A Mind Beside Itself

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"A Mind Beside Itself" is a three-part song cycle by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, comprising the songs "Erotomania", "Voices" and "The Silent Man". It was first released on Dream Theater's 1994 album Awake.

Drummer Mike Portnoy stated that the instrumental "Erotomania" was written "off the cuff"^[1] as "a bit of a joke and parody".^[1] Guitarist John Petrucci penned the lyrics to "Voices", dealing with the subject of mental illness. He researched schizophrenia and similar disorders and used religious terms "to make things more vivid".^[2] "When I was writing it, I saw these terms and medical things that were just brilliant," he said. "Like there was a guy who felt that his skin was inside out. I read that and was like 'Oh my God! That's unbelievable; I've got to write about that.'"^[2] Petrucci wrote the music and lyrics to the acoustic "The Silent Man". LaBrie described the lyrics as dealing with "communication breakdown, for instance between a father and a son. We feel that we have to play certain roles when around one of our parents, and we never really get to know the real person. I'm lucky that I behave with my own father like I would a friend. We can joke around and go for a beer."^[1] A full live performance of the suite can be found on the 2000 Live Scenes from New York album.