Repentance

[VIII. Regret] [Intro: James LaBrie] Hello, mirror, so glad to see you my friend It's been a while [Chorus 1: James] Staring at the empty page before me All the years of wreckage running through my head Patterns of my life I thought had torn me Revealing hurt for shame and deep lament [Verse 1: James] Overwhelming sorrow now absorbs me As the pen begins to trace my darkest past Signs throughout my life that should have warned me Of all the wrongs I've done for which I must repent [Chorus 2: James] I once thought it better to regret Things that I have done, then haven't [Chorus 3: James] Sometimes you've got to be wrong Learn the hard way Sometimes you've got to be strong When you think it's too late [Chorus 1: James] Staring at the finished page before me All the damage now so clear and evident Thinking about the dreaded task in store for me A bitter fear at the thought of my amends [Verse 2: James] Hoping that the step will help restore me To face my past and ask for forgiveness Cleaning up my dirty side of this un-swept street Could this be the begin of the end [Chorus 2: James] [Chorus 3: James] Sometimes you've got to be wrong Learn the hard way Just when you're through hanging on You're saved [IX. Restitution] [Excerpts of fellow musicians' apologies] [Spoken Outro: Mike Portnoy] If we are painstaking about this phase of our development We will be amazed before we are half way through We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace No matter how far down the scale we have gone We will see how our experience can benefit others That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear We will lose interest in selfish things And gain interest in our fellows Self seeking will slip away Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us We will intuitively know how to handle situations Which used to baffle us, we will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them "You're only as sick as your secrets, but the truth shall set you free..." "The truth is the truth and the only thing you can do is to live with it."