So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Well there's a dreamer in my dreams
Swinging from the beams
With light shining off the snow
Well there's a singer in my heart
Burning up my charts
With songs about things we all know
Well there's a blister on his brain
That's driving him insane
Cause all good things they gotta go
Well there's a child on the way
It could be any day
But how this life will change him
That we don't know
Well there's a child on the way
Gonna look just like him
One day, he's gonna say
"Ain't you my dad?"
Then he's gonna look down and smile
And after a while, he'll say,
"That's for sure, cause you got my eyes."
Well there's a dreamer in my dreams,
He's hanging from the beams
With a light shining off the snow
There's a blister on his brain
It's driving him insane
And all good things have to go
Alright
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Swinging from the beams
With a light shining off the lake
Well I know I've made mistakes
I'm passing them on
But I hope he gets up before dawn
Alright
(Yeah, that's it)
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Climbing up the back
Of a car they used to call a Cadillac
It's got a brand new set of keys
It's got a new look, it's got a new look
And he's gonna, he's gonna take it all the way
(I'm leaving)
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Swinging from the beams
All jacked up in my garage
He's hanging from a belt
He don't know what he's done
Just don't forget to say goodbye when he's gone
(That's it!)
Swinging from the beams
With light shining off the snow
Well there's a singer in my heart
Burning up my charts
With songs about things we all know
Well there's a blister on his brain
That's driving him insane
Cause all good things they gotta go
Well there's a child on the way
It could be any day
But how this life will change him
That we don't know
Well there's a child on the way
Gonna look just like him
One day, he's gonna say
"Ain't you my dad?"
Then he's gonna look down and smile
And after a while, he'll say,
"That's for sure, cause you got my eyes."
Well there's a dreamer in my dreams,
He's hanging from the beams
With a light shining off the snow
There's a blister on his brain
It's driving him insane
And all good things have to go
Alright
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Swinging from the beams
With a light shining off the lake
Well I know I've made mistakes
I'm passing them on
But I hope he gets up before dawn
Alright
(Yeah, that's it)
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Climbing up the back
Of a car they used to call a Cadillac
It's got a brand new set of keys
It's got a new look, it's got a new look
And he's gonna, he's gonna take it all the way
(I'm leaving)
There's a dreamer in my dreams
Swinging from the beams
All jacked up in my garage
He's hanging from a belt
He don't know what he's done
Just don't forget to say goodbye when he's gone
(That's it!)
Lyrics submitted by OwnPersonalDemon
Dreamer in My Dreams Lyrics as written by Jeffrey Scott Tweedy Jeff Tweedy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Maybe I take a very negative view of Wilco songs but I read this one to be Tweedy writing about the effect that fatherhood is going to have on his lifestyle and his songwriting. Just as he's starting to get comfortable in his own skin, here comes this child which threatens to shake it all up and rearrange his life.
As a father of two, I know exactly what that felt like.
No offense, but you all are being waaaay too literal. This song is more abstract (and very self-referential).
This song is about the sort of "identity crisis" that the band had been going through since the breakup of Uncle Tupelo and is the PERFECT summation of this album. On A.M., the band went full-blow with their alternative country roots, and to this day A.M. is Jeff's least favorite Wilco album (he's said that the band was simply "treading water with a perceived audience."). On Being There, the band offered up a double album that was pretty much half rocking alt-country fare (e.g. Monday, Someday Soon) and half something else entirely, something deeper, darker, more abstract, and more about the feeling it invokes in the listener (e.g. Sunken Treasure) rather than something that's just straightforward and fun. I'm guessing that's why Jeff was so adamant that this album be released as a double album and refused to edit it down at all; the band was going through a major transition and Jeff wanted us all to see it, every step of the way.
To me, this song is about how Jeff had a "dreamer in his dreams" that just wanted to make simple, hit music that was fun, that everyone could relate to, and made money. But that dreamer just had something else on his mind that he just couldn't part with, a yearning to be something more as an artist, and it ended up giving birth to a new form of music entirely for the band, something much deeper and more artistic. It still resembles the rip-roaring alternative country roots of the band, but is something more.
The most beautiful thing about this song to me is how its sound is almost exactly the fun, rocking anthem that the dreamer always dreamed of making, but when examined further is something much more: a reflection of the creative process the band was going through. Making it all the more beautiful and symbolic is the imagery of the dreamer swinging from the beams at the beginning in a good way, partying and having fun, while by the end of the song, the dreamer is swinging from the beams after killing himself, doubting his own decision all the way.
By far my favorite Wilco song, if not favorite song by anyone. There couldn't have been a better way to close the door on the early stages of the band's music and open the door to the darker, more self-reflective Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
I can't believe no one's commented on this song yet. It's an upbeat way to end an incredible 2-disc album. I think the song harkens back to old-fashioned songwriting and the lyrics are intentionally trite. The best part of the song is that the performers sound like they're genuinely having fun.
Anyone have any thoughts on what this song is about?
I agree with a lot of what mooch says. The narrator p**sin' and moanin' about fatherhood. I think the second half of the song gets into something more profound talking about how we can't escape our lineage and we'll have to battle the same demons our fathers, grandfathers and sons all have.
You know, this one was puzzling me, but after logging in, I'll have to agree with the folks above. you know, it IS a fun song. I think I appreciate ths one a lot more than I did about 10 minutes ago. I always liked it, though.