The Dance of Eternity
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| “The Dance of Eternity” | |||||
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| Song by Dream Theater | |||||
| Album | Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory | ||||
| Released | October 26, 1999 | ||||
| Recorded | 1999 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive metal | ||||
| Length | 6:12 | ||||
| Label | Elektra Records | ||||
| Composer | Dream Theater | ||||
| Producer | John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy | ||||
| Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory track listing | |||||
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The Dance of Eternity (also known as Scene Seven Part 1: The Dance of Eternity in context of the album) is the ninth track off of Dream Theater's fifth studio album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. It is the second instrumental track off the album.
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[edit] Plot
Though the track is an instrumental, we get an idea of what the song represents. In "Metropolis Pt. 1", the final line is "Love is the dance of eternity." This hints that this may be when Victoria and Edward are making love, or out by themselves somewhere. For the complete story, see Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory.
[edit] Musical Structures
The Dance of Eternity is one of the most progressive and complex songs Dream Theater has ever made. As many as 123 time signature changes are present in the over 6 minutes of music. Numerous complex and obscure time signatures are used, including 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 3/8, 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8, 12/8, 15/8, 5/16, 6/16, and 7/16. According to Mike Portnoy, the band wanted to make a complex instrumental in the middle of the album, just as they had done in the middle of Metropolis Part 1. This song was also an integral part in attempting to create an extremely progressive record, as their previous album Falling into Infinity was criticized for being too mainstream and not progressive like the Dream Theater of old. The song features what is commonly considered to be one of Jordan Rudess's best keyboard solos, done in the style of a 1920s silent movie piano soundtrack.
In addition, the backwards music in the beginning of the song, when played backwards itself, is a sample from the instrumental section of "Metropolis Part 1"
[edit] Live Performances
The song is almost never played live, not only because it is very difficult to play, but because the song doesn't seem to fit when played by itself, and is preferred to be played within the context of the storyline. The only live performance on CD is the performance on Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York (portions, including the keyboard solo, were played on "Instrumedley" on Live at Budokan).
[edit] Band
John Myung - Bass guitar
John Petrucci - Guitar
Mike Portnoy - Drums
Jordan Rudess - keyboards
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