This is one of the few songs for which Dream Theater bassist John Myung wrote the lyrics. It is about a man struggling with AIDS and the entire scene in the '90s.
James LaBrie came onboard as lead singer for the Images And Words album. At the time, he had what he described to Songfacts as "ridiculous range," which allowed him to hit some crazy notes in this song. He had to dial it back after suffering a severe vocal injury in 1994 while the band was promoting the album. Doctors told him to take six months off, but that would have been devastating for the band, so he pushed through it, with consequences. "I have hit F notes here and there, but I have to really watch it," he said. "That was probably the darkest moment in my life, for sure."
Running 11:30, this is the closing track on Images And Words. Many of the band's longer songs are their concert favorites, which is true of "Learning To Live."
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.