Wait for Sleep

Song infobox
Name = Wait for Sleep


Type = Song
Artist = Dream Theater
Album = Images and Words
Released = July 7, 1992
track_no = 7
Recorded = 1992
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 2:32
Writer = Kevin Moore
Composer = Kevin Moore
Label = ATCO Records
Producer = David Prater
prev = Under A Glass Moon
prev_no = 6
next = Learning to Live
next_no = 8

"Wait for Sleep" is the seventh song from the album "Images and Words" by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater. The song was written by the former band member Kevin Moore and it consists of a duet between a piano (played by Moore) and vocals (by the current vocalist James LaBrie).

It is played in E minor and has a very calm feeling to it, in syntony with the lyrics theme, a woman trying to deal with her fears as she waits to fall asleep. The song was written about a friend of Kevin's who was going through a hard time and doubting her faith.

The song's lyrics are the source of the album's title, "Images and Words":

cquote|"She shuts the doors and lights""And lays her body on the bed"

"Where images and words are running deep"

Analysis

The song begins with Kevin introducing the main theme on a piano sound, most likely from the Roland JD-800. Beneath this there is an overdubbed synthesizer string sound, probably the Roland D-50. The piano motif gets more complex as Kevin adds counterpoint with his left hand. The piano part simplifies as LaBrie's vocals enter in the first verse.

The piano part changes to a jazzy progression (the synth strings double this) with matching rootnotes to fit under the second verse. The piano motif returns with some added flourishes and introduces the third verse. The jazzy progression returns again for the next verse.

The piano part next moves to an arpeggio of the E power chord. This builds up and is resolved in an octaved D to introduce the closing middle 8.

Moore doubles up the melody line with some unusual chords. The theme returns again, playing solely on its own with only the string part backing it. The theme gets progressively slower and finally Moore plays an ascending set of thirds and fourths, before ending the song on a massive chord with a displaced E in the bass. The string part doubles this and fades into the next track, "Learning to Live".

Live performances

On the Images and Words tour, the band some times played a full band arrangement of the song, with Portnoy playing crash cymbals and Petrucci playing clean guitar over the end part of the song. This version usually contains some improvised chords from Moore.

The song was played on the 2008 Chaos in Motion tour, with Jordan Rudess taking over Moore's part. He usually led into the song from a massive extemporization on the main theme.