Double Life - 3:45

You are sick and all alone
I Slowly reach for the telephone
'We're gonna tour without you'
And eventually there will be a coup

It's not always honesty
That is the best policy
So we'll ignore and you'll go away
And we'll never have to say that we have been

Leading a double life
Friends on the stage but plotting at night
Leading a double life
It can't be wrong because it feels so right.

And as we tour 'Styx' will bring the fans that
Think you are well and still with the band
Nobody knows, few people have seen
They really don't know where you've been
And that we've been

Leading a double life
Friends on the stage but plotting at night
Leading a double life
It can't be wrong because it feels so right.

We'll take your band, though we know you'll cry
Tommy will love it, and so will I
Double life, a double life, a masquerade
We've been living in a masquerade
Styx is our band now

Leading a double life
Friends on the stage but plotting at night
Leading a double life
It can't be wrong because it feels so right.



Interpretation

It all started with the release of Brave New World. Tommy Shaw and James Young wanted to release the album in the summer of 1999 and immediately tour to support the album. Dennis DeYoung was suffering from a mysterious illness that baffled doctors and left him unable to tour. He also wanted more time to finish the album. The album was released that summer over Dennis' objections, and the band went on the road with Lawrence Gowan filling in for Dennis and Glen Burtnik returning to fill in for Chuck Panozzo, who had previously decided to retire. Rumors started surfacing on the Internet, interviews and on-line chats with band members revealed conflicting and changing stories. Flame wars erupted on the various Styx e-mail lists as the fans polarized over the band's internal issues. Meanwhile, the Styx tour continued without Dennis, whose health improved enough to begin a highly-acclaimed solo tour with a 50-piece orchestra. This parody takes JY's perspective, or at least the demonized JY speculated by many of Dennis' fans.