Songfacts®:

• Queensrÿche lead guitarist Chris Degarmo wrote this song with the band's frontman Geoff Tate. Degarmo spoke about the song to Kerrang: "That's Geoff looking at a part of him which he's reevaluated. He's got to grips with a certain part of his life that's now focused in a new direction. I think he's recognised that when he was younger his career, himself, and what he was going to do was of sole importance, and that he didn't spend as much time thinking about his family and the relationships around him. I think he's had another look at that and has realized it was another person and that he can't relate to that way of thinking any more."
• Lead singer Geoff Tate further illuminated the idea behind the song by describing the concept behind the album in general to Kerrang: "'Promised Land' is all about looking at the past, to see where you are in order to figure out where you're gonna go next. It is therapy. Our music has never really revealed a lot about us as people. One of the things we wanted to do with this record was take off the mask."