Systematic Chaos
Dream Theater
2007 ReleasedUpvote Your Favorite Album Today!
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Digging into Systematic Chaos - what's your favorite track or standout moment? 🤘
1
In the Presence of Enemies - Part I
09 : 00
2
Forsaken
05 : 36
3
Constant Motion
06 : 55
4
The Dark Eternal Night
08 : 54
5
Repentance
10 : 43
6
Prophets of War
06 : 01
7
The Ministry of Lost Souls
14 : 57
8
In the Presence of Enemies - Part II
16 : 38
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Track Lyrics
The Dark Eternal Night Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1: James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy]
No one dared to
Speak of the terrible danger
The hideous ancient warnings
Forged in the void of night
He has risen up!
Out of the blackness, chaos
The last of the prophets sinister
A sickening monstrous sight
[Pre-Chorus 1: James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy]
Through the stifling heat
Underneath the pale green moon
I burned with a thirst
To seek things not yet seen
Climbing endless stairs
Leading to the choking room
Eager to explore
His most shocking mysteries
[Chorus: James LaBrie, James LaBrie & John Petrucci]
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
[Verse 2: James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy]
Black forces, rage in the vortex
Fighting, waves of destruction
Swallowing the echo of the universe
I am the last
Born of the blood of the pharaohs
The ultimate God of a rotting creation
Sent to unleash this curse
[Pre-Chorus 2: James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy]
Restless crowds draw near
Nameless hooded forms appear
Amidst fallen ruins
Grotesque creatures battle
Shadowed on a screen
Yellow evil faces leer
Vacant monuments
Corpses of dead worlds left behind
[Chorus: James LaBrie, James LaBrie & John Petrucci]
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream!
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
[Instrumental Break]
[Keyboard Solo]
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus: James LaBrie, James LaBrie & John Petrucci]
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream!
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
[Instrumental Outro]
[Keyboard Solo]
Repentance Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Intro]
Hello Mirror, so glad to see you, my friend
It's been a while
[Verse 1]
Staring at the empty page before me
All the years of wreckage running through my head
Patterns of my life I thought adorned me
Revealing hurtful shame and deep lament
Overwhelming sorrow now absorbs me
As the pen begins to trace my darkest past
Signs throughout my life that should have warned me
Of all the wrongs I've done for which I must repent
[Pre-Chorus]
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
[Chorus 1]
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And sometimes you've got to be strong
When you think it's too late
[Verse 2]
Staring at the finished page before me
All the damage now so clear and evident
Thinking 'bout the dreaded task in store for me
A bitter fear at the thought of my amends
Hoping that the step will help restore me
To face my past and ask for forgiveness
Cleaning up my dirty side of this unswept street
Could this be the beginning of the end?
[Pre-Chorus]
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
[Chorus]
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And just when you're through hanging on
You're saved
[Guitar Solo]
IX: Restitution
[Excerpts of fellow musicians' apologies]
[Corey Taylor]
"Until that moment, I'd never felt like I'd failed at anything
And I felt like I failed her
And I failed myself, and I failed my children
It's still really hard to deal with."
[Steve Vai]
"I want to thank you for helping me to see my own selfishness
And to tell you how regretful I am it has hurt you."
[Chris Jericho]
"I'm sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital, Grandpa
When you were on your deathbed
I'm sorry I didn't come to your funeral
I don't know if I was selfish or I just was too scared to face it
It's one of the biggest regrets of my life."
[David Ellefson]
"I'm here to confess with you that what I did was wrong
And I'm asking for your forgiveness..."
[Steve Hogarth]
"The only unforgivable thing hauls itself out of bed
Looks over my shoulder at the bloody English weather."
[Joe Satriani]
"I really regret not being able to see my friend Andy."
[Mikael Åkerfeldt]
"One of my best friends, who's the godfather of my daughter
He asked me to sing or play something at his wedding
And I turned it down because I was busy and
I guess, too much of a chickenshit to do it
And I feel sorry for that, because it was a very, very close friend of mine."
[Steven Wilson]
"So, I wanted to apologize to anyone
That I've upset or offended by my words
It's just an opinion, but unfortunately
I tend to express it as a fact
And that's kind of arrogant. isn't it?"
[Jon Anderson]
"I think it's the betrayal
It still haunts me."
[Neal Morse]
"I'm sorry for what I did back then
I was a different person
I really was and I'm so sorry
I wish it wouldn't have happened, but it did
And I'm sorry
Will you forgive me?"
[Daniel Gildenlöw]
"I guess I'm simply sorry for being me and not you
I so often wish you could be here with me to show me the way."
[Spoken Outro: Mike Portnoy]
"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development
We will be amazed before we are halfway through
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it
We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace
No matter how far down the scale we have gone
We will see how our experience can benefit others
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear
We will lose interest in selfish things
And gain interest in our fellows
Self-seeking will slip away
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us
What we could not do for ourselves
Are these extravagant promises, we think not
They have been fulfilled amongst others:
Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly
We will always be true to our principles."
[David Ellefson]
"You're only as sick as your secrets
But the truth shall set you free."
[Corey Taylor]
"The truth is the truth
And so all you can do is live with it."
The Ministry of Lost Souls Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1]
The water's edge is where she waits
Lost soul still wandering
Meant to die but she's stuck
Not crossing over
The other side is where he waits
His spirit reaching out
Meant to save but she's too scared
To take his hand
[Pre-Chorus 1: James LaBrie, (John Petrucci)]
Living in a world without you (Drowning in the past)
Is living in no world at all
So now I call on you
[Chorus: James LaBrie]
Remember me, I gave you life
You would not take it
Your suffering was all in vain
It's almost over now
Don't turn your back on paradise!
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 2]
Feeling scared, she's prepared
To give up everything
She can't stand
To feel like half of her is fading
He will choose the only way
To rid her of her pain
Take her soul now
The decision has been made
[Pre-Chorus: James LaBrie, (John Petrucci)]
Living in a world without love (A burden to my soul)
Is living in a worthless world
So I will call on you
[Chorus]
Remember me, I gave you life
You would not take it
Your suffering was all in vain
It's almost over
Remember me, you were so young
How could I tell you?
Remember me, I am the one
Who saved your life that night
[Bridge]
I was the one
Who would not abandon you
Even in death
I was the one who would not leave you
I used my freedom to protect you
And all the while direct you
Do you remember me this time?
Even in death, I gave you life
I gave you life!
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
I wanted to deserve a place
A place beside you
This time when I reached out my hand
It reached all the way to heaven
[Chorus]
Remember me, I gave you life
You would not take it
Your suffering was all in vain
It's almost over now
[Outro]
Goodbye!
It's almost over now
Goodbye!
It's time
I release you from this life
Don't turn your back on paradise!
[Instrumental Outro]
[Guitar Solo]
In the Presence of Enemies - Part II Lyrics
[III: Heretic]
[Intro: James LaBrie]
Welcome tired pilgrim into the circle
We have been waiting
Everyone's gathered for your arrival
All the believers
Angels fall all for you, heretic
Demon heart, bleed for us
[Verse 1: James LaBrie]
I've been waiting for you
Weary preacher man
You have been expected
Now we can begin
Let this hallowed
Day of Judgment reign
I have known you father
And your sacred quest
Blessed soldier fighting
You shall never rest
I have known you
But do you know me?
[Pre-Chorus: James LaBrie, Mike Portnoy]
Angels fall all for you, heretic
Demon heart, bleed for us!
My soul is yours, Dark Master!
I will fight for you!
[Chorus: James LaBrie]
Dark Master within, I will fight for you
Dark Master of sin, now my soul is yours
Dark Master, my guide, I will die for you
Dark Master inside!
[Verse 2: James LaBrie]
I cannot see his face
But I could feel his spite
A presence from the dead
Abandoned by the light
This shadow will consume him from within
This power that I sense
The rage behind those eyes
Is just a shrouded ghost
A spirit sealed inside
The body and the soul both threats for they are one!
[Pre-Chorus: James LaBrie, Mike Portnoy]
Angels fall all for you, heretic
Demon heart, bleed for us!
My soul is yours, Dark Master!
I will fight for you!
[Chorus: James LaBrie]
Dark Master within, I will fight for you
Dark Master of sin, now my soul is yours
Dark Master, my guide, I will die for you
Dark Master inside!
Dark Master, amen
I belong to you!
Dark Master within
[IV: The Slaughter of the Damned]
[Bridge: James LaBrie, James LaBrie & Mike Portnoy]
Don't bother trying to find them
They will be coming to you
Fight, fight and destroy until you can't take anymore!
Slay, spill the blood of the rebels
They are the children of Hell
Flesh of the undead, stopping at nothing to kill
Sin, caught in a moment of weakness
Committed the greatest of all
Sold half of my soul and now it's too late for you
I judge as my eyes see
I judge and I am just
For I speak of the beast
That lives in all of us
Unwelcome ones
Your time has come!
Lord, you are my god and my shepherd
Nothing more shall I want
Walk through the abyss
Into the shadow of death
Fear, there is no evil to fear now
For I know you are with me
My cup overflows
With my enemy's blood
I decay in the house of the Lord
Forever amen
Death will follow me
All the days of my life
I judge as my eyes see
I judge and I am just
For I speak of the beast
That lives in all of us
Unwelcome ones
Your time has come!
Servants of the fallen fight to pave the way
For their savior's calling on this wicked day
Through a veil of madness, with a vicious blade
One man rises up, standing in their way
It's time for your reckoning!
[V: The Reckoning]
[Instrumental Break]
[VI: Salvation]
[Outro: James LaBrie]
My soul grows weaker
He knows and he waits
He watches over me
Standing at the infernal gates
In the hour of darkness
The moment I feared has passed
The moment I lost my faith
Promising salvation
My soul is my own now!
I do not fight for you, Dark Master!
[Instrumental Outro]