"Dreaming" is a song by the new wave band Blondie. Released in 1979, it was the lead single from their fourth album Eat to the Beat. It peaked at No2 in the singles chart and at No27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.The lyrics for "Dreaming" originated from the line, "dreaming is free," which band member Chris Stein thought of. After hearing the music for the song that Stein wrote, Debbie Harry wrote the rest of the lyrics. Musically, the song is a fast paced new wave song. Stein has since claimed that the song is "pretty much a copy" of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. According to the band's guitarist Jimmy Destri, the song, like many from the Eat to the Beat album, was recorded live in the studio. The song also features a frantic drum performance by drummer Clem Burke. Burke said of his drumming on the song, "The reason why 'Dreaming' came out the way it did is because [producer Mike Chapman] really gave me free rein and it was really a surprise." "Dreaming" was released on September 14, 1979 as the first single from Eat to the Beat. Backed with its fellow Eat to the Beat tracks "Sound-A-Sleep" in the UK and "Living in the Real World" in the US, the song was a chart hit, reaching #2 in the Britain and at #27 in America, as well as #3 in Ireland and #4 in Canada. It has since been featured on multiple compilation albums, such as The Best of Blondie, The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie, Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie, and Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux.
You could tell I was no debutante
You asked me what's my pleasure
A movie or a measure?
I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming
Dreaming is free
I don't want to live on charity
Pleasure's real or is it fantasy?
Reel to reel is living rarity
People stop and stare at me We just walk on by - we just keep on dreaming
Feet feet, walking a two mile
Meet meet, meet me at the turnstile
I never met him, I'll never forget him
Dream dream, even for a little while
Dream dream, filling up an idle hour
Fade away, radiate
I sit by and watch the river flow
I sit by and watch the traffic go
Imagine something of your very own
Something you can have and hold
I'd build a road in gold just to have some dreaming
Dreaming is free
Dreaming
Dreaming is free
Dreaming
Dreaming is free
As we are thinking this week about taking time aside from the busy lives that we all lead and finding ways to connect with God, this Blondie track fits the bill nicely. "Dreaming" is essentially a track that speaks of retreat, of setting time aside to dream. "Dream dream, even for a little while Dream dream, filling up an idle hour" the lyrics get stronger with the thoughts of taking time out to dream. "I sit by and watch the river flow, I sit by and watch the traffic go, Imagine something of your very own, Something you can have and hold" The scripture passage from Genesis 28:10-22 this morning is based on this very act of dreaming and discovering the presence of God in a new way.
We all have the power to dream. We are gifted by God the ability to also be creative! From God's creativity and his dreaming comes every leaf, every tree, every raindrop and every tear. Through this legacy of creative dreaming we have the power to visualise a better world. Our walk with Jesus enlivened by our faith teaches us that we can dream a reality that is in fact greater than our present reality! By cultivating our creative powers we can dream our faith and inventiveness toward visions of justice and ultimately holiness. In our reading today Jacob flees his parent’s encampment in fear of his brother Esau’s violent temper and potentially vengeful spirit. He comes to rest at a place called Luz, placing his head upon a stone as a pillow. There he dreams of a ladder stretching from the earth to the heavens, and a multitude of heavenly beings ascending and descending.
Through this encounter of dreaming, the Lord communicates renewal with Jacob. Jacob affirms the reality of this encounter and states, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it” (Genesis 28:16). It is not completely evident from the text exactly how the dream is a reflection of reality, but it is clear that Jacob is brought into a completely new level of encounter, relationship and purpose as a result. This kind of vision and potential in the divine/human encounter has been dubbed by theologian Walter Brueggemann as the “evangelical imagination.” His choice of terminology is not meant to associate this concept with any particular religious movement; rather he is referring to the capacity for faith to give us a glimpse into the good news of God’s nearness. This good news engenders hope when we choose to see it as a reality more authentic than our present reality.
Unfortunately, in a world presently adrift in hopelessness, many people have chosen to abandon any vision of godly encounter and dreaming John Lennon, who was a “committed atheist,” wrote his famous anthem Imagine to promote his “utopian dream” of a world without religion. Disillusioned with religious systems that behaved badly, Lennon asked the disenchanted and disenfranchised to imagine a world where there is “no heaven or hell.” In the wake of the recent acts of violent terrorism in Paris Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Joann Sfar shared a drawing asking people not to #PrayForParis. The cartoon stated,
In Sfar’s limited imagination, all religion is the same. When our dreaming parts ways with the Creator’s purposes we only add to our feelings of loneliness and loss. In the face of hopelessness, godly dreaming can sadly halt at the epicureans’ table. “Eat, drink for tomorrow we die.” The most recent Pew survey indicates that the majority of young adults who have grown up in religious congregations have abandoned these communities. It is not surprising that the same demographic group is showing the largest uptick in suicide occurrence since the Great Depression. But there is hope! Jacob grew up in a home with active faith! His parents were renowned for their faith. There is nothing he wanted more than his father’s blessing, yet it came reluctantly. He ran from his home only to encounter the Holy Blessing One in the midst of his despair. There, surprised by an encounter with the God of his parents, he is able to exclaim, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it.” Our own imagination and dreams can allow us to enter into the stories of the bible and re dream the hopes and the promises that God gave and take them to our hearts.
Martin Luther King, a man of great faith, had a dream, the capacity to imagine a time when racism would come to an end and people would live together in harmony. We are not there yet. A better world may take time, but those with godly imagination and dreams can see a reality greater than the present reality. A time is coming when the world will be made right and the lion will lie down with the lamb. Along with our ancestor Jacob the place where we encounter the Creator, a place that found fulfillment in Jesus and encouraged Nathaniel to use his evangelical imagination: “You will see angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). With this imagination we can help affect the transformation of this world. So keep on taking time out, sitting by and watching the river flow and dreaming and in your dreaming dream the dreams of God.
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