Great Expectations Written by Dennis DeYoung Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung
Everybody will be watching Just to see what can you do They'll be waiting, anticipating For the genius to come through So raise the bar up A little higher They expect so much of you Feel the madness accelerating Cause you feel the same way too
Great, Great, Great Expectations
Everybody's masturbating Wondering what you're gonna do And all the doctors are contemplating Can the smart ass still pull through Mister big shot
With all the answers One more time through the hoop for you Light a fire To the whole thing Feel the flame as you go through
Great, Great, Great Expectations
Did you think that your ambition Would ever end up in remission Did ya Now did ya Did you think your sacrifices Would turn your dreams into your vices Now did ya How could ya
All the cynics & the ciphers Make you question what you do So turn your amp up a little louder To drown out that void in you While the mantra keeps repeating There are dreams you must pursue If you just try a little harder There ain't nothing you can't do
Great, Great, Great Expectations
Interpretation
The lyrics speak generally of how hard it can be to live up to expectations, both from other people and yourself. As is normally his style, Dennis is drawing on his own personal experience, in this case apparently speaking of pressures he was feeling at the time the song and new album were being written.
Everybody will be watching Just to see what can you do They'll be waiting, anticipating For the genius to come through The fans and the critics will be watching closely as Styx produces their first album with the “classic” lineup in 16 years. Will the album live up to the success of the past? So raise the bar up A little higher They expect so much of you With such high expectations, it won’t even be good enough to reproduce the success of the past. To live up to expectations, the album will actually have to be better than ever before. Feel the madness accelerating Cause you feel the same way too Besides the pressures from the outside, there is great personal desire and self-induced pressure to produce the best possible results.
Everybody's masturbating Wondering what you're gonna do Expectations are so high, especially from fans, that many people have played the anticipated album in their own minds, where it is perfect (nobody masturbates to an imperfect vision). And all the doctors are contemplating Can the smart ass still pull through This is probably veiled reference to Dennis' medical condition, one that baffles all the doctors and keeps him from touring with Styx to support the new album. This reference suggests that people were even questioning his ability to complete the album.
Mister big shot With all the answers One more time through the hoop for you Light a fire To the whole thing Feel the flame as you go through As evidenced in the song Great White Hope, everyone shoots for the top gun. It isn’t enough to jump through the hoops of peoples expectations—they must jump through flaming hoop which is much more difficult and dangerous.
Did you think that your ambition Would ever end up in remission Ambition is characterized as a chronic disease, like cancer, by using it in the context of ending up in remission. Did ya Now did ya Did you think your sacrifices Would turn your dreams into your vices When you work so hard at achieving a dream, the effort can turn into an obsession, turning dreams into vices. Now did ya How could ya
All the cynics & the ciphers Make you question what you do Styx has lived up to strong criticism from the industry and the media. Perhaps even family, friends, and fans sometimes inadvertently become critical. Eventually, hearing anything repeated enough can make a person begin to accept the criticism as valid. So turn your amp up a little louder To drown out that void in you When you’re committed to something so wholly and for so long, the thought of giving that up creates an enormous void inside that makes you want to drown out all the voices of criticism and bury yourself in the task. While the mantra keeps repeating There are dreams you must pursue If you just try a little harder There ain't nothing you can't do The pursuit of dreams is a classic Styx theme immortalized in the classic song Come Sail Away. Here, he says once again that if you try hard enough, you can achieve anything.
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