II. Voices

<br>- John Petrucci<br><br>`Love, just don`t stare`<br>He used to say to me<br>every Sunday morning<br>The spider in the window<br>The angel in the pool<br>The old man takes the poison<br>Now the widow makes the rules<br><br>`So speak, I`m right here`<br>She used to say to me<br>not a word, not a word<br>Judas on the ceiling<br>the Devil in my bed<br>I guess Easter`s never coming<br>So I`ll just wait inside my head<br><br>Like a scream but sort of silent<br>living off my nightmares<br><br>Voices repeating me<br>`Feeling threatened?<br>We reflect your hopes and fears.`<br>Voices discussing me<br>`Others steal your thoughts<br>they`re not confined<br>within your mind.`<br><br>Thought disorder<br>Dream control<br>Now they read my mind on the radio<br>But where was the Garden of Eden?<br><br>I feel elated<br>I feel depressed<br>Sex is death, Death is sex<br>Says it right here on my Crucifix<br><br>Like a scream but sort of silent<br>living off my nightmares<br><br>Voices protecting me<br>`Good behavior<br>brings the Savior<br>to his knees.`<br>Voices rejecting me<br>`Others steal your thoughts<br>they`re not confined<br>to your own mind.`<br><br>&quot;I don`t wanna be here, `cause of my<br>suffering, `cause of my illness. <br>Only love is worth having, only <br>love is what matters, loving every <br>people on equal terms. &quot;<br>&quot;You`ve got to know who you`re <br>dealin` with because, like a stranger, <br>a-heh, just might come in through<br>here with a gun... and then, what <br>would you do? (Heh.)&quot;<br>&quot;Everything is immaterial...&quot;<br>&quot;`n` you know that reality is immaterial.&quot;<br>&quot;This is not reality...&quot;<br><br>I`m kneeling on the floor<br>staring at the wall<br>like the spider in the window<br>I wish that I could speak<br>Is there fantasy in refuge?<br>God in politicians?<br>Should I turn on my religion?<br>These demons in my head tell me to<br><br>I`m lying here in bed<br>Swear my skin is inside out<br>Just another Sunday morning<br><br>Seen my diary on the newsstand<br>Seems we`ve lost the truth to quicksand<br>It`s a shame no one is praying<br>`Cause these voices in my head<br>keep saying...<br><br>`Love, just don`t stare.`<br>`Reveal the Word when you`re<br>supposed to`<br>Withdrawn and introverted<br>Infectiously perverted<br>`Being laughed at and confused<br>keeps us pleasantly amused<br>enough to stay.`<br><br>Maybe I`m just Cassandra fleeting<br>Twentieth century Icon bleeding<br>Willing to risk Salvation<br>to escape from isolation<br><br>I`m witness to redemption<br>heard you speak but never listened<br>Can you rid me of my secrets?<br>Deliver us from Darkness?<br><br>Voices repeating me<br>`Feeling threatened?<br>We reflect your hopes and fears.`<br>Voices discussing me<br>Don`t expect your own Messiah<br>This neverworld which you desire<br>is only in your mind.