Lyrics for The Great Debate as interpreted by YtseJam

The Great Debate Lyrics
What if someone said
Promise lies ahead
Hopes are high in certain scientific circles
Life won't have to end
You could walk again

What if someone said
Problems lie ahead
They've uncovered something highly controversial
The right to life is strong
Can't you see it's wrong

Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for the truth

Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake

Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths

Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
In a labyrinth of rules

Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Taking life to save life

This embryonic day
Wrapped in fierce debate
Would be thrown away
Or otherwise discarded

Some of us believe
It may hold the key
To treatment of disease
And secrets highly guarded

Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life
Life to save life
Life to save life

Human kind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero
Ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide
Or to white coat heroes
Searching for the cure

Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake

We're searching
But have we gone too far

Harvesting existence
Only to destroy
Carelessly together
We are sliding

Someone else's future
Four days frozen still
Someone else's fate
We are deciding

Miracle potential
Sanctity of life
Faced against each other
Have collided

Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised

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  • 25 Comments
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Jester24
06-09-2002

Rated 0 
Rather obviously, this song discusses the ongoing debate of current stem cell research/cloning, etc. and whether it's right or wrong (the song doesn't present the band's opinion, only different views of some individuals).

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Paradox
06-12-2002

Rated 0 
I doesn't state the bands opinion on which side is correct, but the "Turn to the light" part bothers me. I think that someone might take this part to back up whatever they believe and say that that stanza justifies it when that could be said of the other side as well.

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getupkids1018
07-10-2002

Rated 0 
i dunno...but i think john P. is against it..thats why he might of wrote a song on it or something

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AzWeThinkIam
06-14-2004

Rated 0 
i think the band does present it's opinion but in a very subtle way. What convinces me are the following lines:

"we're reaching / but have we gone too far" - maybe they were for it at first, but now it has gone too far?

"someone else's fate / we are deciding" - i think the band is trying to say it's their fate and we shouldn't have the power to decide that.

"Anarchistic moral vision
Industries of death
Facing violent opposition
Unmolested breaths

Ethic inquisitions breed
Antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
In a labyrinth of rules "

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llowell
10-21-2004

Rated 0 
Actually I had gotten the impression that the band was pro-stem cell research, though they didn't flaunt that around. But this line makes me think that:
"Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake"

They try to just present both sides of the argument, which is well done, but that line makes me think that they are more pro-stem cell research.

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Thunderbolt
12-16-2004

Rated 0 
I also heard that Petrucci was against it.

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Thunderbolt
03-21-2005

Rated 0 
Then again, this song tends to convey the opposite opinion, not only because of what llowell said, but because the final "clip" is pro-stem cell research.

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hangar18
04-13-2005

Rated +1 
I always got the impression that the song was very slightly FOR it, although they were trying to remain impartial. I just found the final "clip" to be moving and well placed.

But they do an excellent job of showing both sides- I wouldn't be surprised if Petrucci were against it but other members of the band were for it.

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poopmastr7
06-01-2005

Rated 0 
my idea is that different parts of the song shows different opinions. and its cool cuz if u listen through headphones the first verse comes through the left side and its pro and the 2nd verse comes through the right and its against it. such a fucking well done song.

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schleppy
07-05-2005

Rated 0 
Poopmastr (god, it's so hard to type that when talking about such serious issues) brings up what I was about to say... The right-wing view comes from the right and the left-wing view from the left. I doubt these choices were made superficially.

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london67
07-25-2005

Rated 0 
I can't believe I'm the only person who thinks that Dream Theater is far too lyrically inept to ever write anything about current events and have it not be hilariously awkward.

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dreamsininfrared
09-10-2005

Rated 0 
"Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake"

Those are inseperable lines they are stating two sides of an arguement. The line that would more accurately describe the band's opinion would be "Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life"

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Elimination
07-29-2006

Rated 0 
Hmm... well, all I had to say about the song has been said, apparently... so I won't be redundant and say what I think only one person has said so far (though in other words)... this song kicks ass. The drumming is wicked.

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Elimination
11-09-2006

Rated 0 
Hmmm... I was just reading an interview with Mike Portnoy, and he's right:

"John wrote those lyrics, John Petrucci. Over the summertime, when we were all writing the lyrics to the album.... this is obviously before Sept. 11th... so over the Summertime the Stem Cell Research was on the news all the time while we were in the studio. So I guess he was inspired to write about it and I think it's really cool the way he writes from both sides of the coin. At no point in those lyrics does he ever give an opinion or take the side of either, he basically just presenting the different sides [sic]"

So yeah... to me, it doesn't really seem like he's taking sides, but explaining both sides' views.

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trigger2007
02-19-2007

Rated 0 
for what i say they are pointing out the cons and pros of this. Then again if you were to right a song like this you would either be strongly for it or against it. I would say that maybe among the band members they were debating the rights and wrongs of the songs amoungst theselvs.

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MyNaymIzMud
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
The "Turn to the light" part, in my opinion could be for either argument. It could be interpreted as "turn to the light" of new scientific methods--or could also be interpreted as "turn to the light" of god/religion.

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ChaosInMotion09
05-25-2007

Rated 0 
well, on the score documentary, dream theater wanted to do something different, so making a double cd is different. like jordan rudess said. the dream theater community would be split on which disc is better. and picking a debatable topic only fits the cd even more.
and i think the change in headphones is a symbol of different sides and opinions..

GREAT SONG

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Tepess
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
This song has no stance, but raises questions for yourself, and your stance.

Also, I agree with london67.

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Tepess
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
And, err isn't the last clip pro life, doesn't he ask how we can inject other people into other people and ask how that is morally correct?

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JimJimJimNL
09-02-2007

Rated 0 
The intro:

A Gallop snapshot poll taken immediately after President George
Bush's speech on funding ebryonic stem cell research last night
shows that 50% of people approve of his descision, 25% do not, and
still 25% aren't sure what to think.

Most people don't even know stem cells are.

Who's going to scream the loudest?
Will it be the right tiger?
Will it be the scientists?
And now what's going to happen now is that there will be a
tremendous amount of lobbying in Washington DC: scientists,
entertainers, people who want to see this research, people will
be coming forth.

I'm concerned about it, everyone's concerned about it; the big
question is do the ends justify the means? When we talk about
research, yes, we can cure a lot of things, speculatively, but
where's the proof?

These developing human beings that we're talking about, these embryos, were developed in an artificial, scientific environment. In vitro fertilization is not God's will.

That doesn't make them any less human though, after that happens.

We're on a road where we really don't know where we're going as far as what's next. We talk about harvet emryos, we talk about this, we talk about that, but what is the cost?

How could we possible abandon the research?

Well that's the old question, if you think the research is good...

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rimastratocaster
02-13-2008

Rated 0 
i like john petrucci's solo in this song ... totally dream theater is great in every element of music ...
thanks for the great lyrics by john petrucci

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countcube69
05-12-2008

Rated 0 
i think they have gone very much 'run to the hills' in this song. Onlooking a situation and looking at both sides of the argument. Whether we can better ourselves scientifically or is it too good to be tru? Turn to the light, alongside Are you Justified?

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AVA_Plus44_182
08-07-2008

Rated 0 
I think the song is supposed to be observing the situation, stating finally that we must simply "turn towards the light." When it comes to things like this there is a somewhat obvious moral tendency to not do whatever is in question, in this case stem cell experimentation, simply because it involves unnatural actions and killing of things. I think it is for that reason that the last line is pro stem cell research, because they had to end with one or the other and it figures to leave with a line that leaves the most ambiguity.

I think that ambiguity is the most important part of this song, with the intro flooding the listener with fluttering keyboard riffs and voice clips, sort of clearing your mind of any existing bias towards the topic. That's just my opinion on the intro anyway. The song is probably not meant to take any side, as it presents clips of both sides of the argument, though if anything I would bet on the band members being against stem cell research just because they wrote a song about it, it's just the norm really.

I think the song isn't as much about side-taking as it is about taking the right/moral path. The actual lyrics put emphasis on simply doing the right thing, and they question if stem cell research is justified while also suggesting the potential positive outcomes. To me it sort of represents any major moral dilemma where what's right and wrong is ultimately a matter of opinion, simply because both sides have massive amounts of justification and opinions on them are so divided.

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handicappedhero
01-15-2009

Rated 0 
"Are you justified in taking life to save life?" I'm thinking they're against it. Most pro-choicers don't even view it as life to begin with, at least not of any consequence.

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eatyourmumshead
02-06-2009

Rated 0 
You'll notice that in the beginning and end parts, the Right Wing arguments play in the right speaker, and the left wing arguments play in the left speaker.

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