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OSI – When You're Ready Lyrics 14 years ago
For me, this song has always projected this sense of calm before the storm. The lyrics are certainly about that, the moment before the thunderous assault with a tank or what-have-you. The moment of "Are you ready?" without giving you the sound and fury of what comes after. Brilliant, as far as I'm concerned.

submissions
OSI – Hello, Helicopter! Lyrics 14 years ago
These lyrics put a sort of Hollywood veneer over the violence it speaks of. They reflect a very detached attitude towards death and destruction, perhaps a reflection on our video game/television influenced culture.

As always with Kevin Moore, a small masterpiece.

submissions
Dream Theater – Take the Time Lyrics 14 years ago
I'll take a stab at who wrote what.

First verse Mike Portnoy.

Just let me catch my breath
I've heard the promises
I've seen the mistakes
I've had my fair share of tough breaks
I need a new voice, a new law, a new way
Take the time, reevaluate
It's time to pick up the pieces
Go back to square one
I think it's time for a change

Very staccato, repetitive, aggressive. Very Portnoy.


Second verse John Petrucci.

There is someting that I feel
To be something that is real
I feel the heat within my mind
And craft new changes with my eyes
Giving freely wandering promises
A place with decisions I'll fashion
I won't waste another breath

He tends to write these dreamy obscure lyrics. This fits the bill.


Third verse definitely Kevin Moore.

The unbroken spirit
Obscured and disquiet
Finds clearness this trial demands
And at the end of this day sighs an anxious relief
For the fortune lies still in his hands

If there's a pensive fear, a wasted year
A man must learn to cope
If his obsession's real
Suppression that he feels must turn to hope

The best lyricist in the band (and one of my favorites of all time) he writes these beautiful little pieces full of emotion and cleverly worded. For an example from roughly the same time period, see "Only A Matter of Time."


Any doubt that this is John Myung?

I close my eyes
And feel the water rise around me
Drown the beat of time
Let my senses fall away
I can see much clearer now I'm blind

Mystical, water imagery. Just check "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream" if you doubt it.


The chorus could have been written by any of them, my guess is Moore or Petrucci.

One of the very best Dream Theater songs.

submissions
Dream Theater – Only a Matter of Time Lyrics 14 years ago
I'd just like to point out that this is a Kevin Moore song, through and through. In my opinion, he wrote most of Dream Theater's best songs (lyrically). Once he left the band, they definitely lost something on that end.

Great song, by the way.

submissions
Elvis Costello – Sneaky Feelings Lyrics 14 years ago
I think they're both in relationships (the narrator and the object of his affection) and he's just not ready to deal with the consequences of making his feelings clear.

submissions
Elvis Costello – I'm Not Angry Lyrics 14 years ago
I take the line "there's no such thing as an original sin" to be a classic case of context changing the meaning of a word. Normally, the term "original sin" refers to a specific, ancient sin from which all others arise. Here, it really just sounds like Elvis is using "original" in the more commonly used sense.

Essentially, he's being deeply sarcastic. She's following in the footsteps of human beings everywhere and he's deploring her lack of "originality". I suppose the narrator is pretty frustrated with the predictability of people.

So there's no such thing as an original sin. We're all just plowing the same earth, as it were.

Great song, and way too appropriate for me currently. Glad I just discovered Elvis Costello.

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