Great Expectations

Great Expectations
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung

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Everybody will be watching
Just to see what can you do
They'll be waiting, anticipating
For the genius to come through

So raise the bar up
A little higher
They expect so much of you
Feel the madness accelerating
Cause you feel the same way too

Great, Great, Great Expectations

Everybody's masturbating
Wondering what you're gonna do
And all the doctors are contemplating
Can the smart ass still pull through
Mister big shot

With all the answers
One more time through the hoop for you
Light a fire
To the whole thing
Feel the flame as you go through

Great, Great, Great Expectations

Did you think that your ambition
Would ever end up in remission
Did ya
Now did ya
Did you think your sacrifices
Would turn your dreams into your vices
Now did ya
How could ya

All the cynics & the ciphers
Make you question what you do
So turn your amp up a little louder
To drown out that void in you

While the mantra keeps repeating
There are dreams you must pursue
If you just try a little harder
There ain't nothing you can't do

Great, Great, Great Expectations

Interpretation

The lyrics speak generally of how hard it can be to live up to expectations, both from other people and yourself. As is normally his style, Dennis is drawing on his own personal experience, in this case apparently speaking of pressures he was feeling at the time the song and new album were being written.

Everybody will be watching
Just to see what can you do
They'll be waiting, anticipating
For the genius to come through

The fans and the critics will be watching closely as Styx produces their first album with the “classic” lineup in 16 years. Will the album live up to the success of the past?

So raise the bar up
A little higher
They expect so much of you

With such high expectations, it won’t even be good enough to reproduce the success of the past. To live up to expectations, the album will actually have to be better than ever before.

Feel the madness accelerating
Cause you feel the same way too

Besides the pressures from the outside, there is great personal desire and self-induced pressure to produce the best possible results.

Everybody's masturbating
Wondering what you're gonna do

Expectations are so high, especially from fans, that many people have played the anticipated album in their own minds, where it is perfect (nobody masturbates to an imperfect vision).

And all the doctors are contemplating
Can the smart ass still pull through

This is probably veiled reference to Dennis' medical condition, one that baffles all the doctors and keeps him from touring with Styx to support the new album. This reference suggests that people were even questioning his ability to complete the album.

Mister big shot
With all the answers
One more time through the hoop for you
Light a fire
To the whole thing
Feel the flame as you go through

As evidenced in the song Great White Hope, everyone shoots for the top gun. It isn’t enough to jump through the hoops of peoples expectations—they must jump through flaming hoop which is much more difficult and dangerous.

Did you think that your ambition
Would ever end up in remission

Ambition is characterized as a chronic disease, like cancer, by using it in the context of ending up in remission.

Did ya
Now did ya
Did you think your sacrifices
Would turn your dreams into your vices

When you work so hard at achieving a dream, the effort can turn into an obsession, turning dreams into vices.

Now did ya
How could ya

All the cynics & the ciphers
Make you question what you do

Styx has lived up to strong criticism from the industry and the media. Perhaps even family, friends, and fans sometimes inadvertently become critical. Eventually, hearing anything repeated enough can make a person begin to accept the criticism as valid.

So turn your amp up a little louder
To drown out that void in you

When you’re committed to something so wholly and for so long, the thought of giving that up creates an enormous void inside that makes you want to drown out all the voices of criticism and bury yourself in the task.

While the mantra keeps repeating
There are dreams you must pursue
If you just try a little harder
There ain't nothing you can't do

The pursuit of dreams is a classic Styx theme immortalized in the classic song Come Sail Away. Here, he says once again that if you try hard enough, you can achieve anything.