The Spirit Carries On

Back in the days when Dream Theater was not so popular among the Mizos, their soft, melodious songs like “the spirit carries on”, “through her eyes” came into the ears of some people. Though most of the people who like these songs won’t like the whole album as some of them are a bit heavy progressive songs, these two in particular were liked by all. As I’m a big fan of the band, I’ve listened to these songs (the whole album i.e. Metropolis part 2: Scenes from a memory) years before it became so popular and before they were played in almost every house with a CD player (including Super CD players). When some of my friends heard the song and began to like it, they became confused by the lyrics. Most of them thought that it is something that really happened in the life of one of the band members. They started asking who Nicholas is, how did Victoria died. It sure is confusing and that’s the mark of a good lyric or should we say lyricist.

I am not going to do an in depth explanation of the song. Even if I explained the song, you won’t get/know the whole story behind the song. However, I will give a brief explanation of the characters in this particular song (The Spirit Carries On).

Firstly, the album itself is a concept album. That means explaining a single song won’t explain the whole story, to know what the song really means you must understand each and every single line of the lyrics from Track 1 till the last track. The whole album is a fictional story and none of the characters are real people.

The story dates back in 1928. There was a young girl named Victoria Page who was having an affair with Julian. Victoria was shot dead by Julian who also shot himself at the scene. Victoria started to haunt Nicholas who was in a hypnotic trance for some reasons. She wants to reveal the truth about her death to Nick. Both seems like they were faintly aware of each other. Nick, even after coming back to his normal state of mind wanted to know more about Victoria and wanted to know what she has to tell him. He is again and for the last time in a hypnotic trance. He believes that his soul will transcend after his death and need not fear death. He used to be scared of dying, but not anymore as he believes that his soul will transcend. He also knew that he will never find all the answers or the truth about Victoria’s death be he knew he still have to try. Victoria then revealed all the secrets to Nick, asking him not to weep on her grave but to move on. She also requested him not to forget her. Nick now feels that his questioning mind helped him to find all the secrets about Victoria’s death. He also thinks that it is clear enough that death is not the end but only a transition. After that the Hypnotherapist took Nick back into consciousness or to his present life by saying:

You are once again surrounded by a brilliant white light. Allow the light to lead you away from your past and into this lifetime. As the light dissipates you will slowly fade back into consciousness remembering all you have learned. when I tell you to open your eyes you will return to the present, feeling peaceful and refreshed. Open your eyes, Nicholas.

The story continues but that's all in this particular song and post.