7.34 Min. 192 kb/s mp3 file (10.3MB)
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The room was a dull shade of grey
It was decently sized
with a mirror on the wall
-
They were always watching me
I could feel their eyes
as they studied me

No more drugs
Please no more pain
Don't test that on me
Don't corrupt my brain

The three men were bigger than me
She would follow them in
with the daily syringe
-
There was no escape for me
Once she'd inject that in me
they could take me away

Another trip
of terror and pain
as they'd do tests on me
over and over again

BASTARDS!!!!

Strapped into this bed, with machines and lights all
around me, my mind spins off again... and again. As my
vision blurs and frays, I journey into another bad trip
induced by their new batch of tests.

I know they're staring at me, watching their beeps and
flashes studying the effects of the drug, and reactions
to externally induced stimulation caused by shock, pain,
or some other means I can only imagine in my
pseudo-conscious state. All the while, the usual voice
from nowhere reassuring me that this is for my own good
...and the benefit of all mankind.

Let me out!
I'm drifting away
Will I wake to
another test day!?
I'm not a lab rat
I'm a human being
Don't test that on me
Just let me go free...

Song Notes, November 18, 2004:

Lab Rat: The new definition of epicness :) It seems I can't manage to keep a song under 7 minutes anymore. Hmmmm... not sure what to make of that. Regardless, here's the new updated version of "Lab Rat" for your listening enjoyment. For those of you who don't know the original version... it was about half as long, and 1/4 as epic. That's all you really need to know :)

This song is definitely a HUGE achievement for me. It's the most intense, varying, complicated thing I've ever done (yes, even more so than "Seismonic..." or "Wilted Sanity", if you can believe it). Many many changes throughout... from keys to solos... from chaos to... well... slightly less chaos. It was a massive undertaking, but the end result I think speaks for itself. This song ended up taking up 28 tracks in SONAR :o ...the most I've ever used. It also involved every different kind of vocal style I can possibly get out of my throat... so that's kinda cool too :)

To me, this song is probably the greatest song I've ever done. I thought that before updating it though... and now... man... it's just amazing to me. The depth of the song has increased by a factor of 10 over the original... thanks mostly to two things... 1) The two main new instrumental "interludes"... the one after the first three verses and the stuff at the very end of the song... and then 2) the power and drama I managed to add to the really powerful impact parts of the song... like when the beat goes half time at "over and over again..." and when it kicks in at "Let me out! I'm drifting away!" Those parts were powerful before, but now they REALLY have an impact. And that first interlude part... I couldn't be happier with the way that came out. What a challenge!!!! I came up with that piano "melody" first, and then everything else spawned from that. What I was going for was something that was like... a bad trip or something. The lyrics right before that part go "Another trip of terror and pain, as they'd do tests on me over and over again... BASTARDS!!!"... and then it kicks in to the interlude. So it seemed fitting that it should be a part where you can imagine this guy getting injected with some experimental mind control drug or something and then his head goes spinning out of control on some bad trip. So that's what I was going for. I wanted something that sounded really chaotic with bizarre harmonies and layer upon layer of stuff that builds up to where everything almost completely blends together... then it just STOPS... with those two piano breaks before the next part of the song starts. Those piano breaks have such a MASSIVE impact as a result. I really dig that. All in all I think it came out really good, considering what I was trying to achieve. Chaos that doesn't sound like shit is a REALLY difficult thing to accomplish, lemme tell ya! :)

"Lab Rat" is more than just the updated music though. To me, this song is the poster child for "A Different Sun", and defines perfectly what I want to be about from a music standpoint. I think it fits right in with "Wilted Sanity" and "Seismonic...", but stands on its own due to its mood and style. I guess that can be said about each of my songs though... it seems I never like two things to sound the same :) That's a good thing though I think.

I really need to write more lyrics like this too. The lyrics are half the value of the song to me... being one of the coolest things I ever wrote, IMO. I'm not sure why I feel that way... I guess maybe because it's so different and unusual. Or maybe it's just the fact that it tells a strange story first person, which is something I don't seem to do very often.

Oh... and the vocals... this song, in two parts, was my first very serious attempt at clean singing with harmonies. I touched a little on clean vocals at the end of "Wilted Sanity"... but "Lab Rat" goes a step or two further. I don't think I have the greatest voice in the world by ANY stretch of the imagination... but given what I have to work with, I think it came out pretty good... and it has also inspired me to do more stuff with clean vocals.  This song is a LOT of fun to sing... and a WHOLE lot of fun (and a serious workout!) to play from start to finish on the guitar.

OK... now I think I need to go get myself a stiff drink after finally getting this damn thing done!

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