Can you tell that this is another song that came to me in a dream? Not very creative titling, to be sure, but in this case, the dreaming was central to the dream, if that makes any sense. As is usual for my captured ‘chansons de reve’ the whole first verse was formed by mysterious unconscious forces, including the lyrics, which were themselves all about the process of dreaming (“picturing perfection, barely glimpsed then left behind”). I wrote the next verse in the liminal state between sleep and fully awake (that’s where the magic often happens), still very much in the spirit of the first verse, musing on the nature of dreaming, and the odd sense that you can commune with at least the person you love there.
The challenge with such perfectly formed dream-nuggets that feel like they’ve come from somewhere else is where to take them in the harsh light of day, and I recall this one being difficult to graft a chorus on to. It was a few months before I did, but I vividly remember when it finally popped out of me, strumming an unamplified electric guitar in the quieter backroom of The Railway. As I hit on the winning chord progression (F-C-G-F), the words felt like they were there already, so obvious: “These dreams come true / Through you.” There is a lot of musical imagery, from filling the “air” (a quaint word for song) “with melody” to the call to “sing along and harmonize” and even a reference to “[music of] the spheres.”
The live performance we captured in studio was my favorite of the sessions at Echoplant – Adrian’s brushwork, Eric’s smooth cultured basslines and Derek’s phenomenal washing organ chords perfectly representing the otherworldly feel of the subject matter. The atmosphere also suggested steel guitar to me, which was beautifully realized by Jackson Gardner adding his subtle touches to the chorus and a solo section I’d left free for someone to fill.
dreamsong
I told my girl I dreamt about her
and she said: I know
I was there and saw you dreaming
though my eyes were closed
Yet I know the landscape of your mind
Picturing perfection
Barely glimpsed then left behind
So I showed what I projected
while she came along
To the place we intersected
back where we belong
Where we belong… the longer we believe
In one another
Imagination’s born to reconceive
These dreams come true
Through you
Each dream renews
Who we choose
Take my hand and we will fill the
air with melody
Sing along and harmonize
the spheres they will agree
With you and me, how everything is right;
Kaleidoscopes of vision
Fill our ears with sheer delight
These dreams come true
Through you
Each dream renews
Who we choose
I fell asleep imagining
a world no one has seen
Which comes to life at night alone
while I go on to dream
But you were there –
Just like you always are:
Capturing perfection
To display among
the stars…