Bassist John Myung in an interview about the song's meaning. "That was the first song that I did a sketch for where I played guitar and keyboards and bass on it, and I presented it to the band. It was a song that went through many different stages. The first demo that I made was a really raw version of that and then we worked on it as a band and took it to another level. It turned out to be this incredible song that went from the version that I did to something that incorporated the band, which is a really great thing because you can still have independence and choose a direction, but then be able to synergize what that song is with your bandmates and be interdependent with them. That's when the magic happens. That's when the song really starts to transform and take on a strong personality.
Lyrically, that was a real therapeutic song for me. It deals with ego and my perception of it and understanding how it can cage you and really alter your perspective, but then realizing that life is really short so you need to make a decision. You also need to learn how to deal with regret while still moving forward. There's one line that talks about, 'you're not much better than the man you hate.' That's pretty much a play off one of the commandments 'Love thy enemy'. You know, 'Open up, you're not the only person here.' Also, my view of heaven being here today and not some distant galaxy, but based upon how centered and conscious you are will affect your experience and your perception. Understanding that is a really hard thing to do. It's just a whole bunch of different things that I was going through, just put into a song."
Bassist John Myung in an interview about the song's meaning. "That was the first song that I did a sketch for where I played guitar and keyboards and bass on it, and I presented it to the band. It was a song that went through many different stages. The first demo that I made was a really raw version of that and then we worked on it as a band and took it to another level. It turned out to be this incredible song that went from the version that I did to something that incorporated the band, which is a really great thing because you can still have independence and choose a direction, but then be able to synergize what that song is with your bandmates and be interdependent with them. That's when the magic happens. That's when the song really starts to transform and take on a strong personality.
Lyrically, that was a real therapeutic song for me. It deals with ego and my perception of it and understanding how it can cage you and really alter your perspective, but then realizing that life is really short so you need to make a decision. You also need to learn how to deal with regret while still moving forward. There's one line that talks about, 'you're not much better than the man you hate.' That's pretty much a play off one of the commandments 'Love thy enemy'. You know, 'Open up, you're not the only person here.' Also, my view of heaven being here today and not some distant galaxy, but based upon how centered and conscious you are will affect your experience and your perception. Understanding that is a really hard thing to do. It's just a whole bunch of different things that I was going through, just put into a song."