I hate to talk like this
I hate to act as if
There's something wrong that I can't say
I have this dream at night
Almost every night
I've been dreaming it forever
It's easy to remember it

It's always cold
It's always day
You're always here
You always say
I'm alright
I'll be ok
If I can keep myself awake

Keep myself awake

I get up early
I look around me
Can't help but wonder what you mean
'Cause when I'm sleeping
I'm so deep in it
So much more real to me
Closer than reality

It's always cold
It's always day
You're always here
You always say
I'm alright
I'll be ok
If I can keep myself awake

Keep myself awake
Keep myself awake
Keep myself awake

I get up early
I look around me
I'm buying coffee by the pound
When I'm sleeping
I'm so deep in it
I can't keep myself awake

Keep myself awake
Keep myself awake
Keep myself awake



Lyrics submitted by Willowbear, edited by darthhomercles

Keep Myself Awake song meanings
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    I thought this website was supposed to be about people posting song meanings, not with how much you like the song. I think this song is great too, but looks like I'll be the first to post what I think the song may actually be about. O.k., from the beginning lyrics of the song, he says he "hates to talk like this, and hates to act as if there's something wrong, but can't say", so far the meaning could be that he doesn't want to show that something's bothering him to others, and finds it hard to say, but finally feels compelled to say it, when he goes on describing how he has a dream every night. The dream is not a good dream, most likely like a nightmare because in the chorus, he describes it as "always cold, always day, always here, always say I'm alright" could mean that he dreams that it's daytime, but that it's cold and the other person is always there in his dream telling him that he's alright, but really he's not. The other person could be someone he was in a relationship with, but she broke up with him and she's trying to tell him that he'll be alright. Many years past, but he's still haunted about that relationship and his feelings for her. He'll always still love her, but she dumped him and doesn't feel like he'll ever be over her because he still has dreams about it. The part "always say I'm alright" could also instead be himself trying to tell himself that, trying to make himself stronger, but that doesn't seem to be working too well. The next line of the chorus about "I'll be okay if I can keep myself awake" is obviously about him not wanting to fall asleep because if he does, he'll have the same repeating nightmare again. The next verse of "I get up early and, look around me and, Can't help but wonder what you mean " most likely means that everyday that he wakes up, he's still reminded of what she's told him before "that he'll be alright", but he "wonders what she means" by that especially because she's the one who broke up with him(she's shallow). Then the next part of "But I'm sleeping, I'm so deep in, so much more real to me, closer than reality" I think means that, even though he already woke up in the day, he states that he's still sleeping, almost like he's sleep walking because he's still haunted by it in the day when he's awake, especially because he goes on to say "I'm so deep in", meaning he's so deep in this mess of feeling this way, and that he was hurt so bad that the hurt and the painful memory seems more real to him than even reality. The line "Buying coffee by the pound" is obviously him trying to stay awake from the caffeine in the coffee, but from the last line "I can't keep myself awake" means he knows that even coffee won't keep him awake forever, and he'll eventually have to sleep, which means the nightmare will happen again of course. I know this song was on the movie "Buffy the vampire slayer", but I never saw that movie, I noticed that it is on that movie though, so this song may have a completely different movie about vampires trying to keep themselves awake or whatever, or about the character of this song getting bit and infected as a vampire, etc. Now it looks like I'll have to rent it to find out if this song was written for and about the movie, or if the song was written before the movie, and the song being chosen for the movie later.

    GuitarTeacheron June 26, 2009   Link

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