This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Thought I was laying in the gutter in
Milk cartons and bones
But I was standing on a mountain top
Looking over your homes
Thought I was laying in my garden with
My hands deep in soil
But I was there on an island
Shooting flares at you both
Thought I was soothing like a violin
Confessing new rain
But I was piping like a trumpet
Frantic but faint
Thought I was built like a building's built
On concrete and stone
I realized I'm just a hack actor
Finished playing my role
You're reading my thoughts
Dreams old men dreams
It's just like when we were kids
We'd lay around wondering
We try to listen to what they said
Thought I was writing for a hundred hours
Looking straight into me
But I was reading on the newspaper obituary
Thought I was nervous like mail man
Reading your letters dear
But I was at our anniversary
Toasting thirty years
You're reading my thoughts
Dreams old men dream
It's just like when we were kids
We'd lay around wondering
We try to listen to what they say x2
Push my piano outside
I don't care x2
Meet the media black sky
I don't care x2
The neighbors will complain
Let them stare x2
Who knows where the time goes
I don't care x2
What would you think of me if I told you
I haven't slept in weeks
I've been up chasing my childhood with a pen
These are dreams old men dream
Milk cartons and bones
But I was standing on a mountain top
Looking over your homes
Thought I was laying in my garden with
My hands deep in soil
But I was there on an island
Shooting flares at you both
Thought I was soothing like a violin
Confessing new rain
But I was piping like a trumpet
Frantic but faint
Thought I was built like a building's built
On concrete and stone
I realized I'm just a hack actor
Finished playing my role
You're reading my thoughts
Dreams old men dreams
It's just like when we were kids
We'd lay around wondering
We try to listen to what they said
Thought I was writing for a hundred hours
Looking straight into me
But I was reading on the newspaper obituary
Thought I was nervous like mail man
Reading your letters dear
But I was at our anniversary
Toasting thirty years
You're reading my thoughts
Dreams old men dream
It's just like when we were kids
We'd lay around wondering
We try to listen to what they say x2
Push my piano outside
I don't care x2
Meet the media black sky
I don't care x2
The neighbors will complain
Let them stare x2
Who knows where the time goes
I don't care x2
What would you think of me if I told you
I haven't slept in weeks
I've been up chasing my childhood with a pen
These are dreams old men dream
Lyrics submitted by Spudkayaks
Dreams Old Men Dream Lyrics as written by Matthew Aveiro Jonathan Russell
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Thought I was laying in the gutter In milk cartons and bones, But I was standing on a mountin top Looking over your homes Thought I was laying my garden With my hands deep in soil But I was there on an island Shooting flares at your boat
Thought I was soothing like a violin Confessing new rain But I was piping like a trumpet Frantic for fame, Thought I was built like a buildings built Iron concrete and stone I realize I’m just a hack actor Finished playing my role
Your reading my thoughts Dreams old men dream Its just like when we were kids We’d lay around wondering We try to listen to what they say
Thought I was writing for a hundred hours Looking straight into me But I was reading on the news paper obituaries Thought I was nervous like a mailman Reading your letters dear But I was at our anniversary toasting 30 years
Your reading my thoughts Dreams old men dream Its just like when we were kids We’d lay around wondering We try to listen to what they say
We try to listen to what they say
Push my piano outside I don’t care, I don’t care Beneath the meteor black sky I don’t care, I don’t care The neighbours will complain Let them stare, let them stare Who knows where the time goes I don’t care, I don’t care
What would you think of me if I told you. I haven’t slept in weeks.
these are the right lyrics! this is definetly my favourite song from loyalty to loyalty!:)
When I first heard this song, I wondered what it was about. Dreams old men dream, WHAT THE does that mean haha. After listening through a couple times, the core message that I gathered up from it was pretty much along the same lines as what @Sunshineshine said. I really like this song. Cold War Kids, cut it out. Such a rad band, hey! Oh, also, I found this bible verse that could have been a bit of inspiration for this song aswell ..
"..... Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions..." Joel 2.28
these are really wrong
Whoever wrote this is an idiot, the lyrics are completely butchered.
the songs about how we see things in some sort of ilusion in which they look better. dreams of reality
p.d.give the guy a break. he can still edit em why dont you fucking comment on the song?
Last two lyrics: I've been up chasing my childhood with a pin These are dreams old men dream
All the rest above are right.
Anyway, it seems like the protagonist is realizing he's old, crossed with a meditation on how life goes past so fast.
Favorite line: "Thought I was nervous like a mailman [...] But I was at our anniversary toasting thirty years." One moment he was scared of commitment, and the next he's been married thirty years. So true.
For the people above, do me a favor. Go to youtube and type in 'cold war kids black cab". Listen to the black cab session version of this song, which is where I tried to decipher the music, and you try to figure them out from that version. Yes, not that hard from the CD version, but these were put up before the CD was even available to me.
On top of that, the black cab session of this song is a hell of a lot better then the CD version
better than the cd version? are you kidding me? sure, it doesn't have the almighty violin (which, as we all know, when introduced raises the song's overall credibility by at least 60% right?), but the lead guitarist's haunting melodies and sweeping high chords in the cd version is breathtaking.. not to mention thanks to the bass player the chorus had a bit of life breathed into it. and the drummer gives the song that extra military-esque edge, nope, in my opinion the cd version is a beautiful combination of all four instruments, demonstrates what a band should sound like, and completely blows the black cab version outta the water...
I beg to differ, the black cab sessions version is far better than the CD version, and the live versions on Youtube are better as well, I dont think there is as mush passion and soul in the CD version than the others.
I beg to differ, the black cab sessions version is far better than the CD version, and the live versions on Youtube are better as well, I dont think there is as mush passion and soul in the CD version than the others.