5 and 8 Theme
The song also uses the theme that things revolve around the numbers of 5 and 8 (this theme is used as the unifying theme of the album). "Octavarium" is the eighth song on the album (the prefix "octa" in the title also refers to the number eight) and it has five different sections. This could also be a reference to the album itself being the eighth studio album released by Dream Theater with five current members in the band. The same theme occurs during "Panic Attack" being the fifth song on an album of eight songs. The Root Of All Evil starts with part 6 and Octavarium ends with part 5. While The Root Of All Evil starts at 6 because it's part of Portnoy's Twelve Step Suite, it also creates a logical sequence between the beginning and ending of the album due to the fact that Octavarium ends with the same note and sound effects which start The Root Of All Evil. Note that Octavarium has 5 parts. It also has 3 instrumental sections, for a total of 8 sections. Octavarium also has 5 syllables. Octavarium is exactly 24 minutes long (3 times 8 equals 24, and 8 minus 3 equals 5. The number 24 also references the number of hours in a day, another cycle.
Read more about this topic: Octavarium (song)
Famous quotes containing the word theme:
“It seems to me that upbringings have themes. The parents set the theme, either explicitly or implicitly, and the children pick it up, sometimes accurately and sometimes not so accurately.... The theme may be “Our family has a distinguished heritage that you must live up to” or “No matter what happens, we are fortunate to be together in this lovely corner of the earth” or “We have worked hard so that you can have the opportunities we didn’t have.””
—Calvin Trillin (20th century)