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Scene One: Regression
Scenes From A Memory
Length 02:06
Working title
Release date 8th June 1999
Lyrics John Petrucci
Music John Petrucci
First live performance Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ, USA, on Jan. 31, 2000
Total live plays 165
Recorded BearTracks Studios, New York
Other appearances Metropolis 2000, Live Scenes from New York, The Making of Scenes from a Memory
Previous song Falling Into Infinity (album)
Next song Scene Two: I. Overture 1928


Scene One: Regression is the first track on Dream Theater's fifth studio album, Scenes from a Memory. It starts with a clock ticking and the Hypnotherapist calming Nicholas into a hypnotic trance, and then fades into an acoustic guitar section similar to The Spirit Carries On.

Personnel[]

Lyrics[]

(ticking clock is heard, alternating between left and right speakers)

[Hypnotherapist:]
Close your eyes and begin to relax.
Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
Concentrate on your breathing.
With each breath, you become more relaxed.

Imagine a brilliant white light above you.
Focus in on this light as it flows through your body.
Allow yourself to drift off, as you fall
Deeper and deeper into a more relaxed state of mind.

(opening to "Home" swells and fades in the background)

Now, as I count back from ten to one,
You will feel more peaceful and calm.

Ten, 
Nine, 
(gospel choir is heard)
Eight, 
Seven, 
Six...
...You will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you.
Five, 
(acoustic guitar fades in)
Four, 
Three, 
Two...
...If at any time you need to come back,
All you must do is open your eyes. 

One.

[Nicholas:]
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My subconscious mind starts spinning through time
To rejoin the past once again

Nothing seems real, I'm starting to feel
Lost in the haze of a dream
And as I draw near, the scene becomes clear
Like watching my life on a screen

Hello, Victoria
So glad to see you, my friend

Analysis[]

This scene is the introduction to the story from Scenes from a Memory, and shows Nicholas in regression therapy with the Hypnotherapist, lulling him into a state of hypnosis. Here he is basking in the state of well-being that accompanies the hypnosis, and he greets a woman named Victoria, who he calls his friend, perhaps a reference to the fact that he has a strong connection with her. The acoustic passage in the second half of this song samples the chorus from The Spirit Carries On, and the lyric, "so glad to see you my friend," is later used in the song "This Dying Soul" as a part of the Twelve-Step Suite, but is instead directed at "the Mirror".

Tone[]

This is a rare quiet acoustic song, where the rest of the album is melodic and progressive, and is mostly included to set the scene for the album. 

Appearances[]

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