Diving back into Fates Warning’s 2004 release, FWX. This is another one of Jim Matheos’ creations and one of my favorite songs. It’s a unique song that really finds a way to remain in your thoughts long after you’ve finished listening to it.

Play

Fates Warning - Wish

Was standing in the darkness
I was watching over you
And all the fears came drifting back
With every little breath you drew
Wished upon a falling star
Cold and pale against the night
And all the fears came drifting back
To cloud the view and steal the light

Was underneath a falling snow
I was lying next to you
And all the fears came floating down
With every little wind that blew
Wished upon a passing cloud
Cold and pale against the gray
And all the fears came floating down
To cloud the view and steal the day

May you never know this darkness
May you never be so blind
May you always know the peace
That I could never seem to find
May you never know this darkness
May you always see the light
May you always know the peace
That comforts you tonight

Wish is an unconventional track compared to most rock songs and even a bit different for a Fates Warning song when it came out. The six-and-a-half-minute song starts out with some simple atmospheric guitar chords, a steady repeating guitar line, and some occasional programmed sound effects. All layering on top of each other into a dreamlike hypnotic backdrop for Ray Alder’s wistful and emotive vocals. Ray packs so much depth into the three short verses that make up the entirety of the song (no chorus, no bridge, etc.). Each line of prose (written by Jim) receives added color and emotion, painting the picture as only Ray knows how to do. I’d be hard-pressed to try and think of someone else singing this song while retaining the same impact on the subject matter as Ray does here. Maybe someone like Sarah McLachlan would be able to pull it off. I know that Ray was a big fan of her music, and you can hear it in some of his phrasing and approach to melody. I’ve always wondered what a duet between these two would yield. I’m sure it would be incredible. Enough daydreaming, back to the song…

The hypnotic, repeating musical introduction continues under the first verse. At the end of that verse, the picked guitar rhythm morphs into a bit more upbeat, almost “cowboy” guitar riff. Ray’s vocals pick up a bit of desperation and urgency in this second verse, revealing the compounding fear expressed in the lyrics (more on them later). After this second verse, the underlying music continues for a few more bars until a piano melody ramps up the intensity of the track. It’s at this point that bass and drums finally enter the picture, laying the groundwork for Jim’s explosive and emotionally charged guitar solo. I think it is one of his finest.

The third and final desperate verse begins promptly at the end of the guitar solo. Ray enters this verse, urgently pleading “the wish”. The guitar solo into this verse is the climax of the song, with the verse almost providing a chorus-like feel. It was a slow build to this powerful climactic moment, but it is short-lived as we drop into the extended fade-out which is a reversal of the introduction to this song. Slowly the layers are peeled away until we’re left with just the strummed atmospheric guitar chords. The end is the beginning, the circle completed, possibly to repeat.

Now, a little dive into the lyrics. The whole reason I chose to write about this song here was due to trying to come up with an answer to a post on Reddit about sad songs. There are plenty of overtly sad songs, but Wish really struck me as something much deeper and darker than usual. I don’t have any inside knowledge about the lyrics in Wish, as Jim does not like to expound on them in general. Instead, leaving the interpretation up to the listener. For me, the first two verses are told from the point of view of a parent who is confronting their inner darkness in contrast to the carefree naivete of their child.

In verse one, the narrator is looking upon their child as they sleep peacefully. A typically contentful parental moment, is interrupted by negative thoughts and fears within the parent’s mind. Even the act of wishing upon a star is diminished by these thoughts. Including describing the star as “cold and pale” and then the dark thoughts stealing the starlight completely in the end.

The second verse describes a typically joyful scene of parent and child playing outside, lying there looking up at the sky and watching the snow fall. The parent’s darker thoughts return yet again to interrupt this beautiful moment and ultimately destroy the entire day. This is really the saddest part of the song for me. The mere fact that these thoughts are so all-encompassing and overpowering that nothing can escape their grasp is truly heartbreaking. Also, again we’re seeing the world through the narrator’s eyes — clouds are “cold and pale” and the sky is seen as gray — perhaps lifeless and drained of joy/color.

After the instrumental break, the third and final verse begins. Ray’s impassioned delivery of this desperate plea from parent to child. The parent acknowledges their culpability (being “blind”) to their own darker thoughts and fears. These are the lines that really hit the hardest, as the parent hopes their child can attain the peace that they’ve never found for themselves —

May you always know the peace
That I could never seem to find

Maybe it’s the parent in me who really feels the weight of these lines and can truly understand the anguish expressed throughout the song. Even though I personally don’t have persistent overwhelming thoughts and fears, I think everyone can feel these emotions from time to time. It’s the mark of a great song that can tap into the listener’s individual interpretation and bond with them in a deeply personal way (which could be totally different from the writer’s original intention).