Set Apart This Dream

This is such a beautiful song! I have a slightly different interpretation, though...last night I was listening to the song with my eyes closed...just listening...and a beautiful image began to play in my head.

"Close your eyes, little girl You're a princess now, you own this world Twirling in your twirly dress You're the loveliest, far above the rest"

This first stanza is a perfect description of every little girl's dream. Ah, to be a princess...to be beautiful and wonderful and adored and perfect...what every little girl dreams of. She does a beautiful job of portraying this fantasy in a mere four lines.

"You build your castles in the skies Stars reflecting off your eyes And angels sing on silver clouds And no one cries, screams or shouts"

This second stanza is a beautiful description of Heaven. Castles in the sky...angels singing...no one crying...isn't that what the Bible describes when speaking of Heaven? There will be streets made of gold and angels worshipping Him and He will wipe away every tear from every eye and we will all be sons and daughters of Christ...Princes and Princesses of Christ.

The way I see it, she is comparing these two scenes, a little girl's fairy tales and the paradise that is Heaven. Notice how similar they are? I don't believe that's just a coincidence. It seems to me like she is telling this little girl that her fantasy is going to come true...someday, if she is saved, she WILL be a princess with castles in the sky, owning the world and twirling in her twirly dress. And the chorus is wistful, hoping...

"Ooh, set apart this dream Oh, set apart this dream for me Set apart this dream for me"

She knows the dream of this child and she wants it too. She longs for nothing more than what this little girl wants. She's begging to have the dream set apart for her, too. She wants to experience this love and power and beauty that this little girl is fantasizing and God is talking about, because in reality, these two are one and the same.

"Close your eyes, pretty girl 'Cause it's easier when you brace yourself Set your thoughts on a world far off Where we only cry from joy"

Here, she is giving a bit of advice. Close your eyes and brace yourself. No, your fantasy isn't going to be here on Earth. You're going to run into hard times, and to get through them, you must set your thoughts on things above, on your fantasy, on the reality that is eternity in Heaven, your eternal reward. Heaven, a place where we only cry from joy. This is how you make it through this life...the people that don't have this assurance of salvation, this knowledge and hope in what is to come, they aren't happy, they don't have anything or anyone to look to.

This is such a beautiful song! I have a slightly different interpretation, though...last night I was listening to the song with my eyes closed...just listening...and a beautiful image began to play in my head.

"Close your eyes, little girl You're a princess now, you own this world Twirling in your twirly dress You're the loveliest, far above the rest"

This first stanza is a perfect description of every little girl's dream. Ah, to be a princess...to be beautiful and wonderful and adored and perfect...what every little girl dreams of. She does a beautiful job of portraying this fantasy in a mere four lines.

"You build your castles in the skies Stars reflecting off your eyes And angels sing on silver clouds And no one cries, screams or shouts"

This second stanza is a beautiful description of Heaven. Castles in the sky...angels singing...no one crying...isn't that what the Bible describes when speaking of Heaven? There will be streets made of gold and angels worshipping Him and He will wipe away every tear from every eye and we will all be sons and daughters of Christ...Princes and Princesses of Christ.

The way I see it, she is comparing these two scenes, a little girl's fairy tales and the paradise that is Heaven. Notice how similar they are? I don't believe that's just a coincidence. It seems to me like she is telling this little girl that her fantasy is going to come true...someday, if she is saved, she WILL be a princess with castles in the sky, owning the world and twirling in her twirly dress. And the chorus is wistful, hoping...

"Ooh, set apart this dream Oh, set apart this dream for me Set apart this dream for me"

She knows the dream of this child and she wants it too. She longs for nothing more than what this little girl wants. She's begging to have the dream set apart for her, too. She wants to experience this love and power and beauty that this little girl is fantasizing and God is talking about, because in reality, these two are one and the same.

"Close your eyes, pretty girl 'Cause it's easier when you brace yourself Set your thoughts on a world far off Where we only cry from joy"

Here, she is giving a bit of advice. Close your eyes and brace yourself. No, your fantasy isn't going to be here on Earth. You're going to run into hard times, and to get through them, you must set your thoughts on things above, on your fantasy, on the reality that is eternity in Heaven, your eternal reward. Heaven, a place where we only cry from joy. This is how you make it through this life...the people that don't have this assurance of salvation, this knowledge and hope in what is to come, they aren't happy, they don't have anything or anyone to look to.

Finally, the bridge is so lovely and encouraging it nearly takes my breath away.

"Oh lovely and beautiful, precious and priceless You're so much more than you know Heart of the purest gold Pure clean and white as snow Clothed in such splendor Oh, what a beauty for me"

Here she is talking about how God sees this little girl and also about how she will be when she does get to Heaven someday. I believe the former is the most prominent, however, because we are getting a glimpse of how God views us once we are saved…he doesn’t see us masked and marked by our sins, but he sees us as beautiful, precious, and priceless…an amazing image, don’t you think?

Of course, as it is with any song, poem, or story, there are multiple interpretations and each one can take from it what they will. But this is really how I see this song and how it spoke to me last night as I closed my eyes and remember what it was like to dream about being a princess…and the jarring but sweet realization that I am one…and someday I will be with my King in His kingdom.

I actually think Lacey wrote this song for her younger sister. In an interview she stated that many of the new songs in Memento Mori were made for her sister. She's almost pleading to her sister to make the best of things, and to remember that she means everything to her.

The song says: "You're so much more than you know Heart of the purest gold Pure clean and white as snow Clothed in such splendor Oh, what a beauty for me"

The entire song shows Lacey's appreciation for her sister, and i think its the cutest thing ever : )

The way I see it, this song is about a girl that is in a nasty situation - maybe she's physically abused, but I think it's something more like an alcoholic parent. Anyway, this girl has to deal with horrible things, day in, day out, and the only thing that keeps her sane is daydreams of what she could be, in a world where everything is beautiful and safe and free. In this world, she is a pretty princess dancing on sugarplum clouds, and nothing can touch her. Her dearest wish is to be spirited away from the world which has caused her such harm, and to actually become the princess in her perfect kingdom. That's her dearest and only wish. So she kneels at the end of her bed and prays for it to come true, and that's this song. IMHO. Aha.

A little more about the inspiration for this song:

"An avid reader, Flyleaf guitarist Sameer Bhattacharya was so moved by Victor Hugo's 'Les Miserables' and John Eldredge's 'Wild at Heart' that he wrote a song about them. The result is 'Set Apart This Dream,' which appears on 'Memento Mori,' the band's sophomore effort that debuted at 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

"I'd say six years ago, I read 'Wild at Heart' by John Eldredge, and then like a couple years after that I read 'Les Miz' by Victor Hugo," Bhattacharya told Noisecreep via telephone from New York City. "I think those books could have gone together. It's about men stepping up and women feeling like ... I don't know. It was really amazing about how those books came together. It really spoke to me.""

Am I the only one that noticed this at the end?

You didn't come this far just to be plundered You're down with...(something)...your strength Sleep in this haven The king holds your favor With love much greater you'll dream

not sure about that last line :')

i honestly wasnt too into flyleaf until this girl i kno kept telling me to listen to them. she told me to listen to this song 1st cuz its her fav. anyways i did and honestly this is freaking beautiful song that gives me hope and just makes me smile. its really rare these days to come upon songs like this. most songs talk about heartbreak and death and partys and sex. dont get me wrong im a huge metal head who loves to party and all but this song is just as my friend put it "a beautiful lullaby". definitely a fav song of mine now. wat sucks 4 me is she sum how roped me into playing my acoustic and singing it 4 her. there is no way i can compare to Lacy's AMAZING voice. sry 4 that lil venting lol but i gotta say flyleaf is now one of my fav bands right now.

PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL!!!!!

Though I like Emachinescat's interpretation, just to give another perspective:

It could be viewed that the girl in this song in the Bride of Christ, which is the Church. The words in the verses are spoken by Jesus as a love song to each individual Christian.

The chrous is our response to this, hope for setting apart this dream for me

Maybe its just me but this sounds very much like this little girl just died. I think its a sad song but its also very good. Maybe this little girl was suffering, but now "angels sing on silver clouds And no one cries, screams or shouts".

i see where you're coming from. it's my favorite on the album.

I'm pretty sure this song is based on the book Captivating.