Sure, it's about a hit and run, but it's a lot deeper than that. The woman or little girl that he hit is in a coma and the guilt has devastated his life. "Dreaming while you sleep" suggests that he's dreaming while she sleeps. His life is a haze, like "this has to be a dream".
The second aspect that he deals with is the selfishness of it all. Of course he didn't stop after he struck her. He assumed that she was dead and kept on driving. Lines that initially seem to be about guilt such as "I will never be free all my life, trapped in her memory" actually point to a more selfish motivation. He doesn't say trapped "with" her memory, but trapped "in" her memory. He's not trapped with the memory of this person, but trapped in her mind, afraid that when she awakes, she will be able to identify him.
What results is this duality. On the one hand, as most decent people would, he hopes that she comes out of her coma and is okay. On the other hand, he's afraid that if she does, he'll be caught. Does he go so far as to hope that she doesn't wake up?
He seems to say pretty clearly in the lyrics that he does hope that she wakes up, even though he knows it might condemn him:
"Till the day that you open your eyes, please open your eyes"
He seems to say pretty clearly in the lyrics that he does hope that she wakes up, even though he knows it might condemn him:
"Till the day that you open your eyes, please open your eyes"
Logically speaking, if he can think straight enough, he would notice that the "darkness" and "driving rain" would have also affected her. Considering she's described as stepping off a corner right in the path of an oncoming car, she might not have seen it at all, let alone enough to ID it.
Logically speaking, if he can think straight enough, he would notice that the "darkness" and "driving rain" would have also affected her. Considering she's described as stepping off a corner right in the path of an oncoming car, she might not have seen it at all, let alone enough to ID it.
I think the "dreaming" that...
I think the "dreaming" that the narrator does is PTSD flashbacks, which can be just like dreaming (or having a nightmare) while awake. (A family friend went through it after a kid rode a bike into the side of his car from behind a tall barrier.) Since the woman in the song "sleeps" i.e. is in a coma, it would explain the "dreaming while you sleep" lines.
Sure, it's about a hit and run, but it's a lot deeper than that. The woman or little girl that he hit is in a coma and the guilt has devastated his life. "Dreaming while you sleep" suggests that he's dreaming while she sleeps. His life is a haze, like "this has to be a dream".
The second aspect that he deals with is the selfishness of it all. Of course he didn't stop after he struck her. He assumed that she was dead and kept on driving. Lines that initially seem to be about guilt such as "I will never be free all my life, trapped in her memory" actually point to a more selfish motivation. He doesn't say trapped "with" her memory, but trapped "in" her memory. He's not trapped with the memory of this person, but trapped in her mind, afraid that when she awakes, she will be able to identify him.
What results is this duality. On the one hand, as most decent people would, he hopes that she comes out of her coma and is okay. On the other hand, he's afraid that if she does, he'll be caught. Does he go so far as to hope that she doesn't wake up?
He seems to say pretty clearly in the lyrics that he does hope that she wakes up, even though he knows it might condemn him: "Till the day that you open your eyes, please open your eyes"
He seems to say pretty clearly in the lyrics that he does hope that she wakes up, even though he knows it might condemn him: "Till the day that you open your eyes, please open your eyes"
Logically speaking, if he can think straight enough, he would notice that the "darkness" and "driving rain" would have also affected her. Considering she's described as stepping off a corner right in the path of an oncoming car, she might not have seen it at all, let alone enough to ID it.
Logically speaking, if he can think straight enough, he would notice that the "darkness" and "driving rain" would have also affected her. Considering she's described as stepping off a corner right in the path of an oncoming car, she might not have seen it at all, let alone enough to ID it.
I think the "dreaming" that...
I think the "dreaming" that the narrator does is PTSD flashbacks, which can be just like dreaming (or having a nightmare) while awake. (A family friend went through it after a kid rode a bike into the side of his car from behind a tall barrier.) Since the woman in the song "sleeps" i.e. is in a coma, it would explain the "dreaming while you sleep" lines.
What a chilling interpretation!
What a chilling interpretation!