The Stranger from Within is the second single by Ayreon, released on 1996, from their album Actual Fantasy. It features as B-sides "Dawn of Man", another song from Actual Fantasy, and the album version of the song, since the single version is 4 minutes shorter.
This story of the song is an original from Arjen Lucassen. In the story, doctors are trying to cure a young girl who is in a coma. In her mind, she begins to see a stranger, who could be dangerous, harmless, or even just a magician. This stranger tells her that she can cure her own mysterious illness using the power of her imagination. Then, he allows the doctors to 'kill' him, taking the disease with him. The girl wakes up, realizing that the stranger has become a part of her.
