What if someone said
Promise lies ahead
Hopes are high in certain scientific circles
Life won't have to end
You could walk again
What if someone said
Problems lie ahead
They've uncovered something highly controversial
The right to life is strong
Can't you see it's wrong
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for a cure
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths
Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
In a labyrinth of rules
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Taking life to save life
This embryonic clay
Wrapped in fierce debate
Would be thrown away
Or otherwise discarded
Some of us believe
It may hold the key
To treatment of disease
And secrets highly guarded
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Life to save life
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for the cure
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
We're reaching
But have we gone too far
Harvesting existence
Only to destroy
Carelessly together
We are sliding
Someone else's future
Four days frozen still
Someone else's fate
We are deciding
Miracle potential
Sanctity of life
Faced against each other
We're divided
Should we push the boundaries
Or should we condemn
Moral guilt and science
Have collided
Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised
Promise lies ahead
Hopes are high in certain scientific circles
Life won't have to end
You could walk again
What if someone said
Problems lie ahead
They've uncovered something highly controversial
The right to life is strong
Can't you see it's wrong
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for a cure
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths
Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
In a labyrinth of rules
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Taking life to save life
This embryonic clay
Wrapped in fierce debate
Would be thrown away
Or otherwise discarded
Some of us believe
It may hold the key
To treatment of disease
And secrets highly guarded
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Life to save life
Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for the cure
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
We're reaching
But have we gone too far
Harvesting existence
Only to destroy
Carelessly together
We are sliding
Someone else's future
Four days frozen still
Someone else's fate
We are deciding
Miracle potential
Sanctity of life
Faced against each other
We're divided
Should we push the boundaries
Or should we condemn
Moral guilt and science
Have collided
Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised
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But they do an excellent job of showing both sides- I wouldn't be surprised if Petrucci were against it but other members of the band were for it.
Also, I agree with london67.
I think that ambiguity is the most important part of this song, with the intro flooding the listener with fluttering keyboard riffs and voice clips, sort of clearing your mind of any existing bias towards the topic. That's just my opinion on the intro anyway. The song is probably not meant to take any side, as it presents clips of both sides of the argument, though if anything I would bet on the band members being against stem cell research just because they wrote a song about it, it's just the norm really.
I think the song isn't as much about side-taking as it is about taking the right/moral path. The actual lyrics put emphasis on simply doing the right thing, and they question if stem cell research is justified while also suggesting the potential positive outcomes. To me it sort of represents any major moral dilemma where what's right and wrong is ultimately a matter of opinion, simply because both sides have massive amounts of justification and opinions on them are so divided.
"we're reaching / but have we gone too far" - maybe they were for it at first, but now it has gone too far?
"someone else's fate / we are deciding" - i think the band is trying to say it's their fate and we shouldn't have the power to decide that.
"Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths
Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
In a labyrinth of rules "
"Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake"
They try to just present both sides of the argument, which is well done, but that line makes me think that they are more pro-stem cell research.