Length - 11:02
Tempo - Quick, then fast with held-note fill-in
Intro - sound sampling, pitched and un-pitched percussion
Texture - layers. sometimes it's like the other (non-vocal) instruments are playing variations on the vocal line
Features - full pitch range guitar and keyboard soloing, keyboard magic, subtle backing vocals
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Dream Theater formed at Berklee in 1985. The original three members were John Petrucci (guitar) and John Myung (bass), friends from Long Island, and Mike Portnoy (percussion) whom the Johns heard in a practice room and said, "we gotta get that guy". (Something along those lines).
"A Dramatic Turn of Events" lineup:
Petrucci - guitar, backing vocals
Myung - bass
Portnoy - percussion
Jordan Rudess - keyboards, continuum, Morphwiz iPad app
James LaBrie - Vocals
Lyrics for "Bridges in the Sky":
Blackness awakens
Visions come alive
Seeing through darkness
With borrowed eyes
Death survivor
Take me higher
Reunite my soul
Whisperer of truth
I trust in you
To make me whole
Sun
Come shine my way
May healing waters bury all my pain
Wind
Carry me home
The fabric of reality is tearing apart
The piece of me that died
Will return
To live again
Feeling myself slip away
Suddenly dreaming awake
Hidden memories
Flooding back
I will not grow in the light
Until I pass through the darkest caverns of my heart
Dance with fire
Spirit guide erase the world outside
Messenger of truth
I trust in you
Transform me now
Sun
Come shine my way
May healing waters bury all my pain
Wind
Carry me home
The fabric of reality is tearing apart
The piece of me that died
Will return
To live again
And at last the time has come
To unite again as one
To the power of the Earth I'm calling
Crossing bridges in the sky
On a journey to renew my life
Shaman take my hand
Sun
Come shine my way
May healing waters bury all my pain
Wind
Carry me home
The fabric of reality is tearing apart
The piece of me that died
Will return
To live again
And at last the time has come
To unite again as one
To the power of the Earth I'm calling
Crossing bridges in the sky
On a journey to renew my life
Shaman take my hand
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SPOILERS AND SUBJECTIVITY BELOW: YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THIS AFTER LISTENING
How to listen: Get your supper ready, (if you can, we're not classist here) be sure that you have a good sound system or good headphones, get ready to smile and feel something, and plan to listen several times in row. You'll very likely love the song from the first listen, but you're gonna wanna take it in a couple more times. Think of yourself as a sports fan that's going to want to see a replay again and again. I am so pumped to share it with you! It's like a roller coaster that has you wanting to shout "again! again!" like a little kid. P.S. This song is better louder.
Words to describe this song:groovy, grindy, cool, artsy, powerful
Stream-of-consciousness thoughts as I listen to "Bridges in the Sky":
Full disclosure: "Bridges in the Sky is in my DT top 20. I absolutely love this work. It's masterful. This song is very sing-along-able. It's dramatic, powerful, and never gets old. There are so many layers, and I can listen to this song in many different moods and feel like it's just what I need at that moment. With all the stuff going on with the instruments, you can zone in on whatever you want and get something different. There are attacking heavy-metal moments, but they don't drag it out, so the average listener can get just the right amount of metal imbibery before new stuff comes in.
My older sister is a trained aerial, modern, and ballet dancer, for the last couple of years branching out into circus work. (Shameless plug: She's an outreach movement artist in the Tulsa, OK metro with a group called "Between the Lines Movement Project". Click this text to go see their Facebook page. Let's just say I have attended a fair number of recitals in my time. More than any other Dream Theater song, I have wanted to see this one choreographed into a modern dance recital. I'm hoping that she reads this. ;) )
Thank you for reading, and enjoy!
Michael
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What is the "Dream Theater Share-a-thon"?
I will be posting a link to a song/piece by my favorite band, Dream Theater, hopefully every day until we have successfully enjoyed every original song that they have recorded in-studio. There are many good reasons to do this, but you can probably guess most of the ones that I'm thinking.
No adieu.
We're just gonna do it.
I'm going to try to help you know what to expect a little bit without influencing the way that you experience the song. I want you to have the chance to enjoy the music on your own without any spoilers, just as I did.
I will also tell you that some of the things that Dream Theater does may be quite different than much of the music that you have listened to before. Sometimes it may be so new that it makes you a bit uneasy or just doesn't connect to you at all. If that happens, I encourage you to listen to it a few times, perhaps in different ways... once in the background while you do dishes, once with your eyes closed and your full attention, once hanging upside down like a bat. You get the idea.
You may even want to come back to it later for another listen.
I believe that, if you go on this journey with me, you will find more than a few songs that you enjoy. My mom saw Dream Theater live in K.C. and really enjoyed them, and she usually listens to NPR which I don't think gets to rock and roll that much. Dream Theater truly has something for everyone. Not everything they do may be your thing, but some of it may change your life for the better the way that it did mine.
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~In loving memory of Tim~
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