Dripping Dream

It could be about the destructiveness of our idealistic notions of love and just how not obtaining this "dripping dream" can be so painful and disappointing.

In our modern world (evoked in the first verse) there is no chance for obtaining what the "little darlings" observe but don't really understand. It's a dream that always falls flat. Everyone is "searching" for "the cream dream wax" (maybe having something to do with this ideal of love) but in the end it cracks.

the lyrics are really abstract though and this is just my own personal projection of meaning. I'm probably wrong, it's just sort of what I see.

Oh, also I think "this kind of love comes as no surprise" to mothers because they understand what true love is and it has nothing to do with our romantic ideals.

this is an great song. the lyrics are very abstract, and the instrumentals are stunning, i dont much of an idea of what theyre talkin about in this song though.

amazing. the "that's right/he's gone" parts are sexy and edgy, i love it. the instrumentation in this song is amazing too, as joel_switzer said. the hooks & melodies are stunning.

yeah, absolutely no idea what the lyrics are about. it seems pretty idealistic, but i'm getting hints of murder/crime in there: "he's gone, wrapped up, fake blood, lathe killers", etc. but yes, very abstract, could be about anything. thurston makes it all sound so cool though. =]

A quote from a Thurston Moore interview : "Dripping Dream" is a completely weirded-out morphing of a record collector into the actual material he's collecting

My first thought when I first saw the title of this song was 'yuck, is that a song title referring to ejaculation? Ew!' The thought seemed kinda disgusting and in fact because of that Sonic Nurse was one of the last Sonic Youth studio albums I downloaded. (I was missing out on a pretty damn good album!) When I had got the album I found the music was surprisingly pretty but the words 'dripping dream' still stopped me from being keen to listen to it.

But now the optimistic part for which I wish to thank this website and the users who have posted comments here: Thanks for these explanations. Hearing that it's not just about dirty stuff is a relief (romantic ideals is actually kind of sweet if that's what it is), and I can now listen to it happily. Thanx ;)

i'm giving too much personal information here. why do i post comments so impulsively? if i could delete that last one i wouldn't be wasting my time writing this one. this is a very pretty song. as for what it's about, it does indeed sound like some of it is about record collecting, mainly the first verse. but that middle vocal section, where the melody changes (howling scriptures, caught shadow, little darlings etc.) must have something to do with romantic fantasies. the two themes seem to mix in the last verse.

This song epitomizes why i love sonic youth. You have the harsh overdriven screechy sound that offsets the beautiful multi layered funky guitar playing. Makes it that much better kind of like the sweet wouldn't be as sweet without the sour. At first when you listen your kind of put off by the harsh overdriven sound but then the song takes you on an adventure throughout the middle that makes you understand what it's about. Then it brings you right back to the same overdriven beginning and your like.. I get it. Then you listen to it 100 more times and still notice another tiny little note or cymbal crash. Frikin amazing.

Lyrics are hard to decode. The morphing of a record collector into the actual material he's collecting quote by Thurston makes sense in some parts.