| Vacant | |
| Train of Thought | |
| Length | 2:58 |
| Working title | |
| Release date | {{{Release}}} |
| Lyrics | James LaBrie |
| Music | John Myung, Jordan Rudess |
| First live performance | |
| Total live plays | |
| Recorded | Cove City Sound Studios, Pie Studios NY |
| Other appearances | Score |
| Previous song | {{{Previous song}}} |
| Next song | {{{Next song}}} |
A sort of intro to Stream of Consciousness. Created in a late night session when Myung and Rudess were jamming over the Stream of Consciousness chord progression. They submitted it to the rest of the band and it was used on the final album.
LaBrie's lyrics deal with witnessing his daughter in a coma.
- "Vacant is a very personal lyric. 3 days before my daughter's 7th birthday she had a seizure and went into a coma for 3 and half hours. The Doctors told my wife and I she might have had a stroke. While they were about to do a Catscan Chloe came out of it. It was a miracle and never again did she have incident with this type of situation. The Doctors never did give us a full diagnosis as to what really happened. Quite honestly I think they were just as baffled as us. Nothing before or since has ever left me feeling as distraught or helpless. Good news, she is a perfectly healthy girl and singing her ass off."
- - from LaBrie's Songs Meanings... on the James LaBrie message board.
Variations
At Radio City Music Hall on April 1st 2006, the song was performed by a full symphony orchestra. This performance can be seen on Score.