Now that I read some of your comments, I'm starting to think that a sexual interpretation makes sense... But I still think this song is about freedom of society's patterns. I mean, "the saddest song" is about her life, how bad Judy wants to be happy and free of all of that.
She used to be a happy little girl, but then "she did it with a boy when she was young" (abused, maybe?) and got punished. For that, she had to dedicate her life to be an excellent student and had to study a lot. Maybe she did it to forget about what happened or because the society (religious?) forced her to do that. She had to 'compensate'. Anyway, she got stuck inside herself - almost like she had a shell -, she wasn't happy anymore.
Like MindChild said, horses represent freedom. So the dream of horses represent her wish of freedom. The girl on her dream is Judy and she is the one who stole a horse (her freedom). She wants to get free of all that pressure because it's making her sad ("Judy never felt so good except when she was sleeping").
She goes out with boys like an attempt to feel unattached of those patterns, but she doesn't feel good. Maybe she remembers about that time with that boy when she was young, maybe she doesn't like boys, or maybe she's just not trying to get laid... maybe she realised that sex is not the answer for her problem. She's just tired of that pressure on her. When she's sleeping, she can be loose, she doesn't have to be forced to study her arse off, she's just her. So she wants to find something special that makes her happy/loose and keep it ("Judy, you're just trying to find and keep the dream of horses").
"Walking in the street from morning to night" represents her search. In the meantime, she keeps pretending to be the girl she isn't, getting brilliant grades and being successful ("with a star upon your shoulder, lightning up the path that you walk"), and saying whatever society wants her to say, just repeating the pattern ("with a parrot on your shoulder, saying everything when you talk"). And the only way she has to express herself and actually feel alive is the dream of horses and the song she wrote about it.
Now that I read some of your comments, I'm starting to think that a sexual interpretation makes sense... But I still think this song is about freedom of society's patterns. I mean, "the saddest song" is about her life, how bad Judy wants to be happy and free of all of that.
She used to be a happy little girl, but then "she did it with a boy when she was young" (abused, maybe?) and got punished. For that, she had to dedicate her life to be an excellent student and had to study a lot. Maybe she did it to forget about what happened or because the society (religious?) forced her to do that. She had to 'compensate'. Anyway, she got stuck inside herself - almost like she had a shell -, she wasn't happy anymore.
Like MindChild said, horses represent freedom. So the dream of horses represent her wish of freedom. The girl on her dream is Judy and she is the one who stole a horse (her freedom). She wants to get free of all that pressure because it's making her sad ("Judy never felt so good except when she was sleeping").
She goes out with boys like an attempt to feel unattached of those patterns, but she doesn't feel good. Maybe she remembers about that time with that boy when she was young, maybe she doesn't like boys, or maybe she's just not trying to get laid... maybe she realised that sex is not the answer for her problem. She's just tired of that pressure on her. When she's sleeping, she can be loose, she doesn't have to be forced to study her arse off, she's just her. So she wants to find something special that makes her happy/loose and keep it ("Judy, you're just trying to find and keep the dream of horses").
"Walking in the street from morning to night" represents her search. In the meantime, she keeps pretending to be the girl she isn't, getting brilliant grades and being successful ("with a star upon your shoulder, lightning up the path that you walk"), and saying whatever society wants her to say, just repeating the pattern ("with a parrot on your shoulder, saying everything when you talk"). And the only way she has to express herself and actually feel alive is the dream of horses and the song she wrote about it.
It's just a theory, but I think it makes sense.