Over the course of various lineup changes, Petrucci and Myung have been the only two constant members, and Portnoy remained with the band until 2010, when he left to pursue other musical endeavors and he has since been replaced by Mangini. After a brief stint with Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater not long after the release of their first album), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's first keyboardist, Kevin Moore, left the band after three albums and was replaced by Derek Sherinian in 1995 after a period of touring. After just one album with Sherinian, they replaced him with current keyboardist Jordan Rudess in 1999.
To date, Dream Theater has released fifteen studio albums. The band's highest-selling release is their second album Images and Words (1992), which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. Both the albums Awake (1994) and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46, respectively, and received critical acclaim. Their fifth album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It was also ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album in March 2003 by Classic Rock Magazine.
As of 2018, Dream Theater has sold over 12 million records worldwide and has received three Grammy Award nominations (including one win in 2022). Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, the band has been referred to as one of the "big three" of the progressive metal genre, responsible for its development and popularization.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Theater
Studio albums
When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
Images and Words (1992)
Awake (1994)
Falling into Infinity (1997)
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Train of Thought (2003)
Octavarium (2005)
Systematic Chaos (2007)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)
Dream Theater (2013)
The Astonishing (2016)
Distance over Time (2019)
A View from the Top of the World (2021)
Run To The Hills
Dream Theater Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Brought us pain and misery.
Killed our tribes, killed our creed,
Took our game for his own need.
We fought him hard, we fought him well,
Out on the plains we gave him hell.
But many came, too much for Cree,
Riding through dustclouds and barren wastes,
Galloping hard on the plains.
Chasing the redskins back to their holes,
Fighting them at their own game.
Murder for freedom, a stab in the back.
Women and children and cowards attack.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
Soldier blue in the barren wastes,
Hunting and killing for game.
Raping the women and wasting the men,
The only good Indians are tame.
Selling them whisky and taking their gold,
Enslaving the young and destroying the old.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
The song "Run to the Hills" by Dream Theater is a cover of the classic song by Iron Maiden. The song tells the story of the Native American tribes and their struggles against the white settlers who came across the sea to take their land. The opening lines set the tone of the song, with the singer talking about the pain and misery brought by the white man. The next lines describe how the settlers killed the tribes and took their game, which is a metaphor for taking their way of life and their resources.
The second verse talks about the Native Americans fighting back against the settlers, but ultimately failing to keep their land. The lines "but many came, too much for Cree, oh will we ever be set free" convey a sense of hopelessness as the tribe realizes they cannot win against the numbers and superior technology of the settlers. The third verse talks about the atrocities committed by the settlers, such as hunting and killing for sport, raping women, and enslaving young people.
The chorus "Run to the hills, run for your lives" conveys a sense of urgency and desperation as the Native Americans try to escape the violence and destruction wrought by the settlers. Overall, the song tells a powerful story of the struggles and injustices faced by Native Americans at the hands of white settlers.
Line by Line Meaning
White man came across the sea,
European settlers arrived by ocean to America
Brought us pain and misery.
Their arrival caused suffering for the Native American people
Killed our tribes, killed our creed,
The settlers committed genocide against Native American tribes and destroyed their way of life
Took our game for his own need.
The settlers exploited and took natural resources from the Native Americans
We fought him hard, we fought him well,
The Native Americans resisted the settlers fiercely and bravely
Out on the plains we gave him hell.
The Native Americans fought back against the settlers on the open grasslands
But many came, too much for Cree,
Despite being outnumbered, the Native Americans fought as hard as they could
Oh will we ever be set free?
The Native Americans wonder if they will ever be able to escape the oppression of the settlers
Riding through dustclouds and barren wastes,
The settlers rode horses across the dry and empty land
Galloping hard on the plains.
The settlers rode quickly and fiercely across the open grasslands
Chasing the redskins back to their holes,
The settlers tracked down and pursued Native Americans to their hiding places
Fighting them at their own game.
The settlers engaged in the same violent tactics as the Native Americans
Murder for freedom, a stab in the back.
The settlers killed Native Americans in the pursuit of their own freedom and independence
Women and children and cowards attack.
The settlers were not above attacking vulnerable Native American women, children, and non-combatants
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
The Native Americans encourage one another to flee for their own survival
Soldier blue in the barren wastes,
American soldiers patrolled the empty and desolate lands
Hunting and killing for game.
The soldiers hunted and killed Native Americans like they were animals
Raping the women and wasting the men,
The soldiers committed horrific sexual violence against Native American women and killed their male counterparts
The only good Indians are tame.
The settlers believed that the only acceptable Native Americans were those who were compliant and subservient to the Europeans
Selling them whisky and taking their gold,
The settlers exploited the Native Americans by selling them alcohol and stealing their valuable resources
Enslaving the young and destroying the old.
The settlers forced young Native Americans into slavery and systematically wiped out their elders
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
The Native Americans reiterate their call for each other to escape for their own safety
Contributed by Adam P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.