#9 Dream

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a hazy, almost disorienting memory, questioning its own reality. The opening lines immediately establish a sense of distance and doubt: "So long ago / Was it in a dream? / Was it just a dream?" This sets up a core tension between what felt intensely real and the possibility of it being an illusion. The narrator walks through a mundane setting, "a walk down the street / Through the heat whispered trees," but this ordinary scene becomes charged with an uncanny feeling, hinting at something extraordinary just beyond perception. The central conflict lies in the narrator's struggle to grasp the nature of a profound experience. The repetition of "Hear / Hear / Hear / Hear" and later "Feel / Feel / Feel / Feel" emphasizes a desperate attempt to connect with something elusive. The appearance of "Two spirits dancing so strange" and the repeated, almost chant-like refrain of "#9 Dream" suggest a mystical or spiritual encounter that defies easy explanation. It's a moment that feels both deeply personal and cosmically significant, yet remains just out of reach. The most striking craft element is the juxtaposition of the concrete and the abstract, amplified by the nonsensical vocalizations. The mundane "walk down the street" is contrasted with the surreal "spirits dancing" and the abstract "river of sound." The repeated, untranslatable "(Aah, bowakawa, pousse pousse)" acts as a sonic anchor to the dreamlike state, reinforcing its otherworldly quality. This creates a feeling of being immersed in an experience that operates on different rules, where logic bends and sensory input becomes amplified and distorted. Ultimately, the lyrics resonate because they capture the feeling of being on the cusp of a profound revelation, only to have it slip away. The narrator's admission, "More I cannot say / What more can I say?" perfectly encapsulates the ineffable quality of such moments. The "magic in the air" and the "music touching my soul" suggest an intense emotional and spiritual awakening, but the persistent questioning of its reality leaves the listener with a lingering sense of wonder and ambiguity. It’s the feeling of having touched something extraordinary, even if you can't quite prove it was real.