This is the Life

Album: A Dramatic Turn of Events
Lyricist: John Petrucci
Subject: Accepting your own life for what it is.


The Music

“I demoed this song early on and brought it to the band. I had an idea for a ballad, but when I sent it to the guys I definitely said that I was open to anything, all thoughts and suggestions.

“I worked a lot with Jordan on bringing the middle bridge section to another place. He’s such a master at coming up with the coolest chord and melodic movements. It cascades in ways that you don’t expect, the way the chords are modulating and moving. From the demo process, we kept a Moog solo that Jordan did – I absolutely love it.

(John Petrucci - Musicradar.)

"This is the Life is one of the ballads on the album, and it's a song that has a very big thematic thing to it - a cinematic thing. When the intro passes, and it kicks into the main theme, it's a very soaring, Michael Kamen, thematic thing, and then the song goes through some different levels of development. Sometimes it gets a little Liquid Tension sounding, sometimes it almost gets a little Billy Joel sounding, but it's a ballad."

(John Petrucci - The Mirror & Roadrunner Records - Published Aug 2011.)


The Lyrics

"Lyrically, it's dealing with the idea that we make life what it is, and far too often, far too many people are looking to others, and trying to emulate others, or wishing that they had that life or they were that person, instead of realising that you're your own person. We are all very unique."

(James LaBrie - The Mirror & Roadrunner Records - Published Aug 2011.)

“The title came about one day when I was driving in the city with my mom. My sister was about to have a baby. So we were at stopped at a light behind this pickup truck, and on the truck was a bumper sticker in Spanish that I interpreted as ‘This is the life.’ At the same time, I was playing the song for my mom. Right then, I looked at her and said, ‘That’s the title of the song: This Is The Life.’”

(John Petrucci - Musicradar.)


A Dramatic Turn of Events
1. On the Backs of Angels
2. Build Me Up, Break Me Down
3. Lost Not Forgotten
4. This is the Life
5. Bridges in the Sky
6. Outcry
7. Far from Heaven
8. Breaking All Illusions
9. Beneath the Surface