"Overture 1928 / Strange Déjà Vu" es en realidad la unión de dos temas que forman la "Scene Two" del álbum conceptual "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory" (1999), de Dream Theater. "Overture 1928" es puramente instrumental y sirve de obertura, recuperando y adelantando temáticamente melodías de otras canciones del disco (como "Metropolis", "The Dance of Eternity" o "One Last Time"). Enlaza directamente, sin pausa, con "Strange Déjà Vu", que ya tiene letra y narra el momento en que Nicholas, el protagonista de la historia, empieza a conectar su vida presente con la de Victoria Page, una mujer asesinada en 1928 cuya historia está reviviendo a través de regresiones hipnóticas.
La versión que traigo hoy es en directo, incluida en "Quarantième: Live à Paris", el álbum grabado durante la gira del 40º aniversario de la banda. Dream Theater lleva años tocando esta pieza en vivo como uno de los momentos más celebrados de sus conciertos, tanto por su complejidad técnica como por el arco emocional de la historia de Victoria.
Como curiosidad, el coro de "Strange Déjà Vu" reaparece más adelante en el disco, en la canción "One Last Time", cerrando el círculo narrativo del álbum.
Letra:
Subconscious, strange sensation
Unconscious relaxation
What a pleasant nightmare
And I can't wait to get there again
Every time I close my eyes
There's another vivid surprise
Another whole life waiting
Chapters unfinished, fading (c'mon)
Closer now
Is slowly coming into view
I've arrived
Blinding sunshine beaming through
There's a house I'm drawn to
Familiar settings, nothing new
And there's a pathway leading there
With a haunting chill in the air
There's room at the top of the stairs
Every night I'm drawn up there
There's a girl in the mirror
Her face is getting clearer
Young child, won't you tell me why I'm here?
In her eyes
I sense a story never told
Behind the disguise
There's something tearin' at her soul
Tonight I've been searching for it
A feeling that's deep inside me
Tonight I've been searching for
The one that nobody knows
Trying to break free (sing along)
I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Tears my heart into two
I'm not the one the sleeper thought he knew
Back on my feet again, eyes open to the real world
Metropolis surrounds me, the mirror's shattered the girl
Why is this other life haunting me every day?
I'd break through to the other side if only I'd find the way
Something's awfully familiar
The feeling's so hard to shake
Could I have lived in that other world?
It's a link that I'm destined to make
Still searching, but I don't know what for
The missing key to unlock my mind's door
Today I am searching for it
A feeling that won't go away
Today I am searching for
The one that I only know
Trying to break free (c'mon)
I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Tears my soul into two
I'm not the one I thought I always knew
I just can't help myself
I'm feeling like I'm going out of my head
Uncanny, strange déjà vu
But I don't mind
I hope to find the truth
