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Dead Asleep Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1]
In a waterside village
In the heat of July
A man and his wife settled down for the night
In the morning, he woke to a horrible sight
It's all just so tragic, an unusual case
The violent result of a fatal mistake
How can he be to blame?
He was never awake
[Chorus]
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
Wake up!
Can you send someone?
I'm not insane, I was dead asleep
[Verse 2]
Scrambling in the darkness, in fear for his life
Certain a killer broke in
He fumbles for a weapon, reaches for a knife
A sleepwalking murder begins
It was a vivid encounter, a realistic fight
And now he's got blood on his hands
He stands over the body, sees it's his wife
A nightmare he can't understand
[Pre-Chorus]
I must confess it was me
I needed to silence the screams
She suffered a brutal attack
A shockingly violent act
[Chorus]
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
Wake up!
Can you send someone?
I'm not insane, I was dead asleep
[Bridge]
Out of my mind, out of my body
Someone's been killed, I am sorry
Out of control, all out of answers
Maybe one day you'll forgive me
[Guitar Solo]
[Keyboard Solo]
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
I must have been dreaming, I have no memory of anything
[Outro]
We strongly suspect you're feeling a sense of despair
No one knows of the guilt that you bear
In the eyes of the law, you are free
You are innocent
[Instrumental Outro]
In a waterside village
In the heat of July
A man and his wife settled down for the night
In the morning, he woke to a horrible sight
The violent result of a fatal mistake
How can he be to blame?
He was never awake
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
Wake up!
Can you send someone?
I'm not insane, I was dead asleep
Scrambling in the darkness, in fear for his life
Certain a killer broke in
He fumbles for a weapon, reaches for a knife
A sleepwalking murder begins
And now he's got blood on his hands
He stands over the body, sees it's his wife
A nightmare he can't understand
I must confess it was me
I needed to silence the screams
She suffered a brutal attack
A shockingly violent act
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
Wake up!
Can you send someone?
I'm not insane, I was dead asleep
Out of my mind, out of my body
Someone's been killed, I am sorry
Out of control, all out of answers
Maybe one day you'll forgive me
Wake up!
What have I done?
I was dead asleep
I must have been dreaming, I have no memory of anything
We strongly suspect you're feeling a sense of despair
No one knows of the guilt that you bear
In the eyes of the law, you are free
You are innocent
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Sony/atv Music Publishing Llc
Writer
Jordan Charles Rudess, John Ro Myung, John P Petrucci, Michael Anthony Mangini, Kevin James La Brie
Duration
11:06
Producer
John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, John Myung, Jordan Rudess
Release date
Oct 29, 1996
Sentiment
Positive
Submitted by
kingofstilport On Feb 14, 2025
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This song tells the story of a man suffering from sleepwalking, a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness; It's classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family, which most tracks on the album here are focused on. It is also potentially, but not stated as such, a reference or inspired by the case of Randy Herman Jr., who was convicted in 2019 of murdering his roommate and friend. He claims that he was sleepwalking during the murder and was therefore innocent. In most cases of sleepwalking, it's usually simple actions the person would do when awake, with more complex actions being rarer; Often complex ones are disputed as fake.
In the song, it's much different, being about a man who, in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, believes someone's just broken into their home at night. In defense, he grabs a knife to stab the would-be intruder, and lays back in bed for a peaceful slumber, only waking up to the realization he killed his wife.