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Scarred Lyrics
To Rise, To Fall.
To Hurt, To Hate.
To Want, To Wait.
To Heal, To Save.
Can't hear it
we fear it
awareness won't come near it
Distractive
Reactive
Disguised in spite of time
I never bared my emotion
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
but somewhere fate went wrong
Can't let them rape me again
Your venom's not family here
won't let them fill me with
fatalistic remedies
What if the rest of the world
was hopelessly blinded by fear?
Where would my sanctity live?
Suddenly nobody cares.
It's never enough
You're wasting your time
Isn't there something I could say?
You don't understand
You're closing me out
How can we live our lives this way?
You tell me I'm wrong
I'm risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don't see the scars
Maybe you'll leave me here to burn.
What if the rest of the world
was hopelessly drowning in vain?
Where would our self pity run?
Suddenly everyone cares.
Blood...Heal me
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Do you feel you don't know me anymore?
And do you feel I'm afraid of your love?
And how come you don't want me asking?
And how come my heart's not invited?
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we're not laughing.
And how come you don't understand me?
And how come I don't understand you?
Thirty years say we're in this together
So open your eyes.
People in prayer for me
everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won't
Blood...Heal me
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Blood...Heal me
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Learning from misery
Staring back at dissent
Leaving distrust behind
I'm inspired and content
To Hurt, To Hate.
To Want, To Wait.
To Heal, To Save.
we fear it
awareness won't come near it
Reactive
Disguised in spite of time
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
but somewhere fate went wrong
Your venom's not family here
won't let them fill me with
fatalistic remedies
was hopelessly blinded by fear?
Where would my sanctity live?
Suddenly nobody cares.
You're wasting your time
Isn't there something I could say?
You don't understand
You're closing me out
How can we live our lives this way?
I'm risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don't see the scars
Maybe you'll leave me here to burn.
was hopelessly drowning in vain?
Where would our self pity run?
Suddenly everyone cares.
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
And do you feel I'm afraid of your love?
And how come you don't want me asking?
And how come my heart's not invited?
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we're not laughing.
And how come I don't understand you?
Thirty years say we're in this together
So open your eyes.
everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won't
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Fear...Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood...Swearing
Fear...Staring
Conviction made aware
Staring back at dissent
Leaving distrust behind
I'm inspired and content
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In a very personal level, I think this song is about God. In several ocassions I think they make reference to a person who could only be God.
"You say you want everyone happy Well, we're not laughing" and "And how come you don't understand me? And how come I don't understand you? THIRTY years say we're in this together So open your eyes."
Beautiful song btw. I just like how they explain the doubts about God, very similar IMO to "Blind Faith".
It seems to me to be similar to that, especially that part. But it seems not to just be about his doubts about God but rather a narrative about his journeys through faith.
It seems to me to be similar to that, especially that part. But it seems not to just be about his doubts about God but rather a narrative about his journeys through faith.
At first things make sense as he learns to accept God and the various truths he is told about. "To Rise, to Fall." Etc.
At first things make sense as he learns to accept God and the various truths he is told about. "To Rise, to Fall." Etc.
Later on he falls in with a crowd that teaches him to question everything about himself. "It's never enough, you're wasting your time. Isn't there something I could say?" He's clearly in an abusive relationship of sorts that views his intangible faith as a...
Later on he falls in with a crowd that teaches him to question everything about himself. "It's never enough, you're wasting your time. Isn't there something I could say?" He's clearly in an abusive relationship of sorts that views his intangible faith as a hindrance to every day life. And he doesn't know how to stick up for himself exactly.
The chorus states his return to faith ("blood healed me", obviously referring to the nurturing nature of and repentance achieved through communion) and its healing process in his life.
And like you said, that section about is clearly about him questioning why he placed his faith originally and also questioning why he abandoned it at the same time.
And though he knows deep down inside that forgiveness is something that will always come he can't help but be worried by the future. However during the final verse he clearly does come to grips with this uncertainty ("I'm inspired and content") as he knows faith is a journey with an uncertain route.
This is, without a doubt my favorite DT song ever. It's SO INCREDIBLY UNDERRATED it really hurts me.
I own all of the albums, seen them live 3 times, know all of the songs by heart and I have to say, this one is the best. It's just a perfect song and the guitar solo is unbelievebly good.
100/100 song.
Every Dream Theater album I know has a song that I underrate, and each one slowly finds its way to me. I think that this might be the case of Awake.
A person who causes more damage than goodness. Either Petrucci is telling us to forget about the person's flaws and live with them in harmony, or he's telling us to remove the person from our lives. Both polar opposites. Yet, there seems to be a hope within this song; he seems to be resigning to the fact that no human is perfect and that he can find comfort and trust in his creator. I find that to be a bit silly, but it's what he seems to be saying. The scarring may not have even been caused by the person, but rather it can be scars that he went through with this other person (a reference to thirty years of being "in this together" signifies a spouse). Of course, this could just skip the middle-man of a person and have it be directly about God.
I think there may be something to the whole questioning God theory, ending with perhaps a more "positive" resolution than, say, Blind Faith.
You tell me I'm wrong I'm risking my life Still, I have nothing in return I show you my hands You don't see the scars Maybe you'll leave me here to burn.
Perhaps he feels that he's done so much for God and feels that he's received nothing tangible in return. Maybe "leave me here to burn" is an almost taunting reference to Hell.
@Thunderbolt That's not it. He isn't talking to god especially when the lines: "Believe will always save me" and "People in prayer for me". This about a different incident that is actually point blank obvious When he says: "Thirty Years says were in this together" this isnt about doubting god, its about doubting a spouse or a wife other wise he wouldnt say "Open your eyes" or Believe will always save me". These lines sound like a married couple where one of the partners is very blind to the pain that He/She is causing the other: You tell...
@Thunderbolt That's not it. He isn't talking to god especially when the lines: "Believe will always save me" and "People in prayer for me". This about a different incident that is actually point blank obvious When he says: "Thirty Years says were in this together" this isnt about doubting god, its about doubting a spouse or a wife other wise he wouldnt say "Open your eyes" or Believe will always save me". These lines sound like a married couple where one of the partners is very blind to the pain that He/She is causing the other: You tell me I'm wrong I'm risking my life Still, I have nothing in return I show you my hands You don't see the scars Maybe you'll leave me here to burn But the best idea is that this character is going through diseases/cancer and depression him. plus john petrucci, the writer, is a practicing Catholic, so why would he write a song about some doubting god?
I love this song. It's just beautiful. One of the most underrated songs of all time.
The best Dream Theater song ever.
I think this song is about questioning your faith and choices because of circumstances in your life. In the end he turns from doubt.
This is one of my favorite Dream Theater songs. I love everything about it.
definatly one of my favourites, amazing chorus, has sooo much depth to it.
See, I have a different thought on the meaning of this song. The narrator is going through a tough bout with a disease or something and his wife/spouse is not there to comfort him/her. As seen by the "thirty years" part and rising and falling of their marriage. You could also go into the literal meanings of "blood heal me" being transfusions, and "fear change me" being his experiences in this situation changing them for the better.
I mean parts of it start to fall apart, and it is not the perfect interpretation, but it is the one I have been getting lately (been listening to the song for probably close to 8 years now).
@OctaVariuM8 That sounds more reasonable. The part where it says "Belief will always save me" also enhances that with a touch of religious faith that he ,The narrator, Believes will save him. He is not alone thought As heard hear: People in prayer for me Everyone there for me Sometimes I feel I should face this alone My soul exposed It calms me to know that I won't. There are other people there praying for his well being and being their for him but the wife part does completely make sense
@OctaVariuM8 That sounds more reasonable. The part where it says "Belief will always save me" also enhances that with a touch of religious faith that he ,The narrator, Believes will save him. He is not alone thought As heard hear: People in prayer for me Everyone there for me Sometimes I feel I should face this alone My soul exposed It calms me to know that I won't. There are other people there praying for his well being and being their for him but the wife part does completely make sense
I really think that this song isn't about "God" but about some one with a strong religious believe that they cling too after being scarred from something, like a really bad relation ship as heard hear: "You say you want everyone happy Well, we're not laughing" and "And how come you don't understand me? And how come I don't understand you? THIRTY years say we're in this together So open your eyes." When petrucci wrights: THIRTY years say we're in this together So open your eyes." it sounds like a couple who have been married 30 years and one of them is unaware of His/Her actions, which, in this context would be a negative thing. That part is opened when the lines "Open our eyes" are herd. plus latter in this song we hear a line that says: "Belief will always save me" which really does put it plainly that the character is religious. These lines here:People in prayer for me Everyone there for me Sometimes I feel I should face this alone My soul exposed It calms me to know that I won't, also signify that the character is religious and has religious friends who are all there for him in the dark times coming from the title of the song "scarred" meaning that this person had recently been hurt (obviously). You cant really be scarred by god if you believe in him in a positive sense. Then to tie it all together, The writer ,John Petrucci, is a practicing Catholic and shows it in other songs like voices and the spirit carries on.