Lyrics for Solitary Shell as interpreted by YtseJam

Solitary Shell Lyrics
He seemed no different from the rest
Just a healthy normal boy
His momma always did her best
And he was daddy's pride and joy
He learned to walk and talk on time
But never cared much to be held
And steadily he worked to climb
Into his solitary shell

As a boy he was considered somewhat odd
Kept to himself most of the time
He would daydream in and out of his own world
But in every other way he was fine

He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
Temporary, catatonic
Madman on occasion
When will he break out
Of his solitary shell

He struggled to get through his day
He was helplessly behind
He poured himself onto the page
Writing for hours at a time

As a man he was a danger to himself
Fearful and sad most of the time
He was drifting in and out of sanity
But in every other way he was fine

He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
A momentary maniac
With casual delusions
When will he be let out of his
Solitary shell

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  • 37 Comments
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Paradox
07-25-2002

Rated 0 
I think the greatest think about this song is the juxtaposition. The contrast between the happy sounding acoustic guitar and the depressing lyrics is genius.

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Haaseracer
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
Its a song about an autistic child's development

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Bryant the Great
10-17-2004

Rated 0 
i dont think that he was autistic..."just a healthy normal boy". the song is associated with schizophrenia...he was catatonic...

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komplexnous
11-05-2004

Rated 0 
I agree with Bryant the Great. It's not about an autistic person; although, it can seem as such with him not desiring to be held as an infant. However, the description is more towards schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder (which can have the same "symptoms" in infancy/childhood as autism does psychologically), since he appeared healthy to everyone else (he was a danger to himself). On top of this, he wrote frequently, which implies that he did not have problems with communication/language (autistic people do have a hard time with communicating/language). The instrumentation is amazing in this song (very progressive IMO)! ;) I completely agree with Paradox.

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heirtoruin
04-15-2005

Rated 0 
Bryant the Great and Komplexnous are both wrong. The song is about autism. Autistic children appear to be normal and can often act normal. However, at times, they also can withdraw inward and not socially interact. Not all austistic people have problem with language as autism is as diverse as religious and spiritual beliefs; there is no singular case symptom. The "not wanting to be held" is a common symptom of austistic children. Mice that mimic autism in humans are anti-social. My wife is a teacher and has had several children diagnosed with autism. They are smart and often their disorder is unrecognizable until put under some type of stress. Again, not autistic people are like Rain Man.

That...and the band has confirmed that the song is about autism.

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blacklist
05-16-2005

Rated 0 
this song is just simply amazing

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TANSTAAFL
06-18-2005

Rated 0 
The song may have been written about Autism, but what is described is more exactly Aspergers syndrome/disorder, which is often classified as high functioning Autism. It is a seperate syndrome, which shares a lot with autism, but where the person with the syndrome has a lot higher brain functions than your standard Autistic, often being fine other than a dislike for social environments and seeming somewhat slow sometimes. There can be other symptoms, especialy when under stress, but for the most part they are a lot more 'normal' than your average autistic.

The important point here is that there is a campaign to have this syndrome no longer recognised as a disorder, but as a standard variation from normal. While it does seem to restrict the sufferer in day to day social life, it often leaves them funtioning better on different levels. Many asbergers people seem to be the source of many 'savants' and there have been many talented artists. Their skills may lie in other areas, but they are just as able as 'normals'.

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blacklist
07-11-2005

Rated +1 
this song is hott

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Thotw
08-11-2005

Rated 0 
I personally don't believe this song is about Autism. I think it's about John Pertrucci's personal struggles with life. I do realize there are a few songs about his Dad. That is obvoius. Both John and myself have the exact same birthdays, July 12th. Which makes us both deep male Cancerians. So I really understand where he is coming from with is lyrics. If you reference this song to the others that he has written, they are very similar. In the way that the character of the song was having a hard time fitting into society and feeling rejected. "Just because you are on the top doesn't mean you don't have any problems. Just food for the thought... -Thotw

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YtseJam
12-19-2005

Rated 0 
This is one of those songs that I can connect to. It kinda depicts me (but not entirely) and that is very nice. Makes you retrospect...

Edited by YtseJam on December 19 2005, at 12:19PM



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mat35
12-28-2005

Rated 0 
I too don't think this is about autism. Avoidant personality disorder (APD) (Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant_personality_disorder)... I'm no expert but that's what I feel this is about... And I can really relate to it :s ... Unfortunately.

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f15x28
02-13-2006

Rated 0 
yeap, it's about me too

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bracholi
04-09-2006

Rated 0 
I definitely think that the writer of the song wouldn't lie if he were to say it's about Autism.. Maybe you should just take his word for it :-S

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Maneatingfish
05-04-2006

Rated +2 
I believe that it was written about Autism, but a lot of these 'symptoms' could fit any number of disorders.

This song fits with the lives of a lot of poeple (mine included), though it doesn't mean these people are Autistic. I show a lot of symptoms of Asperger's, OCD and apparently APD and a few other social disorders(though I would not claim to have any of them). This song describes me well, though rather than having a shell, I have a bubble. This bubble tells people to leave me alone, a lot of the time, the bubble even hides me.

Anyway, my point is that, I don't think it matters what this song is specifically about, as it describes many things. I think it's an amazing song - I'm Paradox on the contrast thing. It works because to begin with, you don't notice the contrast, but then it jumps out at you and shocks you.

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interpolarity
11-01-2006

Rated 0 
It may be about autism, but I can relate to it. I was 'a solitary shell' when I was a kid. I am all the opposite, except for the 'drifting in and out of sanity' part :)

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jaywarrietto
11-07-2006

Rated 0 
It must be about autism as the whole song "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is about different mental disorders.

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MMM88
01-09-2007

Rated 0 
Nice song. It rescembles Peter Gabriel's "Salisbury Hill" both in chords progression and lyrics.

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thedanman344
01-19-2007

Rated 0 
It's not about autism, usually you can tell if someone has autism when they are quite young, so the lyrics don't fit that.

It could be about Ashberger's Syndrome, an extremely mild version of autism where the person grows up normally, but once they hit puberty they don't really "get" a lot of things, and usually have an strange personality, causing the person to be picked on, thus isolating himself.

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headbang666
02-12-2007

Rated 0 
Well, if you were to read the description of the second disc, it says, 'The sixth song—-that is, the complete second disc—-explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are post-traumatic stress disorder, delusions of grandeur, autism, psychosis, post-partum depression, and major trauma resulting in blackouts.'

Autism is mentioned, but it never declares that it IS autism, and I believe the theory of the boy suffering from Ashberger's Syndrome makes sense.

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headbang666
02-12-2007

Rated 0 
Oh, might I add I got that from Wikipedia..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_Of_Inner_Turbulence

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Vpk0718
03-15-2007

Rated 0 
I have Asperger's syndrome, and I get chills when I listen to this song because it feels like he's singing about me. This is definitely about Asperger's, or autism in general.

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Alive-66
03-18-2007

Rated 0 
I've heard from a few sources that this song is based around autism, no suprise to see that its the only subject of conversation here.
I don't like disagreeing with people but 'bracholi' got it right. If the artist says thats whats it about, then thats what its about.
I have a young cousin who has one of the worse forms of autism, and regardless of what people here are saying, it fits it exactly.
Hes a perfectly normal kid. He learnt to talk and walk on time. But he's not "on the planet" as I'd like to put it. He's in his own world, living as we do but to his terms only. Sometimes he acts almost as if there is nothing wrong but then he'll just change completely and with no trigger.
My mum and I may be moving in with my aunty at some point in the future as when he gets older he will more than likely be a danger to people around him and himself...the song says almost exactly that.

Powerful stuff, love this song to pieces.

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Alive-66
03-18-2007

Rated 0 
...and 'Paradox', you've totally nailed it there, i noticed that aswell. It works so well with the theme of the song...the 'happy' melody but with lyrics like "hes a monday morning lunatic"... !

sort of brings the disorder down to earth eh.

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powelly_69
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
Also a tribute to 'Solsbury Hill' by Peter Gabriel.
Listen to it...you will see.

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C.X.
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
It's because a lot of the symptoms of mental illnesses tend to overlap. This song is about autism, but it describes what could be a lot of other disorders as well.

I'd say that this song really describes me, as far as the whole avoidant personality thing goes, but you can't really argue with the artist about what their work is about.

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