Hey, and welcome to my lyrical analysis of Six Degrees. Psychology's a fascinating subject for me, always has been, so combine it with Dream Theater (a band I'm totally obsessed with), and you've [well, I've] got a winning combination. So not only do I hope you will enjoy reading through this, but I know I'm going to enjoy writing it.
Just for the record, I tend to refer to people by their degree numbers (allocated in order of appearance).
ATC/R: Degree One
WIMH: Degree Two
TTTSTA: Degree Three
GK: Degree Four
SS: Degree Five
LT: Degree Six
I. Overture
Instrumental. That means no lyrics, dummy.
II. About To Crash
She can't stop pacing
She never felt so alive
Her thoughts are racing
Set on overdrive
It takes a village
This she knows is true
they're expecting her
And she's got work to do
Sets the scene. Lively, powerful tune to it. This girl is the first of the Six Degrees, who suffers from bipolar disorder. Probably Bipolar II (which consists of one or more major depressive episodes, and at least one hypomanic episode). This section would be referring to one of the hypomanic episodes, particularly the increase in attaining goals. However, there is also an allusion to the symptom of endulging in things which if done right will be extremely pleasurable, but if not could be catastrophic - "it takes a village, this she knows is true," etc.
He helplessly stands by
It's meaningless to try
As he rubs his red-rimmed eyes
He says I've never seen her get this bad
Even though she seems so high
He knows that she can't fly
and when she falls out of the sky
He'll be standing by
Someone (her father, perhaps?) had identified that she is Bipolar, and knows that after this burst... a sharp fall (the crash) is inevitable. Note also that if left untreated, Bipolarity becomes more and more dire... hence "I've never seen her get this bad." Also, as a side-note, the red-rimmed eyes may be referring to how he's only just woken up, and people with the disorder tend not to sleep much more than 3 hours during the hypomania.
She was raised in a small midwestern town
By a charming and eccentric loving father
She was praised as the perfect teenage girl
And everyone thought highly of her
And she tried everyday
With endless drive
To make the grade
Then one day
She woke up to find
The perfect girl
Had lost her mind
Aaaand she's gone. Major Depressive ahoy!
Once barely taking a break
Now she sleeps the days away
Reference to sleep patterns again. Some cases of the Major Depression will result in extreme insomnia, whereas some will have the opposite; hypersomnia. Evidently, this is the hypersomnia. Quite the contrast from three-hours-sleep per day.
She helplessly stands by
It's meaningless to try
All she wants to do is cry
No one ever knew she was so sad
Cause even though she gets so high
And thinks that she can fly
She will fall out of the sky
Whoo for contrasts. This has descended straight down from super-attentive to unenthusiastic about everything; finding pleasure in nothing, considering pretty much everything worthless, meaningless to try. "No one ever knew she was so sad" is an extremely illustrative line; it demonstrates how it seemed as though it just burst out when she went manic-depressive.
But in the face of misery
She found hopefulness
Feeling better
She had weathered
This depression
A sudden end...
Much to her advantage
She resumed her frantic pace
Boundless power
Midnight hour
She enjoyed the race
...and the cycle begins again. Hypomania once again takes its toll; and the risky-pleasure demonstrates again - "She enjoyed the race" being an apt clue. The two more cryptic lines in here are quite easily interprettable when you take a closer look. "Boundless power" demonstrates the willingness to do anything and everything, and I would assume "Midnight hour" to be referring to her sleep patterns once more.
III. War Inside My Head
Napalm showers
Showed the cowards
We weren't there to mess around
Through heat exhaustion
And mind distortion
A military victory mounted on innocent ground
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, appears to be what Degree 2 is suffering from. This is classically observed in Vietnam-war veterans, and acted like a time bomb; not striking until usually three months after the event, often more. I'd assume this to be a flashback, or just setting the scene - displaying there was indeed a flashback.
Hearing voices from miles away
Saying things never said
Seeing shadows in the light of the day
Waging a war inside my head
[bias] most infectious chorus ever.[/bias] Now, "hearing voices from miles away" refers to the flashbacks - obviously he's back from Vietnam right now (at least, I'm assuming it to be Vietnam this particular person was fighting in), and is getting flashbacks of commands etc. "Saying things never said..." I cannot quite put my finger on the exact meaning of it, but I'm going to imagine that the ex-soldier is finding himself responding to these flashbacks, and making comments irrelevant to whatever was going on around him at the time. "Seeing shadows in the light of the day" would be again flashbacks, though these ones may well be slightly more obscure; the word "shadow" tends to imply something a little more abstract. "Waging a war inside my head" is of course saying that he's under the impression he's still there.
Years and years of
Bloodshed and warfare
Our mission was only to get in and kill
A free vacation
Of palmtrees and shrapnel
Trading innocence for permanent psychotic hell
He hated Vietnam (it does have palm trees, right?), and now it's twisting at his mind to the degree that it feels uncurable. He feels wounded and disgraced. Maybe.
Hearing voices from miles away
Saying things never said
Seeing shadows in the light of the day
Waging a war inside my head
Feeling strangers staring my way
Reading minds never read
Tasting danger with each word I say
Waging a war inside my--
First part is the first chorus again. "Feeling strangers staring my way" could have two significances. Either, degree two has done something particularly odd and people are wondering what the hell is wrong with him, or it could be referring to the avoidance that comes along with PTSD: these people could be family and friends trying to help, but he's severing ties with them, pretending not to know them. "Reading minds never read" is a particularly odd line, which I can't be 100% certain of the meaning of. I would infer it to be possibly referring to the fact that it feels like himself-war is taking dominance, and it just feels like reading someone else's mind when he's actually himself-present. "Tasting danger with each word I say" is again saying he's feeling like he's still there; scared that something might happen. At the edge of his seat.
IV. The Test That Stumped Them All
Standing in the darkness
Waiting for the light
The smell of pure adrenaline
Burning in the night
Random blinding flashes
Aiming at the stage
Intro tape begins to roll
Igniting sonic rage
I dislike the lyrics to this part. They seem to be less deep than the rest of the song. I may be completely wrong here, but it seems like degree three had some minor problem, and testing has made it worse. Of course, "The Test That Stumped Them All" as a title seems to imply that it's something unknown to medical science. I'd not be surprised were it some form of nervous breakdown.
Regardless... on with the show. Degree three appears to be someone who thinks he's a musician... the first four lines are the build up to the "show." "Standing in the darkness" hints that there are lights to come on (for a performance, perhaps?) "Random blinding flashes" means that when the lights come on, everything seems disorientating, mad, almost surreal. Use of the word "stage" again demonstrates it's likely that there's a performance, and "sonic rage" brings together that it's obviously not a subtle problem, and sonic implies that the person is indeed a musician -- or, that he thinks he is.
Still they keep me between these hollow walls
Hoping to find in me
The answers to the test that stumped them all
"The boy is simply crazy
Suffering from delusions
We honestly think that maybe
He might need an institution
He lives in a world of fiction
And really could use some help
We have just the place to fix him
To save him from himself"
Bah, I'm going to do all this in a huge chunk; as I said, I really cannot sink my teeth very far into this song, and this all seems to address induction to a hospital.
Curled up in the darkness
Searching for the light
The smell of stale sweat and shit
Streaming through the night
Random urine testing
Pills red, pink and blue
Counseling and therapy
Providing not a clue
Nice emotive cursing. It seems to be illustrating that he's being kept somewhere he hates to no avail whatsoever. Firing an infinity of tests at him, and completely missing the mark.
Still they keep me between these hollow walls
Hoping to find in me
The answers to the test that stumped them all
"We can't seem to find the answers
He seemed such a clear cut case
We cannot just let him leave here
And put all this work to waste
Why don't we try shock treatment
It really might do some help
We have just the tools to fix him
To save him from himself"
These so-called experts who were so confident in their convictions are beginning to realise that it's not what they originally thought. "Why don't we try shock treatment" is using very dark humour by which to show how rigorous and painful some of these methods are, especially seeing as they don't know what the hell it is. Think of it as the medical equivalent of stabbing a knife in multiple directions in a crowded room in a blackout, in hope of repelling a burglar, and you begin to get an impression of how bad this place is for the protagonist. Swiftly moving on...
V. Goodnight Kiss
Goodnight kiss in your nightgown
Lavender in your bed
So innocent as you lie down
Sweet dreams that run through your head
This song doesn't let on as much through the start. "You" refers to the daughter of Degree Four, who has been separated from her child in some way, and now she is missing her quite a lot. Possibly suffering from separation anxiety?
Are you lonely without Mommy's love?
I want you to know I'd die for that moment
You're just a poor girl
Afraid of this cruel world
Taken away from it all
Four's daughter has evidently been taken in for some form of treatment, hence lines four and five of this stanza. Possibly the psychological conditions have been passed down the family? The mother is concerned about the daughter's wellbeing ("are you lonely without mummy's love?"), and generally wants her back.
It's been 5 years to the day and
My tainted blood's still the same
I can't help acting this way and
Those bastard doctors are gonna pay
This could be interpretted in numerous different ways. The mother may have been taken into the hospital as an inpatient (which would fit for all lines, except that the baby wouldn't be "taken away from it all" in that case), or possibly the baby has been taken away by social security because the mother isn't a very good parent ("I can't help acting this way"), but then "Those bastard doctors" don't fit in. There are plenty more, but I like the first one best, as it fits more snugly.
I'm so lonely without baby's love
I want you to know I'd die for one more moment
I'm just a poor girl
Afraid of this cruel world
Taken away from it all
She feels no more secure than she'd imagine the baby to feel. She needs the baby, she thinks the baby needs her, and she's had her taken away. Of course, from here, we get a number of samples before it progresses. The frequent bleep of one of one of those heart-monitor-thingies (that's the technical term) can be heard, as well as a baby's crying. Perhaps the baby has died yet the mother just has separation anxiety, though that does not fit in very well with "It's been five years...can't help acting this way." But of course, this is a lyrical analysis, not a sample analysis, but nonetheless it's a thinking point.
VI. Solitary Shell
He seemed no different from the rest
Just a healthy normal boy
His mama always did her best
And he was daddy's pride and joy
Degree Five is autistic, to the best of my knowledge. This starts out a little like the stanza beginning "She was raised in a small midwestern town..." in About To Crash, demonstrating how normal the character started off.
He learned to walk and talk on time
But never cared much to be held
and steadily he would decline
Into his solitary shell
And here it becomes significantly less ATC-esque. As opposed to the sudden changes, we get the symptoms slowly and gradually erupting. Use of the word "steadily" reinforces this, and the use of "never cared much to be held" is symptomatic of the withdrawal from social contact characteristic of the autistic (yay, that rhymed).
As a boy he was considered somewhat odd
Kept to himself most of the time
He would daydream in and out of his own world
but in every other way he was fine
Again, the autistic disconnection with others is further clarified - "kept to himself most of the time." Those with autism don't tend to talk much. Those with autism don't tend to be too connected to the outside world and what's happening, either, hence comes the "he would daydream..." line.
He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
This demonstrates the infrequency of the... odd outbursts. It's not often really noticable in a particularly dramatic way, hence "Monday morning lunatic, disturbed from time to time." "Lost within himself in his solitary shell" is a general state of being; the way that he's so reclusive, hence the "shell" analogy. Interestingly enough, psychcentral.com uses the word shell to describe the way in which the autistic react to other people; a funny coincidence.
A temporary catatonic
Madman on occasion
When will he break out
Of his solitary shell
I believe that this second section may refer to the occasional slightly vicious outbursts if something does not go to his way. The webster.com definition of catatonic seems to fit the general symptoms of autism quite nicely. "...characterized especially by a marked psychomotor disturbance that may involve stupor or mutism, negativism, rigidity, purposeless excitement, and inappropriate or bizarre posturing."
He struggled to get through his day
He was helplessly behind
He poured himself onto the page
Writing for hours at a time
Autistics have a tendancy not to be able to get on as well with work as most people; in spite of their affinity for order. Of course, this also displays the autistic adamance - once they start doing something they will concentrate rigidly, occasionally stirring up a tantrum if disrupted.
As a man he was a danger to himself
Fearful and sad most of the time
He was drifting in and out of sanity
But in every other way he was fine
"Fearful and sad" don't seem to fit all too well, but the "danger to himself" bit ties in with the trait some autistic people have of inflicting damage upon theirselves without even seemingly noticing.
He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
See the first time I addressed this bit.
A momentary maniac
With casual delusions
When will he be let out
Of his solitary shell
This again demonstrates infrequency and how indetectable it can be, "casual" demonstrates how it's "on the side," so to speak.
VII. About To Crash (Reprise)
I'm alive again
The darkness far behind me
I'm invincible
Despair will never find me
And we return to Degree One's bipolarity; this time from her own perspective. We can only assume this is picking up straight from where we left off. This time we have a slightly different approach, enabling us to explore her feelings. So, as we start off, she's back into her hypomanic tendencies. She feels as though she's never going to be brought down again.
I feel strong
I've got a new sense of elation
Boundless energy
Euphoria fixation
She feels happy, she feels strong, nothing can take her down - possibly another reference to feeling indestructible enough to get through anything with a high risk involved. Still nothing can stop her.
Still it's hard to just get by
It seems so meaningless to try
When all I want to do is cry
Who would ever know I felt so sad
This brings a little more... depth to it. Hints at possibly knowing she's going to fall again, perhaps she's aware that the hypomania is just a masquerade? She feels herself "crashing," to stick to the song.
Even though I get so high
I know that I will never fly
And when I fall out of the sky
Who'll be standing by
Will you be standing by?
Possibly she's been getting help, her bipolarity is starting to disappear. The fact that she's conscious of both states being active and possible scenarios show that she's conscious of it (and "He says I've never seen her get this bad" displays that his father also is conscious of it, and so there would be possibility of championing the disorder, doubtless), and perhaps it's working. Desire for someone to "stand by," help her up so to speak, and that in spite of the elation she's becoming conscious she can indeed fall, she's not as invulnerable as she once was. A nice way to end it, and so as the story of the first degree ends, we come onto the final one...
VIII. Losing Time
Note: I always like to consider Losing Time and Grand Finale separate. It seems that Mike Portnoy wasn't all too clear in his conviction in segmenting it totally.
She dresses in black everyday
She keeps her hair simple and plain
She never wears makeup
But no one would care if she did anyway
So here we have the Sixth Degree of Inner Turbulence. I really hate the way that her track is paired with Grand Finale, it makes her feel like an afterthought, when this should be such a beautiful song. Anyways, evidently she's not out to impress. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)) is a disorder which involves multiple dominant identities, of which don't associate with each other; imagine two people sharing a body. As such, Degree Six evidently doesn't get to know people all too well, because half the time she's someone else.
She doesn't recall yesterday
Faces seem twisted and strange
But she always wakes up
Only to find she'd been miles away
Again, she's not been able to keep track of everything she's done - she can travel for miles without even knowing about it, she misses days on end, and generally finds life impossible to keep track of.
Absence of awareness
Losing time
A lapse of perception
Losing time
"Losing time" is a wonderful way of putting it... not only has she been doing things she doesn't even recall, but she only gets half her life to live; the rest of the time she doesn't recall it.
Wanting to escape
She had created a way to survive
She learned to detach from herself
A behavior that kept her alive
This seems that through desparation, she's only dissociated from herself all the more. Possibly through daydreaming, she's found a way to ease the pain... if nothing matters much to begin with, the lapses are nothing worth worrying about. A problem untreated will only get worse, so to speak. And so we move onto...
IX. Grand Finale
Hope in the face of our human distress
Helps us to understand the turbulence deep inside
That takes hold of our lives
Shame and disgrace over mental unrest
Keeps us from saving those we love
The grace within our hearts
And the sorrow in our souls
This pretty much sums up to "Understanding the mentally different will make us more aware, and more eager to help out. Accepting them is key." Then we come onto a brief summary of everything, bringing it together...
Deception of fame
The Test That Stumped Them All
Vengeance of war
War Inside My Head
Lives torn apart
Goodnight Kiss
Losing oneself
Losing Time
Spiraling down
About To Crash/Reprise
Feeling the walls closing in
Solitary shell
A journey to find
The answers inside
Our illusive mind
GONG!
Links and References
http://www.dreamtheater.net - Dream Theater's official site.
http://www.metal-archives.com - Very useful metal encyclopaedia; also, it meant that I didn't have to get out the lyric book and type the lyrics out myself. Much appreciated.
http://www.psychcentral.com - Contains lots of summaries of mental problems, extremely helpful for analyses of About To Crash and Solitary Shell.
http://www.psych.org - Lots of information on PTSD, used primarily in War Inside My Head analysis.
http://www.sidran.org - Contains information in abundance on DID.
T RULES:. 
I agree with you for the most part, except in "Goodnight Kiss," I think that the baby really dies (what the hell's the laughter in the middle of that sample?)
Well, anyway, good job Webster!