In this blog, I’m going to be analyzing the lyrics of “Twisted Mind,” the opening track of Avantasia’s third album, The Scarecrow. It’s the beginning of the Wicked Trilogy, a story strewn across three consecutive albums about a poor, lonely creature known as the Scarecrow (played by lead vocalist Tobias Sammet) who struggles with viewing the world differently from other humans and being treated as a societal outcast. The trilogy follows his journey through life, trying to find inner peace and facing the temptations of the soul. The trilogy begins with this song and ends with the closing track of Angel of Babylon, “Journey to Arcadia.” In this analysis, I’ll go verse by verse and say what I think they’re about.

Before I begin, I would like to add that Avantasia has featured artists on the majority of their songs. With this one, Roy Khan of Conception joins Tobias Sammet on vocals and Miro (Michael Rodenberg) plays the keyboard. Now, onto the analysis!

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Roy Khan | Tobias Sammet

“One of a kind they say they've never seen before
Investigate the aberration, disorder in the core
I never tried to hide away or tried to keep your pace
You walk me to the slaughter with a smile upon your face”

In this verse, Roy Khan, playing a psychologist, inspects the mind of the Scarecrow, who appears to be different from his past patients. The Scarecrow then seems to be led somewhere else, somewhere scary, while the doctor smiles.

”From the cradle to the madhouse, a twisted mind
There's no way out of this hell for twisted mind
There's no way out
There's no way out”

The chorus talks about a twisted mind (the Scarecrow) going from “the cradle to the madhouse,” most likely referring to his journey from the doctor’s office to the asylum. The Scarecrow calls this place Hell and realizes there’s no escape.

“You've come to see the healer, so don't you be afraid
They call me tranquilizer, I'm here to isolate
We paint in black and white and you're the dirty in between
Monstrosity of nature, a virulent disease”

The psychologist tells the Scarecrow not to be afraid of him, as he is, to go, a healer, despite the “rumors” of what he does to his patients. He explains that the world is shown in two shades: good and evil, or black and white, and the Scarecrow is in between, something which isn’t okay. Thus, he must be… dealt with. This verse especially makes me think of how many people view the mentally unwell. We treated (and sometimes still) treat them as less than human, as a “virulent disease,” as the song says.

(Cue the chorus again.)

”Can't you see, can't you see
That you are not like anyone?
You'll never see through anyone else's eyes
And who am I to certify the sanity of a twisted mind
A victim of perception, a twisted mind”

The doctor tells the Scarecrow that he must realize that he is not like those around him. He doesn’t see the world like others do, which to the doctor is wrong.

”Misprizing, chastising
Subhuman, fragmentizing
Sensation, aberration
Repulsive, tantalizing”

(By the way, this part repeats twice.)

Truth be told, I don’t know what would happen in terms of the story during this part of the bridge. However, there is one part that sticks out to me - the word “subhuman.” This word is essentially reiterating my point about how the mentally unwell are viewed as less than human.

”From the cradle to the madhouse, a twisted mind
There's no way out of this hell for twisted mind
From the cradle to the madhouse, a twisted mind
There's no way out of this hell for twisted mindThere's no way out
There's no way out
There's no way out
There's no way out
There's no way out
There's no way out”

Just a reprise of the chorus, but since it’s technically different from the normal one, I figured I’d include it here.

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Hope you enjoyed that! I wanna do more of these in the future, and one of my ideas is a full series analyzing the rest of the Wicked Trilogy songs, so if you’d like to see that, lemme know!