Live in Dreams

This song has been stuck in my head for the last 50 years.

Why focus on an ephemeral love based in reality when the experience, memory, and fantastic elation can last forever in eternal dreams or death, since living in dreams is separate from the physical, reality of life. "I'd rather live in dreams and I'd rather die"

The end of this relationship is in sight "our lips won't last forever"

I'm not so sure what to make of the "we've got eyes on the back of our heads" lines.. maybe they're alluding to the 360 vision, or comprehensive outlook on love and life?

I interpret "I could ask you 'are you dead like me?'" part as the protagonist declaring that he is already living in an everlasting fantasy, the infatuation of their lips 'lasting forever', ultimately removed from reality and therefore dead.

;but a happy dead. So happy that escaping to the idea of 'their lips lasting forever' is preferable to living.

also love the high highs cover. it's very dreamy, like a never-ending, serenity.

A painfully honest love song many of us dreamers can relate to.

The real world can be too harsh a place to face, people leave, feelings will fade, time goes on- the man realises 'I'd rather live in dreams and I'd rather die' , although an unreal approach, living in dreams is the preferable and beautiful option, after all, 'our lips wont last forever', and painful fact is all the singer needs as justification for wanting to simply live in dreams.

This could very easily be the song of someone suffering with depression, still a love song about a girl, life and love but 'Are you dead like me?' , 'Im dying just to let things go' and 'Pretty face would you make the jump with me'. I'm not trying to put a sad label on the song as its one of my favourites and I think its beautiful but i think its clear the singer has been through some difficult times in his life.

'We've got eyes on the back of our heads'. Always looking to the past, never the future- living in dreams.

Somewhat different interpretation from the other posts. To me this song is about the different stages of a romantic relationship, between a guy with low self-esteem and a girl that he meets.

The first verse is first getting to know one another. The guy wants to see if the girl can relate to his cynicism. He develops a dependence and attachment to her, despite not knowing her well, to the point where he wants to talk to her even if she is berating him.

The second verse describes the moment where they actually make a romantic spark and begin a relationship. "Making the jump" is taking a risk with the relationship together.

The third verse describes them once they are in the relationship. Having eyes on the back of your head is like always watching your back, almost in a paranoid way. Although they had this spark in their relationship, the low self-esteem leads to a lack of trust between them. The spark has been replaced by paranoia and distrust between the couple, so they are always thinking the other might do something behind their back.

The chorus gives the feeling that even knowing the potential for this relationship to go wrong, he still wants to go for it because 'our lips won't last for ever': carpe diem, we won't live for ever so might as well give it a shot.

Amazing song btw.

sometimes it sounds like 'our lips won't last forever' sometimes it sounds like 'all this won't last forever', which -would- make more sense but who knows with tatum.

I created this account only to comment on this song. It's funny all the views the different people gave. I love this song because I couldn't stop listening to this in a moment of my life. This song was really important for me when I was with my (now ex) boyfriend. I interpreted the lyrics like this:

Sitting on the cigarette butt front porch I could ask you "are you dead like me?" Call me what you will, but call me again It's true I don't talk too much

He smoke a lot and when we had our most emotional talk that was about when me leaving the town and we almost broke up he lighted up a cigarette so I thought that they both were sitting next to the other on the cigarette buts. I interpreted the "are you dead like me?" as if he or she is as sad as him or her. And he/she don't want the relationship to end with non of them talking to the other and he/she only wants the other to call him even if she/he only call to insult him.

Because our lips won't last forever And that's exactly why I'd rather live in dreams and I'd rather die Because our lips won't last forever And that's exactly why I'd rather live in dreams and I'd rather die

And it doesn't matters if it's ...our lips or ...all this for me the meaning its the same. In the chours he's/she's trying to say that the relationship it's impossible to continue if (in my case) she/he is leaving so he rather pretend nothing happens and keep dreaming and if he/she can't do that he/she prefers to die that living without the other.

Pretty face could you make the jump with me? I'm dying just to let things go Do you remember the lightening storm? It was the first time that I really felt you

When it's talking about the "jump" for me it's trying to say about end with everything so that non of the end up hurt so he's/she's trying to let the other go for example to the new life in other city, he's/she's making a big effort to broke up and so it will be easy for the one leaving. And when he's/she's asking for the lightening storm is (IN MY CASE) when I told him I was leaving and that was the moment when he notice he really loved me.

"We've got eyes on the back of our heads" In this line he's/she's saying that they've got people annoying on the relationship or wating for something to happends or something that end the relationship. Anyway, this line means to me that they were people that want to put an end to this, like he's/she's friends so they were talking bullshit of the couple. So they feel eyes, as the people were watching them, on the back of them.

I know I wrote a lot but this means so much to me that everytime I heard it, it brings me to tears

i used to loooove this song. some people took it a bit too seriously. such is my life. i don't know, the lines most relevant to actual life, i think, are 'call me what you will but call me again' and 'we've got eyes on the back of our heads.'

i don't think it's so much literal as much as it is pessimistic. 'live in dreams' can easily be equated with 'living is easy with eyes closed'. you just kind of go through life like it's a dream, taking things at face value, ignoring the outside world. living is easy with eyes closed...but we've got eyes on the back of our heads.

kind of get the impression he's experiencing depression and is so in love with whoever, that hes contemplating what life after death could be with this someone as apposed to worrying that in real life it could all fall apart.