Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (song)
Encyclopedia
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is the sixth song and title track on the album of the same name
, written and performed by progressive metal
band Dream Theater
. Though the song is essentially broken up into eight movements
, the track itself is one 42-minute song and takes up the entire second CD
of the album, the iTunes version of the album shows up as 8 separate tracks (tracks 6 - 13) and not as a 2 CD playlist. The genesis of the song came when Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess
wrote what would become the "Overture" section of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", and the band took some different melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into chapters of the complete piece. The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder
, post-traumatic stress disorder
, schizophrenia
, autism
, post-partum depression, and dissociative identity disorder
.
The song also contains musical influences from classical, metal, folk and progressive genres. Some parts of the song are direct nods to some of the band's musical influences. The piece's main theme bears resemblance to the ending of Kansas
's "The Wall", and "Solitary Shell" is similar to Peter Gabriel
's "Solsbury Hill" and the keyboard arrangement on the acoustic intro reminds of Yes
's "And You And I".
The song is the longest that Dream Theater has recorded. In order to ease the scrolling through the song, Mike Portnoy
decided to split it into eight different parts, each with their own distinctive styles.
The song was played in its entirety on Score
, with the "Octavarium Orchestra" playing "Overture" and backing for the rest of the piece, except for "The Test That Stumped Them All".
changes in the song, most of the themes are in 7/4 (About to Crash, Solitary Shell), 13/8 (The Test that Stumped Them All), 6/8 (Grand Finale) or common time.
. With bipolarity, a patient suffers from manic episodes (e.g. "She can't stop pacing, she never felt so alive") alternating with depressive crashes (e.g. "Then one day, she woke up to find, the perfect girl, had lost her mind"). Bipolar mania often involves heightened energy, flight of ideas ("Her thoughts are racing, set on overdrive."). Manics will often work for hours on end to the point of exhaustion and will often neglect their other duties to attend to whatever goal they have set their minds on at the time. ("They're expecting her, but she's got work to do.")
Bipolar sufferers tend to get worse when the affliction is untreated, and her father/spouse, presumably, has seen this ("I've never seen her get this bad").
, as some soldiers do after war. The lyrics show he served in Vietnam
("napalm
showers"). The chorus reveals he has flashbacks ("Hearing voices from miles away... Waging a war inside my head"), experiencing instances where he believes that he is still in Vietnam. The second verse implies that he may believe he will have the condition indefinitely ("Trading innocence for permanent psychotic hell"). During the final chorus, it is revealed that his anxiety has become more pronounced ("Tasting danger with each word I say").
, ("He lives in a world of fiction"). Schizophrenics suffer from a variety of symptoms that are touched on in the lyrics here. Obvious ones include references to delusion
s and the fact that he "lives in a world of fiction"
. "Intro tape begins to roll...igniting sonic rage" refers to the fact that schizophrenics are prone to auditory hallucinations
... especially command hallucinations that tell the person what to do - even to the point of killing someone or themselves ("To save him from himself").
Unfortunately, there is no "cure" for schizophrenia ("Counseling and therapy providing not a clue") and very little information on its cause (hence the name, "The Test That Stumped Them All"). There is, however, treatment with a variety of anti-psychotic medications ("Pills, red, pink and blue"). Decades ago, there used to be a prevalent method of treating the disorder with shock treatments
and this is referenced by the "doctors" suggesting it in the song.
. The lyric tells us that he started off quite normal ("He seemed no different from the rest" "He learned to walk and talk on time, but never cared much to be held"), however, he did withdrawal from social contact (the title, "Solitary Shell", shows that he is quite reclusive). The lyrics end with a plea for social acceptance from a peer or relative ("When will he be let out of his solitary shell").
, previously called Multiple Personality Disorder. The lyrics tell the listener that she does not have many friends ("She never wears makeup, But no-one would care if she did anyway"). This is probably caused by having her life split among multiple personalities. The results of which is her relative amnesia
caused by her inability to keep track of her life among her multiple personalities ("She doesn't recall yesterday, faces seem twisted and strange"). However, this may also be a reference to Alzheimer's. This can be justified by the lines "She always wakes up, only to find she'd been miles away", a possible reference to Alzheimer's victims "wandering", leaving their families to wonder where they went. The "Losing Time" title refers to the fact that she isn't living parts of her life due to her dissociative identity disorder, which in turn implies that she is "losing time". The lyrics also reveal the darker side of dissociative identity disorder, in that those who suffer from this disorder often create alternate personalities in order to cope with severe emotional or physical trauma ("She learned to detach from herself, a behavior that kept her alive").
":
Deception of fame — Degree 3: The Test That Stumped Them All
Vengeance of war — Degree 2: War Inside My Head
Lives torn apart — Degree 4: Goodnight Kiss
Losing oneself — Degree 6: Losing Time
Spiraling down — Degree 1: About To Crash (and Reprise)
Feeling the walls closing in — Degree 5: Solitary Shell
The Grand Finale ends with a drum fill and gong while the final chord fades over the course of the remaining minute and forty-five seconds. The final chord is the same chord that starts "As I Am", the first song on the next album Train of Thought
, which is a further example of Dream Theater's continuity between albums.
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. It was released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002 by Elektra Records...
, written and performed by progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
. Though the song is essentially broken up into eight movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, the track itself is one 42-minute song and takes up the entire second CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
of the album, the iTunes version of the album shows up as 8 separate tracks (tracks 6 - 13) and not as a 2 CD playlist. The genesis of the song came when Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
wrote what would become the "Overture" section of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", and the band took some different melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into chapters of the complete piece. The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
, schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, post-partum depression, and dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
.
The song also contains musical influences from classical, metal, folk and progressive genres. Some parts of the song are direct nods to some of the band's musical influences. The piece's main theme bears resemblance to the ending of Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
's "The Wall", and "Solitary Shell" is similar to Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's "Solsbury Hill" and the keyboard arrangement on the acoustic intro reminds of Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
's "And You And I".
The song is the longest that Dream Theater has recorded. In order to ease the scrolling through the song, Mike Portnoy
Mike Portnoy
Michael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
decided to split it into eight different parts, each with their own distinctive styles.
The song was played in its entirety on Score
Score (album)
-Disc two:-Disc three:-DVD:Tracks 1 through 8 feature Dream Theater alone. Tracks 9 through 14 feature Dream Theater and The Octavarium Orchestra.-Disc one:#"The Root of All Evil" – 9:32#"I Walk Beside You" – 4:10#"Another Won" – 5:40#"Afterlife" – 7:28...
, with the "Octavarium Orchestra" playing "Overture" and backing for the rest of the piece, except for "The Test That Stumped Them All".
Track listing
- I. Overture – 6:50 (Dream Theater, instrumental)
- II. About to Crash – 5:51 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
- III. War Inside My Head – 2:08 (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
- IV. The Test That Stumped Them All – 5:03 (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
- V. Goodnight Kiss – 6:17 (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
- VI. Solitary Shell – 5:48 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
- VII. About to Crash (Reprise) – 4:05 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
- VIII. Losing Time / Grand Finale – 6:01 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
Song analysis
The lyrics of the song never stay on one particular subject, instead describing each of the six people (referred to as the Six Degrees). Each of these people suffer from a different mental disability, and all six disabilities are described in the lyrics. The first movement, Overture, is an instrumental, which means it doesn't describe any of these disabilities, and the lyrics for the seventh movement, About To Crash (Reprise), describe the same person from the second movement, About to Crash, but from a different point of view (see analysis below). Though there are many Time signatureTime signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
changes in the song, most of the themes are in 7/4 (About to Crash, Solitary Shell), 13/8 (The Test that Stumped Them All), 6/8 (Grand Finale) or common time.
I. Overture
This serves mainly as an introduction, encompassing the many musical themes which occur throughout the remaining movements.II. About to Crash
The lyrics tell of a girl (Degree 1) who has one of the most well known of all mental illnesses: Bipolar disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
. With bipolarity, a patient suffers from manic episodes (e.g. "She can't stop pacing, she never felt so alive") alternating with depressive crashes (e.g. "Then one day, she woke up to find, the perfect girl, had lost her mind"). Bipolar mania often involves heightened energy, flight of ideas ("Her thoughts are racing, set on overdrive."). Manics will often work for hours on end to the point of exhaustion and will often neglect their other duties to attend to whatever goal they have set their minds on at the time. ("They're expecting her, but she's got work to do.")
Bipolar sufferers tend to get worse when the affliction is untreated, and her father/spouse, presumably, has seen this ("I've never seen her get this bad").
III. War Inside My Head
This movement tells the story of someone (Degree 2) who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorderPost-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
, as some soldiers do after war. The lyrics show he served in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
("napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
showers"). The chorus reveals he has flashbacks ("Hearing voices from miles away... Waging a war inside my head"), experiencing instances where he believes that he is still in Vietnam. The second verse implies that he may believe he will have the condition indefinitely ("Trading innocence for permanent psychotic hell"). During the final chorus, it is revealed that his anxiety has become more pronounced ("Tasting danger with each word I say").
IV. The Test That Stumped Them All
This patient (Degree 3) is suffering from schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, ("He lives in a world of fiction"). Schizophrenics suffer from a variety of symptoms that are touched on in the lyrics here. Obvious ones include references to delusion
Delusion
A delusion is a false belief held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence. Unlike hallucinations, delusions are always pathological...
s and the fact that he "lives in a world of fiction"
Thought disorder
In psychiatry, thought disorder or formal thought disorder is a term used to describe incomprehensible language, either speech or writing, that is presumed to reflect thinking. There are different types...
. "Intro tape begins to roll...igniting sonic rage" refers to the fact that schizophrenics are prone to auditory hallucinations
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
... especially command hallucinations that tell the person what to do - even to the point of killing someone or themselves ("To save him from himself").
Unfortunately, there is no "cure" for schizophrenia ("Counseling and therapy providing not a clue") and very little information on its cause (hence the name, "The Test That Stumped Them All"). There is, however, treatment with a variety of anti-psychotic medications ("Pills, red, pink and blue"). Decades ago, there used to be a prevalent method of treating the disorder with shock treatments
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
and this is referenced by the "doctors" suggesting it in the song.
V. Goodnight Kiss
This is a piece about a mother (Degree 4) who has lost her child, in one form or another, and is suffering from post-partum depression ("Are you lonely without Mommy's love?" ... "I'm so lonely without Baby's love"). There is also evidence of the child having been hospitalized at some point, or perhaps died during child birth. The mother struggles between believing that the loss of her child is her fault ( ... "my tainted blood's still the same") or the doctors fault ("Those bastard doctors are gonna pay"). A heart monitor, and a baby crying can be heard in the later part of the song, suggesting a medical problem with the baby; the manic laughter of a doctor also suggests a recurring nightmare that the sufferer has. The lyrics also suggest the death of more than one child on separate occasions ("It's been five years to the day and my tainted blood's still the same")VI. Solitary Shell
Referred to as Degree 5, this person has autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. The lyric tells us that he started off quite normal ("He seemed no different from the rest" "He learned to walk and talk on time, but never cared much to be held"), however, he did withdrawal from social contact (the title, "Solitary Shell", shows that he is quite reclusive). The lyrics end with a plea for social acceptance from a peer or relative ("When will he be let out of his solitary shell").
VII. About to Crash (Reprise)
This section carries on from where About to Crash left off. This time the song is sung from the sufferer's point of view and describes her going through another manic episode ("I'm invincible, despair will never find me"). She then makes the realization that she will come out soon only to have another depressive episode ("And when I fall out of the sky, who'll be standing by"). The lyrics here possibly show the bipolarity is getting better as sufferers tend to become more conscious of the syndrome when they start to feel more like themselves. Pieces from several other movements are included in this and could further describe the character's bipolar and confusion.VIII. Losing Time
The last degree is a girl suffering from dissociative identity disorderDissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
, previously called Multiple Personality Disorder. The lyrics tell the listener that she does not have many friends ("She never wears makeup, But no-one would care if she did anyway"). This is probably caused by having her life split among multiple personalities. The results of which is her relative amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
caused by her inability to keep track of her life among her multiple personalities ("She doesn't recall yesterday, faces seem twisted and strange"). However, this may also be a reference to Alzheimer's. This can be justified by the lines "She always wakes up, only to find she'd been miles away", a possible reference to Alzheimer's victims "wandering", leaving their families to wonder where they went. The "Losing Time" title refers to the fact that she isn't living parts of her life due to her dissociative identity disorder, which in turn implies that she is "losing time". The lyrics also reveal the darker side of dissociative identity disorder, in that those who suffer from this disorder often create alternate personalities in order to cope with severe emotional or physical trauma ("She learned to detach from herself, a behavior that kept her alive").
Grand Finale
In this section, the lyrics advise the listener to be more understanding of the people who carry these and similar afflictions, and to accept them as they should be. This section, in which the degrees described by the song are summed up in six lines, is similar to the "Intervals" section in the song "OctavariumOctavarium (song)
Octavarium is a song by progressive metal band Dream Theater, from the album of the same name.The song starts with Jordan Rudess using his Haken Continuum and his lap steel guitar, drawing references from Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", Tangerine Dream, Marty Friedman's Scenes, and...
":
Deception of fame — Degree 3: The Test That Stumped Them All
Vengeance of war — Degree 2: War Inside My Head
Lives torn apart — Degree 4: Goodnight Kiss
Losing oneself — Degree 6: Losing Time
Spiraling down — Degree 1: About To Crash (and Reprise)
Feeling the walls closing in — Degree 5: Solitary Shell
The Grand Finale ends with a drum fill and gong while the final chord fades over the course of the remaining minute and forty-five seconds. The final chord is the same chord that starts "As I Am", the first song on the next album Train of Thought
Train of Thought (Dream Theater album)
-Chart performance:* Billboard 200: Train of Thought - #53* Billboard Top Internet Albums: Train of Thought - #53* UK Album Charts: Train of Thought - #146* Norwegian Album Charts: Train of Thought - #9-Personnel:* James LaBrie – lead vocals...
, which is a further example of Dream Theater's continuity between albums.
Personnel
- James LaBrieJames LaBrieKevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
- lead vocals - John PetrucciJohn PetrucciJohn Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals - John MyungJohn MyungJohn Ro Myung is an American bassist, Chapman Stick player and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is considered a virtuoso player who is widely recognized for his technical proficiency....
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jordan RudessJordan RudessJordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Mike PortnoyMike PortnoyMichael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals