Kim

John wrote the song about his father’s struggle with cancer. John Sr. passed away in 1996, and “Take Away My Pain” was written about his death.

The song intentionally cuts off like that, because part of the song deals with how sudden death can be. The sudden ending of the song is just like an unexpected death of a person.

Another explanation is that it […]

The common explanation goes that it was inspired the questions raised by Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Prince Hamlet swore vengeance on King Claudius for murdering his father, the former King, and then marrying his m […]

Meanstreak was an all-girl thrash metal band founded in 1985 by guitarists Rena Sands and Marlene Apuzzo. On bass was Lisa Diane Pace, Yael Devan was on drums and Bettina France on vocals. They released an album […]

The Killing Hand is a sci-fi lyric, inspired by the types of stories commonly seen on the Twilight Zone.

The main character of the story wakes up alone in the middle of a field. Standing up, he is facing a war […]

Ytse Jam is Majesty written backwards. It doesn’t have any special meaning otherwise. Majesty was the name of the band until 1989, when they were forced to change due to another band having the same name.

“Ytse” […]

According to Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, it was about a friend of theirs who was arrested for stealing and the experience he gained from that. The lyrics are abstract, with no direct references made.

The […]

Andrea Held Leone was Mike Portnoy’s late mother who died in a tragic plane crash – the events of which were later the basis for the song “A Change of Seasons”.

Ralph R. Dominici Sr. was Charlie Dominici’s late father.