The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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 to 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 to 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
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
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 to 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 to 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
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
Lyrics submitted by Idan, edited by Octavarium64
This Dying Soul Lyrics as written by John Petrucci John Myung
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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also has lyrics connections to the glass prison- "help me, I can't break out of this prison all alone"- another part of the AA series
4• Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (Reflections of Reality (Revisited))
5• Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. (Release)
The line "Brace yourself man" comes from the Bible; late in the book of Job, God says "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me" a couple times. The context of this part of Job is the all-powerfulness of God and helplessness of man. I think this fits in well with the context of the song/AA suite.
It's about steps 4-6 of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a continuation of The Glass Prison, as that was of steps 1-3 of AA.
I believe MetallicaFan923 made a typo up there, this song is about steps 4 and <b>5</b>, not 4 'till 6. ;)<p><b><i>Edited by YtseJam on September 27 2004, at 02:24PM</i></b></p>
The original plan was to put three steps in each of the AA songs, but all but TGP have had only two. I'm pretty sure that's what MF923 was thinking of.
As a member of AA, I believe the reason MP splits the steps up is because that is they way they are most often worked in the program.
Here's my readers Digest version:
Steps 1-3: Come, Come to, Come to believe. Steps 4-5: Inventory & Admittance (Reality Check) Steps 6-7: Prepare for change through God/Accept Change through God (usually through tiring of our defects do we seek to shed them). Steps 8-9: (not yet written) Amend Wrongs. Step 10: Daily Inventory and Reality Check. Step 11: Grow closer to God and live in His Will. Step 12: Carry the message to those that suffer and live these (God's) principles in all our affairs.
One thing that I especially like about this song is the sudden change of pace, and the way that DT almost sounds like Metallica after LaBrie sings "This Dying Soul".
~Aniland imagesandscenes.proboards99.com/
What a great song. Very emotional lead harmony it has. Haha, I agree with Aniland, that at about 7:18 it sounds a fair bit like 'Blackened' By Metallica. Gotta love Petrucci's solo, shredding like the master he is.
Connection...I thought obvious...but may have been over looked...
This Dying Soul "Hello, Mirror - so glad to see you my friend"
Regression "Hello Victoria - So glad to see you my friend"
give me some feedback if ya want!