Before a concert, Tom explained what this song means...you guys are all off ;)

It's about a soldier going to war. In fact, a lot of the album is about disillusionment with the ways of the world and all the current events (war, etc.) But I love how the lyrics are vague so most people end up spinning it to be about failed relationships and other sad themes....let's break it down and it'll all make sense.

Why do I have to fly? (GOING TO WAR) Over every town up and down the line? I'll die in the clouds above And you that I defend, I had do not love (NOT NECESSARILY CARING ABOUT THOSE YOU'RE FIGHTING FOR, MOST ARE STRANGERS ANYWAY)

I wake up, it's a bad dream No one on my side (IT'S WAR) I was fighting But I just feel too tired To be fighting Guess I'm not the fighting kind

Where will I meet my fate? (FEAR DEATH) Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate And when will I meet my end? In a better time you could be my friend (ABOUT THE ENEMY, HE DOESN'T REALLY "HATE" HIM BUT IT'S WAR SO YOU HAVE TO KILL; IN ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE THE ENEMY COULD HAVE BEEN SOME PERSON YOU BEFRIENDED)

Where do we go? (POINTLESSNESS OF WAR) I don't even know My strange old face (FIGHTING AND TIME HAS AGED THIS SOLDIER) And I'm thinking about those days (BEFORE HE HAD TO FIGHT, BEFORE HE WENT TO WAR, FRIENDS, FAMILIES, ETC) And I'm thinking about those days

I could go on and on but this should elucidate a lot of things. You guys are correct in bits and parts but your context is incorrect; it is a soldier going to war. Straight from the source.

It comes from a poem by W.B. Yeats titled something like "Irish Airman Predicts his death" or something like that.

Holy cow. I NEVER imagined this being about a solider. That's just, my mind is blown right now and I'm for whatever reason tearing up right now.

I listened to this song a LOT when I was drifting apart from my boyfriend. We weren't fighting, he was a great man, but for whatever reason, I just felt like I needed to get away. So I just left. So to me, the song sorta encompassed the fact that I was realizing that I really didn't love him like I thought I did, and that he was 'long gone'. And that 'I wake up' meaning I'm realizing that I really didn't love him. 'It's a bad dream', meaning that suddenly I was going to have to break his heart (god he loved me so much), and I always thought I had the 'fighting' spirit, but realized 'well apparently I just can't do it'.

So, basically, I saw this song being more like someone who is flighty and free-spirited coming to terms that they are being held down in their relationship. 'Why do I have to fly? ...I'll die in the clouds', 'I was born to hate' - Meaning, love is too restricting for their personality. But a lot of the song is also about how that free-spirited person is pained by the fact that they have to leave all that behind.

A'course, people read themselves into song lyrics. I love reading people's different interpretations :D

Possibly the strongest song on the album apart from Leaving So Soon and Try Again! the meaning seems to have been covered by the above posts, the fact he's looking back at a time when he was with someone, and now that it is over, it hurts him so much, he hopes it is just a bad dream, but you get the feeling it won't be!

and how much does the intro sound like it could break into The Streets- Dry Your Eyes!

And think about the title, "A Bad Dream." As a soldier fighting and tired of it all it just seems like a bad dream you want to end, sick of fighting, tired of fighting, you don't see the point of it, and you long for the days before you had left and for all your loved ones, because you're alone fighting a war you may not necessarily believe in for strangers and fighting people who in any other circumstances would not have been your enemies.

The song is vague enough that you can twist it into different contexts though, I suppose, like bad relationships, etc., which is what most people do.

I dont know why but i love the line: "Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate"

UKingdom, you could not be more spot-on, and I thank you for setting the record straight. Though as human beings, we do possess a natural tendency to internalise and relate to things subjectively, thereby ignoring the universal context of songs such as these which are more tied into society and its experiences as a whole rather than just a single person or personal circumstance.

That being said, it does tie into the personal sphere in terms of the narrator speaking from that standpoint. Yes, he's tired. No, he doesn't see the reason for fighting anymore and is even questioning his dedication to his nation, the people he defends, though (not necessarily) 'loves'. Apropos, I think, and perhaps even some social commentary befitting of the current times.

All in all, a great song about a very powerful subject. Though I agree, it's interesting how many relate to it on the level of personal / romantic relationships.

"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" is the name of the poem. However, in that poem the speaker suggests that he's fighting in the war not for glory, not out of necessity, but simply out of "A lonely impulse of delight. Drove to this tumult in the clouds;"