To stay on your good side

Using your words
Controlling my life
Can't you see it's my words
That gives you your life
So i hurt your feelings
Well i'm really sorry
But i don't give a shit...

Twisting, turning
Losing all sense of yearning
Living and learning
The pressure keeps on burning my soul

6. Hell's Kitchen



7. Lines In The Sand

[l: John Petrucci]

Sometimes, for a moment of bliss
And the passion, we're craving
There's a message we miss
Sometimes when the spirits left alone
We must believe in something
To find if we've grown

Tragic reflex, shattered calm
Static progress, senses gone
Numb awareness, final psalm

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns

At my side drawing lines in the sand

Sometimes, if you're perfectly still
You can hear the virgin weeping
For the savior of your will
Sometimes, your castles in the air
And the fantasies you're seeking

Are the crosses you bear

Sacred conflict, blessed prize
Weeping crosses, stainless eyes
Desperate addict, faith disguised

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns

At my side drawing lines in the sand

We fabricate our demons
Invite them into our homes
Have supper with the aliens
And fight the war alone
We conjure up our skeletons
Enlist the den of theives
Frightened from our closets
Then sewn upon our sleeves

In the stream of consciousness
There is a river crying
Living comes much easier

Once we admit

We're dying

Sometimes, in the wreckage of our wake
There's a bitterness we harbor
And hate for hatred's sake
Sometime we dig an early grave
And crucify our instincts
For the hope we couldn't save

Sometimes a view from sinless eyes
Centers our perspective
And pacifies our cries
Sometimes the anguish we survive
And the mysteries we nurture
Are the fabrics of our lives

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand

8. Take Away My Pain

[l: John Petrucci dedicated to John E. Petrucci]

I was sitting on the edge of his bed
Staring at the headlines on the paper
He said, "look at poor gene kelly
I guess he won't be singing in the rain."
You can take away my heroes
Can you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight

Soon I'll be knocking at your door

She was standing by the edge of his bed
Staring at the message on their faces
He said, "what else can you do babe?
I guess i won't be coming home again."
They just took away all my promises
Make them take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight
Soon I'll be knocking at your door

His final scene
The actor bows
And all those years
Are gone somehow
The crowd applauds

The curtain fails

I was standing by the edge of the water
I noticed my reflection in the waves
Then i saw you looking back at me
And i knew that for a moment
You were calling out my name
You took away my hero
Will you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Let the cold inside
It's time to let it rain
There's nothing left to hide
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
I'm learning to survive
Without you in my life
Til you come knocking at my door.......

9. Just Let Me Breathe

[l: Mike Portnoy]

Open your eyes
And turn off your mind
Step right up folks and you will find
Agrowing trend
An epidemic
Spread with zen
And hypodermics

Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes

The big machines take care of
You until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored

Just let me breathe

A daily dose of eMpTyV
Will flush your mind right down the drain
Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain,
Make yourself a household name

Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes

The big machines take care of you
Until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored