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Scene Two: II. Strange Déjà Vu
Scenes from a Memory
Length 05:12
Working title (Unknown)
Release date October 26, 1999
Lyrics Mike Portnoy
Music Dream Theater
First live performance Docks, Hamburg, Germany, on Nov. 8, 1999
Total live plays 454
Recorded BearTracks Studios
Other appearances Metropolis 2000, Live Scenes from New York, The Making of Scenes from a Memory
Previous song Scene Two: I. Overture 1928
Next song Scene Three: I. Through My Words

Scene Two: II. Strange Déjà Vu (also written as simply Strange Déjà Vu) is the third track from Dream Theater's fifth studio album, Scenes from a Memory. It continues immediately after the previous track, Overture 1928, which serves as a play on words, as the same riff is used in two songs which could provoke a sense of déjà vu in the listener.

John Petrucci recorded this song using a 6-string guitar in standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E).

Personnel[]

Lyrics[]

[Nicholas:]
Subconscious strange sensation
Unconscious relaxation
What a pleasant nightmare
And I can't wait to get there again

Every time I close my eyes
There's another vivid surprise
Another whole life's waiting
Chapters unfinished, fading

Closer now
Slowly coming into view
I've arrived 
Blinding sunshine beaming through

There's a house I'm drawn to
Familiar settings nothing new
And there's a pathway leading there
With a haunting chill in the air

There's a room at the top of the stairs
Every night I'm drawn up there
There's a girl in the mirror
Her face is getting clearer

Young child, won't you tell me
Why I'm here?

In her eyes
I sense a story never told
Behind the disguise
There's something tearing at her soul

[Victoria:]
Tonight I've been searching for it,
A feeling that's deep inside me
Tonight I've been searching for
The one that nobody knows,
Trying to break free

I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Tears my heart into two
I'm not the one the Sleeper thought he knew

[Nicholas:]
Back on my feet again
Eyes open to the real world
Metropolis surrounds me
The mirror's shattered the girl

Why is this outside life
Haunting me every day
I'd break through to the other side
If only I'd find the way

Something's awfully familiar
The feeling's so hard to shake
Could I have lived in that other world
It's a link that I'm destined to make

Still searching but I don't know what for
The missing key to unlock my mind's door


Today I am searching for it
A feeling that won't go away
Today I am searching for 
The one that I only know
Trying to break free

I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Tears my soul into two
I'm not the one I thought I always knew

I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Uncanny, strange Deja vu
But I don't mind 
I hope to find the truth

Analysis[]

This scene takes place in the present day, and follows Nicholas in his trance. While basking in the accompanying feeling of well-being, we hear about the previous dreams he'd had about another life, just out of reach. These dreams, which have led to his regression therapy, involve a pathway leading to a house, and a girl in a mirror at the top of the stairs. She asks him, "Young child, won't you tell me why I'm here", as presumably she has been leading him to these dreams every night to tell him a story about something terrible, something that's "tearing at her soul". Victoria then speaks about how she's been trying to find someone to tell her story to, and how it "tears [her] heart into two", which references how she's torn between two lovers, which is unknown to Nicholas at this point.

He then awakens in the present, and everything that he sees reminds him of the other life, and it all seems "awfully familiar". He begins to see that there is a deep connection between Victoria, himself and the other life, and he makes it his mission to found out what it is. He then echoes the chorus sung by Victoria, highlighting the connection between them, except he talks about how he has to "find the truth".

Tone[]

This song draws on more of the heavy tone than the previous track, however it's still sufficiently progressive. The chorus sections are quite poppy and melodic.

Notes[]

  • Strange Déjà Vu is the second part of Scene Two, continues from the first part, Overture 1928.
  • This track marks the first appearance of the character, "Victoria".

Appearances[]

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