Music in dreams.

[DreamInsights]

In order to best understand this dream, listening to the 1972 Harry Nilsson song, 'Without You' would be helpful. The dream took place with the first 1 minute, 30 seconds of the song - almost half of the song.

I was coming-out of an all night movie show at the crack of dawn (no, I've never, nor do I plan to attend an all-night movie show - yet viewing the movie 'Grease' on a red-eye flight from the East Coast to Los Angeles may (or may not) come close to an all-night movie show).

As I was looking for where I parked my car, the first one-minue plus of Harry Nilsson's song 'Without You' had played.

As I approached my car, the one minute and thrity seconds point of the song was playing, the lyrics, 'I can't live if living is without you I can't live, I can't give any more, Can't live if living is without you I can't give, I can't give any more' - the 'you' part of the lyrics in my mind referred to 'my car.' The 'Can't Give' part of the lyrics was simply that I was too tired.....to give.

As I stand there, mostly awake, my car quickly morphs from an ordinary reliable vehicle with four wheels, to a vehicle that resembeled what may best be described as an "Abstract Rolls Royce" sculpture with no wheels, and a rendering (pardon the pun) of a vehicle obviously useless for transportation - say, driving to get breakfast (with a strong coffee as a top priority) after an all night movie.

The takeaway here is that value is literally in the eye of the beholder - especially, if the beholder is tired, and the value is that reliable, familliar mode of mundane transportation, instead of some interpretation of an expensieve car useless for transportation.

In the dream, if my car morphed into a usable bicycle, even a bicycle would have the greatest value for this tired beholder of....value.

 

[Lyn Holley]

An obvious question is: Did you break up with someone, or did someone die?
Is there an identification with your image?

 

[DreamInsights]

An obvious question is: Did you break up with someone, or did someone die?
Is there an identification with your image?

This dream took place several years ago....no breakups, or passing of somebody close. The image in my profile (a sunrise more likely than a sunset) is one of many images I periodically experience in dreams just before I wake-up.

Dream experts have compared dreams to motion pictures / movies. I've had many such dreams over the years. This dream is an example of situations taking place after a movie show.

Similar dream experiences take place involving long movies (movies made back in the 1950s to early 1970s years sometimes exceeded two hours in length). These dreams resembled seemingly endless movie-shows - where the movie themes would restart after the end of movies.... to extend to the movie patrons going-out to (and locating) their cars. WHOA! I've also had many dreams where it has taken awhile to locate my parked vehicle.

Why I've experienced these dreams? As a kid, I was occasionally exposed to some of these classic mid-century movies that ran for up to three-hours. Other than that, I"m not sure why I've had many movie (and parked-car) related dreams.

 

[DreamInsights]

Just getting over a cold with coughing.

While my sleep was interrupted off and on with coughing, I dreamed of the 1970 Dereck and the Domino's song, 'Layla' - a seven plus minute song.

Off "the top of my head" (just a guess), I sensed the dynamics of the song 'Layla' shared similaries to just how sleep is disrupted by coughing.

 

[Lyn Holley]

Interesting. I believe these songs are not random, but chosen just for you.

 

[DreamInsights]

I experienced what I felt was a notable example of a sleep-dream with music - notable becuase the dream illustrated a common sentiment that music too often has lost it's important qualities over the past fifty years.

I was riding on a tour bus with outdoor seating on the roof of the bus traveling on an ordinary city street - no tour sights of interest. The 1976 'Fleetwood Mac' song 'You Make Loving Fun' was playing. All the while, I was strongly feeling that music has lost it's important qualities over the past fifty years.

The song is still played on radio to this day - hence, again, reminders as to how music qualities have changed over the past fifty years.

 

[PaulKH]

This is an appropriate impression to get (and truth from a dream always feels more synergistic than otherwise, doesn't it, which is so awesome!), but remember this should be less of a blanket statement for all music and more nuanced. Music initially (and like many dreams, I will point out) grew our intellect in potent ways that normal waking activities cannot, and without the powerfully varied stimulus of music, you get less "learning" of that type--this is true for much of the "dumbed down" music but not for classes/composers of music that have always understood the power of frequency combinations/stimulation on our learning centers. In music we have a phrase for the best kind of efforts: stretching tonality. Especially among composers, this admits and even celebrates the ability of music to "push" our minds to grasp more complex concepts and to *feel* how it impacts us.

I really dig your dream analog of bus (group) travel (progress) while Fleetwood is playing; thanks for sharing. Note that even within music genres that are mostly fluff and vapid repetition, you will find shining (resonating) examples of goodness that ring through you and stimulate you in that learning-expanding way. This is especially true of classical music, where highly complex music is *designed* to expand your "ear", what your mind can consider, learn, and then enjoy (good examples of innovators-of-their-time are Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Debussy). Heh, even some of the bands coming out of the druggie era of the 60s/70s have experimented successfully with some amazing stuff, like the group Yes. While having a catatonic and then pop phase in their career, they have studied and blended musical styles in powerfully effective ways, even collaborating with orchestral music composers along their musical journey; in doing so, they search for and aid the goal of expanding/stretching tonality.

 

[DreamInsights]

Personally, I've dreamed of many different songs more than once. One example stands-out, the English jazz-funk band 'Level 42' awesome 1985 song, 'Something About You' was dreamed two nights in a row...WHOA!

Why I had this dream with this song? I sense a part of the reason - this was one of many terrific songs from the 'British Invasion' (beyond 'The Beatles') I've enjoyed over the decades.

- An example of a song I dreamt six times: 'Maybe I'm Amazed' (1970) Paul McCartney.

- Two examples of songs dreamt five times 'Gimme Shelter' (1967) 'The Rolling Stones' and the British Band 'The Hollies' awesome song, (1974) 'The Air that I Breathe.'

- One terrific American song dreamt four times, 'Fly Away' (1974) 'John Denver' and Olivia Newton John.'

Several songs were dreamt three times, and numerous songs were dreamt twice.


Specific songs dreamt more than two, or three times may be "indicators of sorts" offering further details of the music we value.

Any similar experiences?

 

[PaulKH]

Mine aren't similar simply because my brain isn't nearly as good as yours at cataloging them (wow, your recall is exceptional--would love to hear if that extends to your non-musical dreams; you should detail out your next whopper for us!). However, with 12 years of formal training including studying under a composer-conductor and playing in several types of bands, I've had more dreams about music, musical dreams, and music-supported dreams than I can possibly count--to the point where I just assume my sensitivity and training make them common. I've also talked with other musicians where this is fairly common if they can be bothered to think-talk about it (including choir members who have recurring dreams that they are in various choir-related stories, from the common to the ethereal).

 

[DreamInsights]

Several years back, I experienced the same song from dreams - two-nights in a row: The 1985 British jazz/funk band 'Level 42' song 'Something About You.' Up until last week, experiencing the same song in a dream in the same week was considerd a one-time rarity.

Just last week, I experienced the 1970 Scottish band 'Marmalade' mellow rock song, 'Reflections of My Life' a couple of times within the same week.

These were awesome songs whose qualities live-on to this day - even though such quality music has become more and more rare over the decades.

Anybody listen to these two songs (esp. record, or CD recordings) before responding to this discussion?

 

[DreamInsights]

Several years ago, I had a rather comical-like dream - with the opening five seconds of 'The Mamas and Papas' 1960s era song, 'California Dreamin.'

My father was placing old consumer electronics (a VCR was noted) into the recycling bin - all while I was promptly removing, and mentioning that ewaste has to be handled differently than regular recycling waste.

The dream shared similarites with old comedy routines that my whole family and I had found very funny!

 

[DreamInsights]

I'm recalling a dream with music I had when I was a young teen - actual music (the 1976 Chicago song, 'If You Leave Me Now') was playing on my clock-radio.

The dream content (unrelated to the song) was of a giant satellite-like dish in a green field (a radio-telescope applied to possibly locate deep-space signals from extra-terrestrial civilizations). The satellite-like dish was at first stationary, then the dish began to shift around in an animated-like fashion.

I sense the reason why I had this dream stemmed from the interest I had via documentaries, and news-stories on exploring outer-space, and the technology allowing the monitoring of out-of-the-ordinary deep-space soundings. At the time, the Voyager spacecraft was launched in 1977 - hence the growing interest in deep-space exploration.

Again, the 1976 'Chicago' song was unrelated to the dream. The song was popular, and hence frequently played on the radio at the time.

 

[DreamInsights]

Here is a funny dream I experienced long ago - a dream which might also belong in the 'DreamForum.net' discussion-thread 'Funny Dreams.'

This funny dream was placed in the 'Music in Dreams' discusison-thread - as a Beatle's song played a main role.

I was taking adult-ED. courses relating to online & print content development - when the Internet medium, and digital photo tools were still new at the time in 1999.

To add context to this dream, when the adult Ed. class lab was scheduled to close, this lab staffer sometimes would amusingly start singing (on the notions that everybody go home - so as we wouldn't have to listen to this staffer's singing).

The dream took-place in the computer-lab where people were engaging in course-projects. I had fallen asleep in the comp. lab, and I was awakened by both The Beatles song, 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' and that lab staff member with the mild sense of humor.

Everybody-else had left the lab at closing-time, and after awakening, I suddenly felt, that this lab staffer would start "singing."

This dream became comical, as I quickly gathered my course project materials, and left the lab. I felt the lab-staffer left me in doubt as to whether or not they would "start singing" - on account that they felt I wasn't gathering my course-projects quickly enough.

The staffer refrained from singing, yet I could almost feel that this staffer was maintaining that comical poker-face as I left the lab. The only singing I heard that day was, The Beatles song, 'Strawberry Fields Forever.'

"No, I've never fallen asleep in-class!"

 

[DreamInsights]

As specific songs appear in my sleep-dreams often (lately, I've experienced two songs in one dream), I've experimented with online music sites with recommender algorithms - now applying AI TECH.

The songs piquing my interest where those popular songs from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and quite a few from the 1990s. Only one or two twenty-first century songs have piqued my interest.

I begin applying online music sites with recommender algorithms-- by clearing my search/recommender histories in order to start analyzing (from a clean slate) the latest three songs I've dreamed. I always enter new combinations of three songs (sometimes I enter two songs I've had in one dream) to determine what the music recommender algorithm yields.

Quite often, recommendations would be of songs that I've dreamed previously. Other times, I sense the recommendations might just predict future songs in dreams. I've experienced lots of repeated songs over several years. I even occasionally receive recommendations to long forgotten songs I'm glad to have rediscovered.

What really proves interesting are frequently repeating recommendations. The three common recommended songs are a.) 'Angel of the Morning' Juice Newton 1981 b.) 'The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald' Gordon Lightfoot 1976 c.) 'The House of the Rising Sun' 'The Animals' 1964 - a song I have yet to have in a dream.

Experimenting with online music recommender applications can yield results of interest. Any three songs that "come to mind" (even without dream experiences) analyzed by music recommender applications can offer memorable results.

 

[DreamInsights]

Here is a unique take (compared to many other music in dreams themes I've experienced).

This dream included a third-person observer - that is I had seen myself placing a note (representing my dream) on a bulletin board outside my door in my living room.

The bulletin board appeared like a classic old-school bulletin-board - yet this bulletin-board had a TECH purposed design - making it a giant touch screen. The note on my dream was placed on a bulletin board location that invited viewers of the board to press the note (like a paper button), and hear what represented the dream - in this case, the 1972 David Bowie song, 'Space Oddity.'

I found myself discussing this rather unique song with a familiar person - likely the person who pushed the paper note on the board.

Athough this song is unrelated to the situation in this dream, this five minute song is quite an experience in listening.

 

[DreamInsights]

After feeling down lately, a welcome, and fitting song showed-up in my dream:

The 1974 'Grand Funk Railroad' song, 'Loco-Motion.'

 

[DreamInsights]

About three months ago, I had experienced a dream - of two songs (listed below) playing at the same time. In the dream, two songs being played at the same time didn't seem too confusing to follow. The two songs:

* The 1966 'Walker Brothers' song, 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore.'
* The 1978 'Electric Light Orchestra' (ELO) song, 'Sweet Talkin' Woman.'

Any similar experiences?

 

[DreamInsights]

I had fun with this dream!

I experienced a rather both lively, and at times mundane dream a few nights earlier (as of this writing).

I was walking around what looked like a large park that also served as a flood-control zone - a rare bit of designated green, open spaces, with even rarer dedicated bicycling routes - common esp. in Southern Calif. I've walked-through such spaces when I lived in suburban Los Angeles.

In my dream, I was walking around on one of these sunny, slightly warmer than mild days. The sunlight was such that the sunlight, and a light haze seemed to wash-out the expanses of greenery - rendering a landscape that was increasingly becoming black, white, and grey...a landscape even beginning to resemble a shaded black & white drawing.

After sitting on the bench for less than a minute (on a typical, quiet time at this park), I heard a familiar singer's voice......who turned-out to be Frank Sinatra, and the opening to his song, 'My Kind of Town (Chicago).'

Immediately, I started dancing around this park to the song, 'My Kind of Town.' In short, I felt (without any formal performing arts training in my life) that I was recreating that famous Gene Kelly dance routine in the 1950s movie, 'Singing in the Rain' - except without surrounding buildings, and in a open space during fair weather.

My dancing incorporated, at one time, helping a park staffer smooth-out those dirt spaces (not covered with grass) with a metal rake - yet being a dream, I felt my dance routine somehow smoothed-out dirt spaces.

After few minutes of this performance, I quickly found myself sitting on that bench during that typical, quiet time at this park. The haze that day cleared......inside of a few minutes, and yielded a landscape with those dynamic green colored tones.

I was left wondering, what happened to Mr. Sinatra's song about Chicago, and my tireless dance performance? At the same time, I was also left asking, "what was that???"

A middle aged-couple walked by, and mentioned, "We're from Chicago"- in a slight Chicago accent.

Just before I woke-up, I half-heartily smiled at this couple while walking away towards the other sides of this green space park, dissappointed (in a comical way) of this couple's mundane mention of Chicago..... a reference farthest from Sintara's dedication to the song, My Kind of Town (Chicago)??? Farthest from my lively dance routine?? UGGGHHH!

After I woke up, I finally felt, "it's about time I had a dream that was fun!"