"Stream of Consciousness" is a song by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, appearing on their 2003 album Train of Thought.
The song gets its name from an early working title for the album Falling into Infinity, and the parallel between the concepts of "stream of consciousness" and "train of thought".
While Dream Theater were in the studio in 2003, recording what would become Train of Thought, they wondered what an outsider would make of their descriptions for how certain sections of the unfinished songs sounded.
They wondered what would happen if someone were given just these descriptions and had to come up with what they believed the finished song would sound like, so they issued a challenge to Dream Theater fans through their websites and message boards to do just that.
The entries would be judged on songwriting excellence and closeness to the real "Stream of Consciousness", as judged by the band members themselves, and the prize for the winner included having their song played over the PA before Dream Theater concerts, four backstage passes to any Dream Theater show on that tour, a signed copy of the upcoming Train of Thought, and three releases from Portnoy's YtseJam Records.