple of hope
I need to learn
Teach me how
Sorrow to burn
Help me return
To humanity
I'll be fearless and thorough
To enter this temple of hope
Believe
Transcend the pain
Living the life
Humility
Opened my eyes
This new odyssey
Of rigorous honesty
Serenity
That I never knew
Soundness of mind
Helped me to find
Courage to change
All the things that I can
"We'll help you perform this miracle
But you must set your past free
You dug the hole, but you can't bury your soul
Open your mind and you'll see"
Help me - I can't break out this prison all alone
Save me - I'm drowning and I'm hopeless on my own
Heal me - I can't restore my sanity alone
III. REVELATION
Way off in the distance I saw a door
I tried to open
I tried forcing with all of my will but still
The door wouldn't open
Unable to trust in my faith
I turned and walked away
I looked around, felt a chill in the air
Took my will and turned it over
The glass prison which once held me is gone
A long lost fortress
Armed only with liberty
And the key of my willingness
Fell down on my knees and prayed
"Thy will be done"
I turned around, saw a light shining through
The door was wide open
--
Today, I'm especially grateful for ...
- being 200 days sober
- my cool brother, for introducing me to awesome music that I otherwise would not have found
- my supportive family
- the nice people who stop by this blog
- nice warm AA meetings on cold nights
- seeing a guy pick up a white chip tonight
- seeing familiar faces at the meeting tonight
- God, because He speaks to us in so many different ways. We can hear when we listen ...
6 comments:
Great gratitude list! I especially like the similar faces at meetings...
Thanks for that post
Congrats on 200 days. That is a good #, but don't stop there.
Brothers are the coolest!
Thanks everybody :)
Scout -- I'm not sure how he found it initially. The band is called "Dream Theater", and I think his work buddies introduced him to it years ago.
There's a Wikipedia article about Dream Theater [HERE].
There's more of this by the way. Mike Portnoy wrote this song about his personal experience with AA, and all the 12 steps will eventually be written about. Here's the second ('This Dying Soul') and the third ('The Root of All Evil'), covering steps 4 to 7. More to come in the future:
[IV. Reflections of Reality (Revisited)]
Hello, Mirror - so glad to see you my friend, it's been a while
Searching, Fearless - where do I begin to heal this wound of self-denial
Face yourself man!
Brace yourself and trace your hell back
You've been blinded, living lie a one way cold existence all the while
Now it's time to stare the problem right between the eyes you long lost child
I wanna feel your body breaking
Wanna feel your body breaking and shaking and left in the cold
I want to heal your conscience making a change o fix this dying soul
Born into this world a broken home
Surrounded by love yet all alone
Forced into a life that's split in two
A mother and a father both pulling you
Then you had to deal with loss and death
Everybody thinking they know best
Coping with this shit at such an age
Can only fill a kid with pain and rage
Family disease pumped through your blood
Never had the chance you thought you could
Running all the while with no escape
Turning all that pain in to blame and hate
Living on your own by twenty one
Not a single care and having fun
Consuming all the life in front of you
Burning out the fuse and smoking the residue
Possessive obsessions selfish childish games
Vengeful resentments
Passing all the blame
Living out a life of decadence
Acing without thought of consequence
Spreading all your lies from coast to coast
While spitting on the ones that matter most
Running power mad with no control
Fighting for the credit they once stole
No one can ever tell you what to do
Ruling other's lives while the can't stand the thought of you
A living reflection seen from miles away
A hopeless affliction having run astray
I wanna feel your body breaking
Wanna feel your body breaking and shaking and left in the cold
I want to heal your conscience making a change o fix this dying soul
Now that you can see all you have done
It's time to take that step into the kingdom
All your sins will only make you strong
And help you break right through the prison wall
[V. Release]
Come to me my friend (Listen to me)
I'll help this torture end (Help to set me free)
Let your ego go (I can't carry this load)
You can't go through this alone (I feel so hopeless and exposed)
You'll find your peace of mind (Give me some direction)
You can no longer hide (Break out of this isolation)
Let humility (Openness, honesty)
And become what you can be (A healing tranquility)
Help me
Save me
Heal me
I can't break out of this prison all alone
These tormenting ghosts of yesterday
Will vanish when exposed
You can't hold onto your secrets
They'll only send you back alone
Your fearless admissions
Will help expel your destructive obsessions
With my help I know you can
Be at one with God and man
Hear me
Believe me
Take me
I'm ready to break right through this prison wall
[VI. Ready]
Proud enough for you to call me arrogant
Greedy enough to be labeled a thief
Angry enough for me to go and hurt a man
Cruel enough for me to feel no grief
Never could have just a part of it
I always need more to get by
Getting right down to the heart of it
The root of all evil has been running my whole life
Dirty enough for me to lust
Leaving nothing left to trust
Jealous enough to still feel envious
Lazy enough to sleep all day
And let my life just waste away
Selfish enough to make you wait for me
Driven blindly by our sins
Misled so easily
Entirely ready to leave it behind
I'm begging to break free
Take all of me
The desires that keep burning deep inside
Cast them all away
And help to give me strength to face another day
I am ready
Help me be what I can be
[VII. Remove]
Self-centered fear has got a hold of me
Clutching my throat
Self righteous anger running all through me
Ready to explode
Procrastination paralyzing me
Wanting me dead
These obsessions that keep haunting me
Won't leave my head
Help to do for me what I can't do myself
Take this fear and pain
I can't break out this prison all alone
Help me break these chains
Humility now my only hope
Won't you take all of me
Heal this dying soul
I can feel my body breaking
I can feel my body breaking
I'm ready to let it all go
I can feel my body shaking
Right down to the foundation
The root of it all
Take all of me
And the drive that keep burning deep inside
Cast it all away
And help to give me strength to face another day
I am ready
Help me what I can be
I am ready
Come to me
Take me away
Wow -- Thank you so much for sharing that, Anonymous! That's awesome to know. I can't wait to see what else he writes!
Post a Comment