Walk In The Shadows

According to a Chris Degarmo interview, at the time of Rage for Order, the whole band was really into the Vampire Chronicles books. Walk in the Shadows is indeed about a vampire who's infactuated with a woman and trying to convince her to join him, to cross over to the dark side of vampirism.

I've always thought it's about a vampire stalking his prey and encouraging her to join him. "By day we'll live in a dream" Walk In The Shadows? Seems obvious to me. I've never heard of it being a cover. There was another song on Rage For Order that apparently is a cover: "Gonna Get Close To You". It deals with the same subject, strangely enough. But, then they did go on to do one of the best concept albums of all time. I cant wait for the next chapter! Ryche'N Roll!!

I agree with NightRider - this one makes me think of vampires -- along with London. I read somewhere that the song (either this or London, don't recall which) was influenced by Interview with the Vampire, but that may not be true.

While Chris Degarmo and the rest of the band may have been into the "Vampire Chronicles" novels, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the first three songs on "Rage for Order" need to be taken together as a whole -that is, as if those songs are a mini-concept album, of sorts. I hypothesize that the theme of this "mini-concept album" pertains to heroin addiction, and those first three songs are a "dialogue" of sorts between the drug and its addict(victim). Sadly, I have known four heroin addicts, and their struggles to get and remain clean echo these lyrics perfectly. "Walk In The Shadows" represents heroin's mocking, almost scolding, diatribe to a new addict who wants to stop using. "You can't stay away, you need me-I need you". Heroin then mocks the addict's withdrawal further by claiming "When the fire starts the pain's too much For your mind. You need attention, what's good is only mine. I can cure the hunger that burns in your heart. Just come to me" and finally the street term for being high on opium and no longer "dope sick" and withdrawing, "I'll take you home". "Walking in the shadows" refers to the disconnected, dream-like state of being high and addicted to heroin/opium and all the shady things an addict does to maintain their addiction. The rest of the song refers to coming down from a heroin high, impending "dope sickness" and "being safe for one more night" as being high again and hints at the street term "night train". The "morning" refers to the whole cycle starting all over with cravings ("I'll be with you"). The next track, "I Dream Inferred", is a pitiful lament from the addict to heroin's personification for mercy upon them and release of its demonic hold on them. Rage For Order's third track, "The Wisper", is Herion's snide reply and its perverse joy at ruining the addict's life. How do I know this? A dear lifelong friend who was a heroin addict for 14 years stayed with me for 3 months while she was getting on her feet after finally kicking the habit. We were sitting around one afternoon listening to "Promised Land" , which she really liked. She had never listened to Queensryche before and I told her to wait until she heard "Rage For Order". She was reading the liner notes from the original vinyl record sleeve as she listened for the first time to the first three tracks when she suddenly burst into tears and said it was like listening to a conversation between herself and her drug of choice. Two weeks later she confided to me that those lyrics were the most cathartic thing she had ever heard in relation to her recovery. Rather than glamorizing heroin abuse(Like Zepplin did in "Physical Graffiti" and Guns and Roses did in several of their songs), she said Queensrhche nailed it and spelled out the horrors of addiction perfectly. True story.

Pretty self-explanatory. The song is told from the viewpoint of a stalker talking to his intended victim. It is actually a cover of a relatively unknown female artist whose name escapes me.