To Live Forever | |
Lie (album) | |
Length | 4:56 |
Working title | To Live Forever |
Release date | 1994 |
Lyrics | John Petrucci |
Music | Dream Theater |
First live performance | Sundance, Bay Shore, NY, USA on November 25 1988 |
Total live plays | 113 |
Recorded | One On One Studios and Devonshire Studios, 1994 |
Other appearances | Cleaning Out the Closet, Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) |
Previous song | Space-Dye Vest |
Next song | Another Day (Live) |
To Live Forever is a non-album song by Dream Theater, first recorded during the When Dream and Day Unite sessions. The song has been recorded several times and released on multiple Fan Club CD's and Official Bootlegs including When Dream and Day Reunite where Charlie Dominici appears as a guest singer. The song was initially recorded in E standard with a 6-string guitar, but on the 1994 version, John Petrucci used a 7-string guitar.
There are several known versions of this song :
- One recorded during the When Dream and Day Unite sessions, with Charlie Dominici on vocals. It can be found on the When Dream and Day Unite Demos official bootleg.
- Another one recorded during the Images and Words sessions, which can be found on the Images and Words Demos official bootleg, as well as Cleaning Out the Closet as "To Live Forever '91".
- The "officially" released studio version, recorded during the Awake sessions in 1994. It can be found as a B-side on Lie, and on the Greatest Hit compilation. This version is also available on Cleaning Out the Closet as "To Live Forever '94".
- A live version was also released on a few live videos, such as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo and 5 Years in a LIVEtime. This version includes an instrumental jam right after the end of the song.
Lyrics[]
If I'd started from the top And worked my way down There'd be no reason To live forever To live forever The starvation has turned Me outside in And the wind has blown me Halfway across the world Across the world Why was I born In an age of distrust I'd offered some change For a photograph It will always stay the same You will always be the same Until I saw the desire for revenge My hunger will waste me to sleep As long as I have to die in the attempt Then there is no reason To live forever I found you where They left you there A passing word that's gone forever And searching my memory for answers I saw the words of a letter you wrote She said "you don't want to live forever, you don't want to live forever" And everything's changing now, I don't want to live forever
Appearances[]
- Lie - "Official" studio version with James LaBrie
- Cleaning Out the Closet - Demo version ('91) and "official" studio version ('94) both with James LaBrie
- Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) - "Official" studio version
- When Dream and Day Unite Demos - Xmas Demo with Charlie Dominici
- The ATCO Demos - Demo version with James LaBrie
- Images and Words Demos - Vocalist auditions with John Hendricks and Steve Stone
- When Dream and Day Reunite - Live version with James LaBrie & Charlie Dominici
- New York City 3/4/93 - Live version with Kevin Moore
- Once in a LIVEtime Outtakes - Live version with Derek Sherinian
- Taste the Memories - Live version with Kevin Moore
- A Sort of Homecoming - Instrumental live version with Jordan Rudess (The Oakdale Odyssey)
- Happy Holidays 2013 - Live version with Mike Mangini