Dream Theater – Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory A DEEP DIVE
DISCLAIMER THIS IS ALL THEORY BY MY INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT ALBUM --- NONE OF THIS IS NESSACARILLY RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL STORY OF THE CONCEPT ALBUM --- But like that's kinda of the point of a concept album is to well have it have a set storyline --- but parts are up for interpretation.
SECONDARY DISCLAIMER --- I did skip quite a lot of songs on the album as some --- While yes, have a part to the story --- Don't have enough, and if I included them this would take like 30 years. So it's the songs with the most set-in-stone information. As the others are more up for interpretation. BUT ALL THE SONGS ARE STILL VERY IMPORTANT TO THE STORY!! This is just to help understand
I have been thinking about this for years lol, but recently for the 25-year anniversary they dropped a PROFESSIONAL FUCKING NOVEL ON IT!!! It's coming out this month I'm so excited to read it and see what the album's story really was in contrast to how I interpreted it!!
LASTLY BEFORE CHECKING THIS OUT OR AFTER CHECK OUT THE ALBUM!!
HERE IS A LINK TO ONE THATS JUST THE SONGS MENTIONED IN THE ESSAY
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5vmuW3u04E4Tn0mESFFTQp?si=FYhNUHJYShuPldVbggJ9WQ
Dream Theater – Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
Nicolas is a young man. He keeps having these dreams, where he’s this girl. He feels like he is her; or was her. It’s affecting his everyday life – These dreams feel so real to him that he feels attached to them. So he decides it's in his best interest to go see someone to help him decipher these dreams.
Nicolas goes to see a hypno therapist — and that starts off our album.
Queue – Act I: Scene One: Regression
Nicolas is told to close his eyes and relax.
“Concentrate on your breathing–
–Imagine a brilliant white light above you”
“You will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you. –
– If at any time you need to come back, all you must do is open your eyes.”
He is now in his “dream space” It's like he's watching his past life on a screen – A girl named Victoria.
Queue – Act I: Scene Two: I. Overture 1928
It’s a strange sensation – A pleasant nightmare. Another whole life waiting for him; There’s a house that he’s drawn to, and he recognizes it. It doesn't feel new.
There's a room at the top of the stairs, he’s drawn up there. There's a girl in the mirror and he asks her. “Young child won’t you tell me why I’m here?!” He saw it in her eyes — He gained control of his past life – he could now find out what happened to him through watching her memories.
From here on out I’m going to refer to Nicolas as Victoria. Cause right now it's her story that is important. It's like he’s watching a movie and Victoria is the main character but Victoria is his past self.
Queue – Act I: Scene Four: Beyond This Life
— Victoria was a young girl, involved with two. —
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HEADLINE: Murder, Young Girl Killed.
“Desperate shooting at Echos Hill,
dreadful ending, killer died; evidently
suicide.”
A witness heard the horrifying sound – He ran to find a woman dead and Lying on the ground.
Standing by her was a man, “Nervous, shaking, gun in hand.”
Witness says he tried to help but he had turned the weapon on himself — His body fell across that poor young girl. After shouting out in vain, the witness ran to call for assistance.
A sad close to a broken love affair…
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Police assumed that Victora had fallen for a man while already being committed to another. She tried to keep it secret but it seemed her ex-boyfriend did indeed know.
Victoria was on a date, in a park near her ex-boyfriend's house, on the night of her death; She wanted to be with the other man. Not him. So he fell into an evil way, but she had to let him down.
“She said, ‘I can't love a wayward man’”
She may have found a reason to forgive her ex-boyfriend for being how he is; If he had only tried to change…
Was their fatal meeting prearranged?
Had a violent struggle taken place?
There was every sign that led there
Witness found a switchblade on the ground
Was the victim unaware?
They continued to investigate
They found a note in the killer's pocket
It could have been a suicide letter
But the police couldn’t be so wrong. — Victoria was involved with two men. — She cheated on her boyfriend; Julain. for another man; Edward. cause Julian wasn’t what she wanted. They broke up and she went to be with Edward.
Things were good! She was happy — For a little… Until she realized he wasn’t what he seemed to be. Abuse maybe? We don’t know. — Sometime after she did so, she ran into Julian. She had realized he was who she really wanted. So she hopes to reconcile with him and maybe have another chance. She tells him she's single.
Queue – Scene Nine: Finally Free
Victoria: “You know I’m really feeling good this Friday afternoon, I ran into Julian he said we should get together soon! He’s always had my heart he needs to know, I’m going to leave Edward. It’s time for him to go.”
Victoria met with Julian that night in secret; Without Edward knowing. Julian took her to a park late at night. I believe that they were drinking. They had made up; Julian and Victoria were back together. He had forgiven her.
Victoria thought she was safe, she was planning to break it off with Edward so it would do him no harm if he didn’t know…
If he didn’t know…
A yell;
Edward, his heavy footsteps nearing.
Victoria gasps
Edward punches Julian in the throat.
A bottle smashes, and things are breaking.
Edward pulls out a gun causing Julian to scream
Edward shoots Julian twice and he collapses
Victoria closes her eyes and starts screaming
Edward tells her to open her eyes.
Shooting her twice before running away.
Edward killed Victora, but Julian didn’t commit suicide. The police were so wrong… But the evidence pointed that way. — The suicide note? — Let's now go into Edwards's mind. See what he has done.
Edward: “Friday evening… The blood is still on my hands…To think that she would leave me now, for that ungrateful man. But I’m the sole survivor and there's no other witness to the crime…I must act fast to cover up… I think that there's still time. Julian would seem hopeless and lost with this note, the cops will buy into the words that I wrote.”
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“This feeling inside me, I finally
found my love I've finally broken free.
I’m no longer torn in two; I'd take
my own life before losing you…”
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Edward heads back to the crime scene and slips the note into Julian's pocket before calling the cops. When the cops arrived he told this story. It made headlines you heard it before!!
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HEADLINE: Murder, Young Girl Killed.
“Desperate shooting at Echos Hill,
dreadful ending, killer died; evidently
suicide.”
A witness heard the horrifying sound – He ran to find a woman dead and Lying on the ground.
Standing by her was a man, “Nervous, shaking, gun in hand.”
Witness says he tried to help but he had turned the weapon on himself — His body fell across that poor young girl. After shouting out in vain, the witness ran to call for assistance.
A sad close to a broken love affair…
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Back to our main man Nicolas who is the reason we even get to know this amazing story. He now knows the full story — How he had died. He had learned about it by living through Victora. Now he can live the rest of his life putting him to peace and Victoria’s spirit to rest.
He believes they’ll meet again someday soon…
“Open your eyes Nicolas.” — Nicolas regains his conscience after learning what he needs to. He exits the Hypno Therapist's office and goes to his car. The thing about this kind of treatment he took, you tell what you’re seeing out loud. That Hypno Therapist heard everything… He knows everything… Not like that would matter, it’s the man's job!
Nicolas Drives home, not realizing he was being followed. As Nicolas exits his car and goes to open his apartment door a man appears behind him. The Hypno therapist; Edward in the past life. — Again it is up for interpretation but I believe that this means that it is a cycle. Victoria was always supposed to die, No one was supposed to know it was Edward. But unlucky for Edward. Victoria's new body was near him. But no one could ever know not even in this life. – Edward was always meant to kill Victora no matter what universe.
