Lyrics for Sleep To Dream as interpreted by SNYder

Sleep To Dream Lyrics
I tell you how I feel, but you don't care
I say tell me the truth, but you don't dare
You say love is a hell you cannot bear
And I say gimme mine back and then go there - for all I care
I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body, and this voice
Cannot be stifled by your deviant ways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around
I got my own hell to raise
I have never been so insulted in all my life
I could swallow the seas to wash down all this pride
First you run like a fool just to be at my side
And now you run like a fool
But you just run to hide
And I can't abide
I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body, and this voice
Cannot be stifled by your deviant ways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around
I got my own hell to raise
Don't make it a big deal, don't be so sensitive
We're not playing a game anymore
You don't have to be so defensive
Don't you plead me your case, don't bother to explain
Don't even show me your face, 'cuz it's a crying shame
Just go back to the rock from under which you came
Take the sorrow you gave and all the stakes you claim -
And don't forget the blame
I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body, and this voice
Cannot be stifled by your deviant ways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around
I got my own hell to raise



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FeyTH
04-14-2002

 Rated  +1 
Love this song! Well, I love every Fiona song, but that's beside the point, hehe. These lyrics are so powerful. She's telling this guy that she's independant, down to earth. She's realized that he wasn't treating her the right way and now it's payback time. LOVE IT!

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thepange
05-08-2002

 Rated  0 
ah, why is she so good at writing songs!?!

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Chelsea
05-10-2002

 Rated  0 
How many gurls out there can agree w/ me here-"I tell you how I feel, but you don't care I say tell me the truth, but you don't dare You say love is a hell you cannot bear" I love her lyrics. shes so deep.

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megberries03
05-23-2002

 Rated  +1 
The beat of this song is just awesome!! Its powerful and yet withdrawn at the same time. Fiona completely involves the entire being in this one song. Its a pissed off song on the surface, but deep down it has a even more in-depth meaning.

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cherryXkiss
05-28-2002

 Rated  0 
"i dont go to sleep to dream."
thats my favorite line ever. to me it means that i only go to sleep to escape whats going on in my life, to get away from my problems for a while.

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emo tional.
06-02-2002

 Rated  0 
Brilliant-- I love the symbolism in her lyrics...

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poetgrl224
06-03-2002

 Rated  +1 
by far my favorite fiona apple son. I heard it right after I broke up with a boyfriend and it was like she had broken into my head and wrote down exactly what I was thinking... only much much better than I ever could. Needless to say it was on a constant loop for the next week. the line that really did it for me was "First you run like a fool just to be at my side/And now you run like a fool/But you just run to hide/And I can't abide"

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dogbacon
07-06-2002

 Rated  0 
"I don't go to sleep to dream" - what an amazing statement. Fiona's voice shows so much emotion in this song.. brilliant

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b0mbshell
08-18-2002

 Rated  0 
i recently rediscovered fiona apple + i absolutely adore this song. everything about it is so well placed...the beat of the song is so chill + the lyrics are incredible. instead of just directing this song to an ex-boyfriend or ex-lover, i like to think of it as a statement of who she is to everyone who ever hurt her or doubted her. she is showing them that she is independent + able to live without them. she is SO brilliant.

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LittleBriddie
03-05-2003

 Rated  +1 
I always "I don't go to sleep to dream" to mean that she views sleep in the practical sense, not in the idealistic sense. I didn't think it really meant she uses sleep to escape problems. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought she was just being utilitarian.

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mo79461
05-02-2003

 Rated  0 
I wonder if 'I dont go to sleep to dream' is a roundabout reference to insomnia?
And has anyone considered the possibility that this might not be about a boyfriend? Could be a relative or friend?

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Niam
10-05-2004

 Rated  0 
i agree the beat to this song is amazingly powerful.
I love the line i'v got my feet on the ground, and i dont go to sleep to dream'. i dont think that its about insomnia, i think its a powerful line to suggest she doesnt bullshit. he's off with the faeries dreaming

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Niam
11-30-2004

 Rated  0 
i dont think the "i dont got to sleep to dream" means she trying to escape the world because thats what you do when you dream your in another reality, she's saying that she goes to sleep to sleep no bullshit fantasies she functions as she needs to she's just saying whatever needs to be said that brings whoever its about undone

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Niam
11-30-2004

 Rated  0 
i also get the feeling that it could be about a person that rejected her it was on the cards but he bailed, the whole 'where not playing a game any more, you dont have to be so defensive' reference, i feel refers to the whole chase factor at the beginning of things
and that now he's being all weired and awkward around her and that she's saying stop being a gay lord im over it so you get over it

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Golgotha
12-05-2004

 Rated  +1 
Oh, in't she wonderful.

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noxiousbohemian
12-20-2004

 Rated  0 
Like madness wonderful. I'd love to bathe myself in this song 'cause it's just so powerful and cleansing of all the crappy relationships that happen, relatiing to this song.

I getcha, Fiona, we here.

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precipitate
01-04-2005

 Rated  0 
www.freefiona.com

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that_sullen_girl
01-09-2005

 Rated  0 
i love this song cuz it's so strong, and so full of pride you can really hear that she means every second of it. i always thought that ''i dont go to sleep to dream'', meant that she goes to sleep, to escape the outside world, or just sleeps for the same reason everyone else does, she doesn't go to sleep to slip into fantasies of things that can't happen with this guy. she's telling him ''i know what im talking about, i know whats good for me, so fuck off''. ''ive got my own hell to raise'' - ive got enough problems of my own without you comming around - basically i think thats what she means in this song.

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bugmenot
03-20-2005

 Rated  0 
Anyone ever read Hamlet?

Happens to fit Ophelia quite fell.

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kmk_natasha
03-24-2005

 Rated  0 
This is about a shitty exboyfriend.

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cpj1607
05-18-2005

 Rated  0 
fionna apple is just freaking awesome. there is no denying it and there is no other indivual girl singer who sings and writes better songs than she does. and sleep to dream proves it.

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WildIrishRose
08-31-2005

 Rated  +1 
These lyrics are genius

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catherheath
03-20-2006

 Rated  0 
I think people try to hard to interpret things sometimes and just look too much into it to the point that they miss the point. Clearly, in this song, "I don't go to sleep to dream" means that she is not a dreamer that lives in a fantasy world, but a realist. The lyrics that precede make this point clear ("I've got my feet on the ground"). As well as the lyrics that follow ("you have your head in the clouds...") It's exactly as LittleBriddie put it: "she views sleep in the practical sense, not in the idealistic sense." It has nothing to do with insomnia or escaping problems.

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kpylla
03-28-2006

 Rated  0 
Interpretations are just that-- interpretations. people can think what they want, and as long as they can back it up then its just as real as your own feelings about it.

and on that note, i love this song. I personally take "ive got my feet on the ground, i dont go to sleep to dream" as she knows the truth about the world--she isnt in a fantasy, like most of you said. And yes, sleep is practical. But I understand what a lot of you mean by sleeping to escape reality-- sometimes you just want to sleep and make a hard day end. would you rather be conscious and see everything, or would you choose to be unconscious and ignorant to how bad the world is, and just go to sleep? she's definitely a realist.

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delial
06-11-2006

 Rated  +1 
to me this is the anthem of a woman scorned. a woman who finally lets herself believe the guy. he has planned things, talked about getting married, hell, talked about kids, they've planned a life together, things have finally fallen into place and she's given him her trust...and he only stabbed her once her heart was exposed...just like everyone else in her life had done. that really isn't something you can say "sorry" for and get away with.

i guess this is the kind of song for a time when your only dream has died, and you feel so disgusted and let down that you just don't even feel like hearing the person speak anymore. you just want to turn around and leave... and never look back again.

Edited by delial on May 28 2008, at 02:16AM



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