Symbolism of Black Clouds & Silver Linings's cover art and tracklist
Our Dream Theater unofficial Italian fan club tried to explain symbolism of Dream Theater new studio album's cover art and tracklist: BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS. Let's talk about the title itself. The title could remind a black period, but it could happen that, in black times, something good or hope would be.
Observing the cover art, we notice a very important detail: there is a child who seems to cross an "open wide" door; and, outside the door, we can see a light. Of course, it can be a reference to The Glass Prison and/or to the A.A. saga. Here you are some words from The Glass Prison lyrics:
"I turned around, saw a light shining through
The door was wide open"
THE SHATTERED FORTRESS could be the last chapter of the A.A. saga itself (Mike said there would be five chapters: the first four chapters of the saga are The Glass Prison itself, This Dying Soul, The Root of All Evil and Repentance). "Fortress" could be in relation with the idea of "glass prison", in the meaning that the "glass prison" represents a physical form where we are in trap: alcoholism. Then, this "fortress"/"prison" is "shattered". We are finally free and go towards the "light". To symbolize the breaking of the "fortress"/"prison", there could be the broken object on the floor in the cover art. The object is definitely a glass bootle.
Let's go on with our analysis. In the cover art, we can also notice the famous Eye of Providence, today associated to freemasonry. It is believed that the symbol represents the Eye of God keeping watch over humankind, but the symbol can be found in other religions like in the ancient Egyptian's one (remember the Eye of Horus). In freemasonry, the meaning of the Eye of Providence is that a Mason's thoughts and deeds are observed by God.
Always in the cover art, the elephant with the paintbrush kept by the proboscis is a really singular metaphor. The elephant is also standing on four books. What could it mean? Elephant has always been important for many religions. In Asia, for instance, it is symbol of positivity and represented as a sacred animal, bright and with a great force. In India, it is the symbol of stability and immutability. Tradition uses to tell that an elephant itself announced Buddha's coming and Ganesh, the god of scripture and knowledge, is represented with a head which has the form of the head of an elephant. We have to focus on the concept of knowledge, as knowledge is one the most important elements for freemasonry. But Ganesh is also the lord of good luck and good omen, so the tradition describe elephant as a figure of good luck and good omen. For this reason, Ganesh was invoked before a little or a great deed.
Near the elephant, there is a mouse (strangely without shadow!). Following the same construction made till now, we can say that mouse is an important figure, too. Mouse, in symbolism, represents our mind when it is moved by vices and/or by something we cannot desire. The mouse is rapresented in humiliation in the presence of Ganesh... but the elephant in BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS's cover art looks to be scared by the mouse. Another interpretation, maybe much more realistic, is that the elephant is not on the books because it is scared by the mouse, but the elephant is on the books becuase it dominates upon the mouse. If you look carefully, the mouse looks to be scared by the elephant, not the elephant by the mouse. The books could be a symbolism to represent the concept of knowledge, again. But could be another possibility. Look at the raven, at the elephant and at the mouse. It could be that the mouse was scared and ran away when the bottle broke up. The elephant was also scared and found refuge on the books, meanwhile the reaven flew away, as if it heard a shot. This intepretation may seem easy, but easy interpretations are often the ones more realistic! The problem of this theory is that the raven could be in the act to land, not to fly away, as it would be strange a raven flied away backwords.
Another interesting point is that there is some symbolims in numbers, too (like in Octavarium). In this case, the symbolism is around number 4 and number 6. The elephant is on 4 books and there are also 4 moons (like the Jupiter's ones discovered by Galileo Galilei... but there is no Europa in the cover art of BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS... Europa is a too much particular moon not to be reported: the conclusion is that every theory about Galileo Galilei has no sense or it is ventured). Someone thinks that this symbolism could be referred to another Dream Theater album and the choice could be upon Awake studio album. Awake out in 1994 (the number 4 is present). The day was the fourth of October... is it only casuality? But there is more. As we decided to follow a guide-line to explain the meaning of the elephant and the mouse, we say that Ganesh is represented with 4 interior attributes of soul: mind, reason, ego and knowledge. We are talking about 4 attributes, just like Ganesh has 4 arms. About number 6, we have to notice that there will be a 3-disc special edition. Each disc will include 6 songs. Then, Roadrunner Records announced that it will release one cover song per week 6 weeks prior to the June 23 street date. So, we have 6 covers and the album will be released in June, the sixth month of the year. Moreover, in the cover art, we have 4 moons, but we could consider the source of the light outside the door. If we consider that and the ground, we have 6 planets. It's quite interesting, isn't it? And the cover art of BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS is much more interesting, as we say that, moreover the mouse, also the glass bottle's fragmets look like they have not any shadow. But the easel, instead, has 4 legs and 5 shadows or so it looks.
Finally, the tracklist has a particular song: The Count of Tuscany. We have to report that Tuscany has 10 provinces, just like BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS is Dream Theater's tenth studio album. We have still to discover who is the Count of the song, but we someone suggested that Conte Ugolino della Gherardesca could be the man, as his figure is very important. Conte Ugolino della Gherardesca is one of the character in Dante's Divine Comedy (or Comedia, if we had to report the original title of the opera).
Alright, guys. Our interpretation is over, but if you have suggestions to add more... don't worry, we'll provide for everything, of course! Our will was the one to tell you about symbolim's meaning of every single element, then we leave you all freedom to connect each elements. We think it's much better like that. If you are Italian and would like to discuss, here is the topic.
Thanks to Italian Voices and Mike's forum guys for some suggestions :). You are very pleased to report Italian Voices as source, if you have to report this article in you forum, blog, website, etc...
Observing the cover art, we notice a very important detail: there is a child who seems to cross an "open wide" door; and, outside the door, we can see a light. Of course, it can be a reference to The Glass Prison and/or to the A.A. saga. Here you are some words from The Glass Prison lyrics:
"I turned around, saw a light shining through
The door was wide open"
THE SHATTERED FORTRESS could be the last chapter of the A.A. saga itself (Mike said there would be five chapters: the first four chapters of the saga are The Glass Prison itself, This Dying Soul, The Root of All Evil and Repentance). "Fortress" could be in relation with the idea of "glass prison", in the meaning that the "glass prison" represents a physical form where we are in trap: alcoholism. Then, this "fortress"/"prison" is "shattered". We are finally free and go towards the "light". To symbolize the breaking of the "fortress"/"prison", there could be the broken object on the floor in the cover art. The object is definitely a glass bootle.
Let's go on with our analysis. In the cover art, we can also notice the famous Eye of Providence, today associated to freemasonry. It is believed that the symbol represents the Eye of God keeping watch over humankind, but the symbol can be found in other religions like in the ancient Egyptian's one (remember the Eye of Horus). In freemasonry, the meaning of the Eye of Providence is that a Mason's thoughts and deeds are observed by God.
Always in the cover art, the elephant with the paintbrush kept by the proboscis is a really singular metaphor. The elephant is also standing on four books. What could it mean? Elephant has always been important for many religions. In Asia, for instance, it is symbol of positivity and represented as a sacred animal, bright and with a great force. In India, it is the symbol of stability and immutability. Tradition uses to tell that an elephant itself announced Buddha's coming and Ganesh, the god of scripture and knowledge, is represented with a head which has the form of the head of an elephant. We have to focus on the concept of knowledge, as knowledge is one the most important elements for freemasonry. But Ganesh is also the lord of good luck and good omen, so the tradition describe elephant as a figure of good luck and good omen. For this reason, Ganesh was invoked before a little or a great deed.
Near the elephant, there is a mouse (strangely without shadow!). Following the same construction made till now, we can say that mouse is an important figure, too. Mouse, in symbolism, represents our mind when it is moved by vices and/or by something we cannot desire. The mouse is rapresented in humiliation in the presence of Ganesh... but the elephant in BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS's cover art looks to be scared by the mouse. Another interpretation, maybe much more realistic, is that the elephant is not on the books because it is scared by the mouse, but the elephant is on the books becuase it dominates upon the mouse. If you look carefully, the mouse looks to be scared by the elephant, not the elephant by the mouse. The books could be a symbolism to represent the concept of knowledge, again. But could be another possibility. Look at the raven, at the elephant and at the mouse. It could be that the mouse was scared and ran away when the bottle broke up. The elephant was also scared and found refuge on the books, meanwhile the reaven flew away, as if it heard a shot. This intepretation may seem easy, but easy interpretations are often the ones more realistic! The problem of this theory is that the raven could be in the act to land, not to fly away, as it would be strange a raven flied away backwords.
Another interesting point is that there is some symbolims in numbers, too (like in Octavarium). In this case, the symbolism is around number 4 and number 6. The elephant is on 4 books and there are also 4 moons (like the Jupiter's ones discovered by Galileo Galilei... but there is no Europa in the cover art of BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS... Europa is a too much particular moon not to be reported: the conclusion is that every theory about Galileo Galilei has no sense or it is ventured). Someone thinks that this symbolism could be referred to another Dream Theater album and the choice could be upon Awake studio album. Awake out in 1994 (the number 4 is present). The day was the fourth of October... is it only casuality? But there is more. As we decided to follow a guide-line to explain the meaning of the elephant and the mouse, we say that Ganesh is represented with 4 interior attributes of soul: mind, reason, ego and knowledge. We are talking about 4 attributes, just like Ganesh has 4 arms. About number 6, we have to notice that there will be a 3-disc special edition. Each disc will include 6 songs. Then, Roadrunner Records announced that it will release one cover song per week 6 weeks prior to the June 23 street date. So, we have 6 covers and the album will be released in June, the sixth month of the year. Moreover, in the cover art, we have 4 moons, but we could consider the source of the light outside the door. If we consider that and the ground, we have 6 planets. It's quite interesting, isn't it? And the cover art of BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS is much more interesting, as we say that, moreover the mouse, also the glass bottle's fragmets look like they have not any shadow. But the easel, instead, has 4 legs and 5 shadows or so it looks.
Finally, the tracklist has a particular song: The Count of Tuscany. We have to report that Tuscany has 10 provinces, just like BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS is Dream Theater's tenth studio album. We have still to discover who is the Count of the song, but we someone suggested that Conte Ugolino della Gherardesca could be the man, as his figure is very important. Conte Ugolino della Gherardesca is one of the character in Dante's Divine Comedy (or Comedia, if we had to report the original title of the opera).
Alright, guys. Our interpretation is over, but if you have suggestions to add more... don't worry, we'll provide for everything, of course! Our will was the one to tell you about symbolim's meaning of every single element, then we leave you all freedom to connect each elements. We think it's much better like that. If you are Italian and would like to discuss, here is the topic.
Thanks to Italian Voices and Mike's forum guys for some suggestions :). You are very pleased to report Italian Voices as source, if you have to report this article in you forum, blog, website, etc...