Dream Theater - The Shattered Fortress Lyrics

[Music by Petrucci, Portnoy, Rudess and Myung, Lyrics by Mike Portnoy]

[X. Restraint]

Freedom calls my name
Serenity keeps me sane
Happiness -- it dulls the pain

Honest to see my place
Open to other ways
Willingness to understand

Justice but do not judge
Courtesy for others' flaws
Kindness -- it's not that hard

Self-restraint of tongue and pen
Inventory -- my daily friend
Analysis let down your guard

Look in the mirror
What do you see?
The shattered fortress
That once bound me

Faithful ascent, through darkest fires
I've found the path to take me higher

You're smart enough for me to trust go live your life now
Just keep these steps in your life and you'll know how
If you're not sure, ask yourself,
"Have I done to them as I would have them do to me?"

Look in the mirror
What's that you see?
The shattered fortress
Fly now be free

Faithful ascent, through darkest fires
I've found the path to take me higher

I once thought it better to be right
But now I have finally seen the light
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn from mistakes
I live with serenity now
Not self-righteous hate

[XI. Receive]

(Help me be a channel of Thy peace
That where there is hatred, I may bring love;
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
That where there is error, I may bring truth;
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith)

Now that you can see all you have done
(That where there is despair, I may bring hope;
That where there are shadows, I may bring light)

It's time to take that step into the kingdom
(That where there is sadness, I may bring joy)

All your sins will help to make you strong
(That I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted.
That I may seek to understand than to be understood)

And help you break right through the prison wall
(That I may seek to love, rather than to be loved,
for it is by self-forgetting that one finds,
it is by forgiving that one is forgiven)

Keep all of me,
The desires that once burned me deep inside
Help me live today
And help to give me grace
To carry out your way

I am ready, help me be all I can be
I am ready, help guide me and keep me free

[XII. Responsible]

I am responsible when anyone, anywhere
Reaches out for help, I want my hand to be there
I am responsible when anyone, anywhere
Reaches out for help, I want my hand to be there

[Dedicated to Bill W. and all of his friends]