#9 Dream

I share your feelings about his song. <br /> <br /> John seems to be prophetically anticipate the events of the night of his death. In fact, sends a shiver down my spine when I hear the lyrics. The lyrics seem to match up so well with the events of that horrific night. ( ...and, coming from me, a non-religious materialist, is a tad surprising). I have often wondered if it was only me who noticed the parallels. Apparently not. <br /> <br /> The first set of lyrics seem to describe a reverse deja vu experience. He takes the perspective of being in the future, looking back at the events of that night as if he was remembering them. And in a dream-like state, he is wondering if what he is remembering was all real or just a (very bad) dream.<br /> <br /> "So long ago<br /> Was it in a dream, was it just a dream?<br /> I know, yes I know<br /> Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me."<br /> <br /> A couple of possible variants on the above poster's interpretations:<br /> <br /> "Thru the heat whispered trees" -- "trees" possibly referring to the tall buildings of NY. "Heat" possibly referring that these "trees" (buildings) were heated (unlike the coldness of the actual trees).<br /> <br /> "Thru the mirror go round, round (I had read one time that as Lennon was hit he spun from the bullets)"<br /> <br /> Don't think he spun around. Rather, I have read that, despite being shot, Yoko commented that he just continued walking forward until he entered the inside guard kiosk where he collapsed.<br /> <br /> Another interpretation of "Thru the mirror go round, round." Could refer to his recently released album "Double Fantasy" -- a mirror fantasy between him and his assassin Chapman of the events of that night.<br /> <br /> "The spirit dance was unfolding" He was dying -- leaving his body -- thus the "spirit dance was unfolding."<br /> <br /> And the verse before this:<br /> <br /> "Dream, dream away<br /> Magic in the air, was magic in the air?<br /> I believe, yes I believe<br /> More I cannot say..."<br /> <br /> He believes something (what? the afterlife? another dimension?), but, he cannot say more because he is no longer in this universe / dimension (?).<br /> <br /> Again, I am a complete skeptic re psychic phenomena, an afterlife, etc. But, OTOH, quantum physics is damn weird, so who the heck knows? <br /> <br /> The lyrics do seem prophetic, and every time I hear the song, I am taken through the dream-like sequence of events of that horrific night.<br /> <br />

@LimeGreenSez<br /> <br /> It does seem to be a dream of his future death "Something warm sudden cold" you are on to something there. I would also add "I believe, yes I believe. More I cannot say. What more can I say?" He is admitting his faith was solidified by the dream and the conundrum that creates if he says that directly. Spiritual experiences like this are usually buried and then you bury the shovel you buried them with, Romans 10:9<br />

Mirror go round round to me refers to Revolution #9 from the white album when the song is manually played backwards, you hear John's voice say, "Sing, dead man!"

A dream or maybe a paranoid vision in his mind that someday he might be gunned down?

@LimeGreenSez <br /> <br /> I think the song is about the Beatles and his modest childhood origins, reminiscing, like Strawberry Fields:<br /> <br /> So long ago was it in a dream (looking back on his life and that amazing time)<br /> Was it just a dream? (again, so incomprehensively amazing, was is a dream?)<br /> I know, yes, I know, seemed so very real (it was real as it happened, but was incomprehensively unreal)<br /> It seemed so real to me (it was real to him)<br /> <br /> Took a walk down the street (251 Menlove Avenue, his childhood home)<br /> Through the heat whispered trees (Menlove Avenue is an avenue so lined by trees)<br /> I thought I could hear<br /> Hear, hear, hear<br /> Somebody call out my name<br /> As it started to rain<br /> Two spirits dancing so strange (Lennon and McCartney)<br /> <br /> Ah, bowakawa pousse, pousse (Ah, bowakawa pousse, pousse" - Lennon said it was nonsense lyrics as per the faux Spanish in Sun King. Curiously though: Bo = "staff/weapon" in Japanese; wa = "as for…" in Japanese (as a topic particle) or "harmony" on its own; kawa = "river" in Japanese; pousse = "push" in French, though allegedly "pussy" was Lennon's original lyric. So, "staff/weapon/phallus, pussy, river, harmony"...?)<br /> <br /> Dream, dream away, magic in the air (The magic of the Beatles)<br /> Was magic in the air?<br /> I believe, yes, I believe, more I cannot say<br /> What more can I say?<br /> <br /> On a river of sound (The Beatles' music)<br /> Through the mirror go 'round, 'round (I think this could be 'merry-go-round', as per "No longer riding on the merry-go-round' of Watching the Wheels.<br /> I thought I could feel<br /> Feel, feel, feel<br /> <br /> Music touching my soul (The Beatles' music)<br /> Something warm, sudden cold (Happiness is a Warm Gun to Cold Turkey)<br /> The spirit dance was unfolding (The Beatles' legacy)<br /> <br /> Ah, bowakawa pousse, pousse

@LimeGreenSez You are pretty spot on, here. You may want to read "The Lennon Prophecy", by Joseph Niezgoda, for a more pointed take. The whole book is about how John's death was foretold in this song, and in other ways. Just keep in mind that the book itself is unsettling in it's subject matter, it's not a 'light, easy read' by any means.

"Bakawa" is Japanese for "situation." Pousse' is French for "shoot." he is talking about a shooting incident.

@AquariaTX "Ah, bowakawa pousse, pousse" - Lennon said it was nonsense lyrics as per the faux Spanish in Sun King. Curiously though: Bo = "staff/weapon" in Japanese; wa = "as for…" in Japanese (as a topic particle) or "harmony" on its own; kawa = "river" in Japanese; pousse = "push" in French, though allegedly "pussy" was Lennon's original lyric. So, "staff/weapon/phallus, pussy, river, harmony"...?)

"Bakawa" is Japanese for "situation." pousser is French for "to shoot." Put together, he is describing a shooting incedent.

@thebosslemur Were you a Bagist? I didn't go there for a while then got looked out booo

Yes, I get you. It's my favorite song. Odd but nice.

@JessicaJayne The tune is nice

It´s not Yoko. It's May Pang, Lennon's lover back in those days. This was during the separation called the lost weekend.

That's not Yoko, it's May Pang.

@emilk not a great fan of all Yoko does, especially the avante garde, but she does very well on this song, "Happy Christmas" and even singing a verse by herself about the irish (pretty obscure 70s song)

"Bakawa" is Japanese for "situation." Pousse' is French for "to shoot." John is describing a shooting incident.

@emilk '.......... lingering memory, dream or feeling. Intangible, but present.' Those feelings are interesting. It's like in Bruce Springstein's 'Secret Garden' - "You've gone a million miles<br /> How far'd you get<br /> To that place where You can't remember<br /> And you can't forget"

@Shellsmashedxbox360 amen!!!