| A Change of Seasons | |
| A Change of Seasons | |
| Length | 23:09 |
| Working title | |
| Release date | September 19, 1995 |
| Lyrics | Mike Portnoy |
| Music | |
| First live performance | |
| Total live plays | |
| Recorded | BearTracks Studios |
| Other appearances | Live Scenes from New York |
| Previous song | Space-Dye Vest |
| Next song | Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding |
A Change of Seasons is the first track off of Dream Theater's EP of the same name, and is the first Dream Theater song released to feature Derek Sherinian on keyboards following Kevin Moore's departure after the release of Awake.
The lyrics were written by Mike Portnoy about the death of his mother, Andrea Held Leone, who died in a tragic plane crash in November 1984, after the pilot suffered a heart attack.
The song is split into seven parts, which are as follows:
- I. The Crimson Sunrise
- II. Innocence
- III. Carpe Diem
- IV. The Darkest of Winters
- V. Another World
- VI. The Inevitable Summer
- VII. The Crimson Sunset
Personnel
- Mike Portnoy - Drums
- John Petrucci - Guitar
- John Myung - Bass
- James LaBrie - Vocals
- Derek Sherinian - Keyboards
- David Prater - Producer
Trivia
- This song includes samples from the films "Dead Poets Society", “Table for Five”, and from the Robert Herrick poem, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time".
- An edited version of the title track was used in a downhill skiing feature during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
- For Dream Theater's 2017 Images, Words, And Beyond Tour, this song was often played as an encore, albeit a half step down to better suit James LaBrie's aging voice.
- This song was not written for when they started recording the EP. The band initially wanted to have Images and Words be a double album, and include A Change of Seasons along with it, but ATCO wouldn't allow it. There is a live video performance of the band performing this song in 1993, which can be found on Youtube, however the arrangement found in the video is drastically different from the EP version, with a different intro and some differences in phrasing, lyrics, and notes. When Derek Sherinian joined the band, he rewrote the intro, and the rest of the band helped to rework the music, and Portnoy rewrote some lyrics to make the song into what is is today.
Lyrics
[I. THE CRIMSON SUNRISE]
[Instrumental]
[II. INNOCENCE]
I remember a time
My frail, virgin mind
Watched the crimson sunrise
Imagined what it might find
Life was filled with wonder
I felt the warm wind blow
I must explore the boundaries
Transcend the depth of winter's snow
Innocence caressing me
I never felt so young before
There was so much life in me
Still I longed to search for more
But those days are gone now
Changed like a leaf on a tree
Blown away forever
Into the cool autumn breeze
The snow has now fallen
And my sun's not so bright
I struggle to hold on
With the last of my might
In my den of inequity
Viciousness and subtlety
Struggle to ease the pain
Struggle to finally see
Ignorance surrounding me
I've never been so filled with fear
All my life's been drained from me
The end is drawing near...
[III. CARPE DIEM]
Carpe diem...
Seize the day...
I'll always remember
The chill of November
The news of the fall
The sounds in the hall
The clock on the wall
Ticking away...
"Seize the day!"
I heard him say
Life will not always be this way
Look around
Hear the sounds
Cherish your life
While you're still around
["Dead Poets Society" Sample:]
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying"
We can learn
From the past
But those days
Are gone
We can hope
For the future
But there may not be one
The words stuck in my mind
Alive from what I've learned
I have to seize the day
To home I returned
Preparing for her flight
I held with all my might
Fearing my deepest fright
She walked into the night
She turned for one last look
She looked me in the eye
I said, "I love you...
Good-bye..."
["Dead Poets Society" and "Table for Five" Samples:]
("It's the most awful thing you'll ever hear...")
("...your mom... who you dearly love, has had to leave all our lives...")
("Seize the day!")
("Something happened...")
("Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.")
("...she was killed.")
[IV. THE DARKEST OF WINTERS]
[Instrumental]
[V. ANOTHER WORLD]
So far or so it seems
All is lost
With nothing fulfilled
Off the pages and the
T.V. screen
Another world
Where nothing's true
Tripping through
The life fantastic
Lose a step
And never get up
Left alone
With a cold blank stare
I feel like giving up
I was blinded by a paradise
Utopia high in the sky
A dream that only drowned me
Deep in sorrow, wondering why
Oh, come let us adore him
Abuse and then ignore him
No matter what
Don't let him be
Let's feed upon his misery
Then string him up for all the world to see
I'm sick of all you hypocrites
Holding me at bay
And I don't need your sympathy
To get me through the day
Seasons change and so can I
Hold on boy, no time to cry
Untie these strings, I'm climbing down
I won't let them push me away
Oh, come let us adore him
Abuse and then ignore him
No matter what
Don't let him be
Let's feed upon
His misery
Now it's time for them
To deal with me
[VI. THE INEVITABLE SUMMER]
[Instrumental]
[VII. THE CRIMSON SUNSET]
I'm much wiser now
A lifetime of memories
Run through my head
They taught me how
For better or worse
Alive or dead
I realize
There's no turning back
Life goes on
The offbeaten track
I sit down with my son
Set to see the crimson sunset
(Gather ye rosebuds while ye may)
Many years have come and gone
I've lived my life, but now must move on
(Gather ye rosebuds while ye may)
He is my only one
Now that my time has come
Now that my life is done
We look into the sun
Seize the day
And don't you cry
Now it's time
to say good-bye
Even though
I'll be gone
I will live on
Live on