Carrie Underwood - “Just a Dream”

Matt C., I had to read this review a few times to make sure you were serious. I’m flabbergasted that you think those first verse lyrics are meant to be taken literally and as a linear expression of the passage of time. You’re sincerely asserting that this is a song about a bride who thinks she is going to her wedding but, SURPRISE! her fiancé is dead and it’s his funeral? If the premise of this song were as you describe it, it would not only be implausible, it would also be a mockery of a tragic and, too often, real story of personal loss.

But that’s not the premise of the song. In my view, there are two interpretations of the lyrics. One is that the first verse, up through the line about the lead character putting her veil down, trying to hide her tears, is a flashback. It isn’t immediately obvious that those lines are a flashback, but reality crashes in when the “trumpets of the military band” are heard. It’s an emotionally manipulative reveal to the listener (not the protagonist), but more powerful because of the contrast between the dreams and hopes that accompany the image of a young bride and the reality of the funeral, with those dreams having been cruelly extinguished. Another way of looking at it is that there is a flashforward from the wedding scene to the funeral scene.

The second interpretation is that the first verse is introducing us to a widow in denial. Either literally or metaphorically, the protagonist’s heart and mind are on her wedding day, and she is experiencing the reality of her loss anew on this funeral day for her husband.

Either way, the foreboding in the production is deliberate. I find it just about impossible to believe that songwriters attempting a serious treatment of this subject would go for the premise of a young bride-to-be not knowing of her fiancé’s death while serving the country. They’ve told a powerful enough story centered on the emotion of denial in a time of loss, and as the song goes on, Carrie’s vocal performance conveys the force of that denial, and later, the onset of the realization of that loss, with anger, devastation, and finally, a pained wistfulness that this were “just a dream.”

The song is called “Just a Dream”… do your dreams always follow the same “linear story”? I imagine in the video that Carrie is going to arrive in a white dress to the church as if she is going to get married and then her dress will turn to black for the funeral - JUST like things change in A DREAM, things change in the lyrics to this song. Just wait until the video comes out, it will make it easier to follow, I’m sure. Also, what’s so wrong with a song being left to your own interpretation? That makes it more interesting, in my opinion… no need to dumb down lyrics. (I like your stuff 9513 - I remember reading something after Carrie did the Eddy Arnold tribute where one of you said that she should record an album with songs filled like that. It would sound amazing!)

I think it’ll be hard to get an objective opinion on this song, but I think Matt did an excellent job.

You almost have to willfully interpret the song to not consider the first verse linear and that’s a problem. The “dream” interpretation is plausible, but ultimately, I don’t think the songwriters meant for the song to be a literal telling of a dream.

Other than that, I think the lyric itself is powerful. As for Carrie’s performance, it’s great until she goes overboard at the end, although I’m not completely sold on the interpretation. I think the melody of the chorus also detracts from the interpretation, though, so there’s not a whole lot that Carrie could have done better.

Here’s the acoustic version of JAD…wish they would have released it as the single.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ5Su5B0iSA

Damn am I glad you are just a reviewer on an unimportant web site, as a journalism graduate I am shocked that you can’t even understand a song after 4 attempts. I’m also a bit confused on why you have a problem with white and night? who gives a crap? This song made perfect sense to me from the very first listen. I guess sometimes quickly sometimes slowly. To bad a reviewer can’t think a little quicker. Great song by the way and just beautiful, you might want to quite trying to think so hard and just try and actually enjoy the song.

Any creative work must be able to stand on its own. Unfortunately, a songwriter or author does not get to go around and explain how the work was “meant” to be taken to everyone who might encounter it.

Whether or not verse in question is “meant” to be taken literally is irrelevant, because the way it is constructed is still jarring.

I didn’t ‘get’ the song until I heard the ‘acoustic’ version of the song where you can let the melody play behind her vocals. We have it up for listen on our audio page at Roughstock. Here’s the link (hope that’s ok).

Just A Dream - Acoustic

I think that Dudley’s interpretation is closer to correct. The first verse is “a mess” on purpose…it is the dream sequence….it’s not meant to make linear sense…as dreams don’t make linear sense. A clue (I think) is that she has his “box of letters in the passenger seat”…..what bride actually drives herself to a wedding with six pence in her shoe and a box of letters beside her in the car? THIS is the dream part…..yet the singer wants (denial) the funeral to be the dream part. It’s a play on the concept of dream totally….which part is “just a dream”? I think the first part is supposed to be messy…and I think, like Rich says, the video will hopefully clarify this.

As Kevin pointed out at country universe (in the comments), she wouldn’t have been given a folded flag if she hadn’t already been married to him. So, it’s kind of obvious that she wasn’t literally going to the church thinking that she was getting married and then was shocked to learn that she was going to his funeral. Because I wasn’t fully listening to the song the first time, I was a bit confused as well.

Good point about the box of letters; it’s doubtful that she’d bring a box of his letters to what she thinks is their wedding.

…And I’m not even a dedicated Carrie Underwood fan…

At first, I thought the immediate switch from the wedding to the funeral was a bit heavy handed, but I think Matt did a good job of explaining that it could have been startling and memorable had it been done right. It would be easy for any songwriter to present a jubilant time in one’s life then immediately throw a curveball and switch to a devastating event to create a stark contrast and shift in mood. The timeline in the first verse, however, is completely implausible, unless of course, it is a dream, but considering the protagonist wishes it were “just a dream” we can conclude that it is in fact not a dream, thus making it implausible. As Matt said, it’s just messy.

It was two weeks after the day she turned 18
all dressed in white, going to the church that night
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat

I’m assuming she was going to the church two weeks after she turned 18 to get married because she’s dressed in white. I’m not convinced that night is indicative of a funeral because the internment ceremony usually takes place during daylight hours and weddings do take place in the evening or at night and are typically formal. Who exactly would take a box of letters do the wedding though? They’re obviously letters he had written her while overseas at war, so we’re wondering if she’s traveling to the funeral instead.

six pence in her shoe
something borrowed something blue

This is clearly indicative of a wedding and is actually a tradition that brides follow to have a happy marriage.

and when the church doors opened up wide she put her veil down trying to hide the tears oh, she just couldn’t believe it

These lines don’t clearly indicate whether it’s a wedding or a funeral and could apply to both equally, which is what it seems the songwriters were trying to do through this whole verse, but the concept is pretty muddy.

she heard the trumpets from the military band and the flowers fell out of her hands

The trumpets from a military band would seem to indicate a funeral. I’m not fluent in military traditions, but wouldn’t the trumpets typically play at the internment ceremony rather than in the church? The flowers, on the other hand, seem to indicate a wedding.

Furthermore, what exactly does this line in the chorus mean: “Everybody’s saying, he’s not coming home now?”

In the second verse, the congregation stands up to sing, which indicates they’re still in the church, but the the guns firing indicate they’re at the cemetery for the internment. And the fact that they presented the flag to the subject would indicate that she is already married, right?

There is clearly room for interpretation and the timeline is muddied, reinforcing the idea that the song is sloppy and deeply broken.

For those offering the video up as the ultimate interpretation, that only solidifies the idea that the song is sloppy. As Jim mentioned, the song should be able to stand on it’s own.

——

northtexas, Theresa commented under a couple of different names here as well. I like this part of her explanation that you posted: “The song is very clear– not confusing at all. She is at the funeral of her fiance or husband…” It’s absolutely clear but she doesn’t know if the subject is married or not? Hmmm.

We could also open the debate of whether or not anyone outside of Virginia Woolf can really make non-linar time work in a piece of fiction.

I second Brady’s comment about the melody of the chorus. I get what the songwriters were going for by stringing all the words together, it just doesn’t quite hit the mark for me; I feel like I could be listening to something by the latest Disney star-turned-recording artist.

And I like Chris N.’s articulation of the first verse a lot. Part of what confused me about this song was that the second verse is so straightforward that I couldn’t figure out why the first - which bears the same structure in every other way - seemed so erratic. I can appreciate the ambiguity now for what it is; I guess I just sort of wish there was a little more structural differentiation between the two verses to cue cut-and-dry-leaning listeners (like myself, I’ll admit) to the fact that the first is supposed to be a little hazy, unlike the second, which pretty much just finishes up the story.

I think a discussion of nonlinear time in fiction would be a hoot. Let’s start with Marcel Proust’s “À la Recherche du Temps Perdu” and go from there!

Chris: Okay, I will grant you Proust. But I still maintain that snubbery of conventional time schemes in contemporary “L”iterature is rather like snubbery of formalism is post-modern art, mocking that which one cannot do well.

Ahem. *dusts off college thesis* Virginia Woolf’s nonlinear storytelling was often a way of rebelling against the patriarchy — if she didn’t tell a woman’s story chronologically, it didn’t have to end in marriage. So I agree, it’s a device that has to be earned.

I think “Just a Dream” does, though. To me the lyrical muddiness contributes to the mood, and the result is a darker, more sophisticated song than you usually hear on country radio. I like it.

Exactly, non-linar time can work to serve the story if it is in service of something larger. In this case it might have served to show the madness that resulted in her husband’s death. However the writers failed to serve that purpose when they locked the second verse into a single and linar time frame.

Chris: The shifting from second to first person perspective in Bob That Head, combined with the obvious double entendre can only mean that the writers were intentionally perpetuating the fallacy (no pun intended) that men are defined by a very specific body part. This is a shallow and over used premise at best, and a quite sexist one at worst. And while it is a current trend, reverse sexism liberates no one.

I really can’t believe anyone could have such a hard time understanding the verse. Of course she doesn’t literally walk into a church expecting to get married and then finds out that OOPS she’s at a funeral.

It’s like A DREAM, hence the title.

Jesus, Take the Wheel wasn’t really about driving tips either!

“Would it not have been a cooler song if they had left in the verse about being chased naked down an endless hallway by a headless zombie?”

Sound’s like something Ray Stevens would have done.

..sorry for the bad typing above..I meant:

“…it is what I am screaming everytime my wife drives instead of me”

Kelly: Imagine “Jesus Take the Wheel” from the perspective of the infant trapped in its carseat unable to scream “steer into the skid you moron” and finally understanding the whole Stewie and Lois dynamic.

if anyone is interested - my dreams have always a perfect timeline, are neatly sequenced and have a happy end at around 6 am.

what about the political discussion now?

…but the date on the letter she gets is 2008.

Chris N., you are hilarious. Not that you haven’t heard that before.

“but the date on the letter she gets is 2008.”

I believe that’s the date it was filmed and I bet the video won’t show a close-up of the letter. Speculation like this was probably one of the reasons the label contacted message board owners with a request to remove the pictures.

I thought you were a Who. Now I’ll never figure out who Horton heard.

Oooooooh.

Legally you can get married at 18, and they wouldn’t give her the flag were she not his wife.

There’s a thesis to be written on the relationship between “Travelin’ Soldier” and “Just a Dream.” Whole lotta changes between then and now.

My interpretation is closer to Dudley’s as well. I NEVER imagined that she was literally arriving at her wedding when she found out. Don’t see that at all.

What’s the most puzzling to me is how you think a slightly confusing lyric hampers with the song’s magic. It doesn’t. You don’t need to know exactly what’s happening in the song to understand the basic concept and the powerful emotion behind it. It’s effective regardless of whether or not you have a firm grasp on the chain of events. Music, to me, is about “feeling” something, and if I can feel the song, I don’t really care if I don’t have a crystal clear picture in my head. Maybe that’s just me, but I have a feeling I’ll be proven right in a few months when many, many people –who can’t tell you literally what’s going on– fall in love with the song.

It’s great that you recognize the stunning vocals in this song, but I have to laugh a little at the fact that even when Carrie delivers something you do, essentially, like - you undercut it. I know that’s your job but it’s just very indicative of the way a certain group of people look at Carrie…

The fact that no one can definitively interpret the lyrics only seems to reinforce the review, despite all the claims that it’s clearly obvious what’s going on. I have a feeling that the writers didn’t spend nearly as long writing the song and verifying it’s accuracy as we have analyzing it.

Gavin, where exactly does it insinuate that she’s a newlywed?

Where does it insinuate that she’s not? She was given the folded up flag. It goes from a dream wedding to a nightmare funeral. This girl is messed up. The first chorus to me anyway is a flashback to a happier time when she was heading up to the same road to her wedding and now she’s heading down that same road to mourn the death of her husband. Can’t you see her dreaming back to when the last time she opened those doors that she saw her husband waiting for her to walk down that isle but this time she opens the doors and she hears the trumpets from the military band and in reality he is down that same isle but in a coffin. It hits like a ton of bricks.

Gavin, I didn’t suggest the song insinuates that she’s not a newlywed. Just wondering what gave you the idea that she was since the song doesn’t suggest it.

In the end all I can say is so what
I’m done with carrie underwood songs, I’m onto better songs now

Leeann, two weeks after she turned eighteen is presumably when she got married, which would obviously make her a newlywed, but the song is taking place at the time of her husband’s funeral and nothing suggests that the funeral was soon after the wedding.

For some reason, I always just think she’s a newly wed. I’m not sure what exactly put that in my head.

I think it is irrelevant whether she ever married the guy or not actually. The point of the song- is that she lost her true love in a war– and she can’t’ handle the reality of that pain. So she dreams of her past wedding, or her pretend future wedding– whatever the case may be- to escape the reality of the funeral. You can feel the pain in every note Carrie sings.

Personally– I like songs that make you think. I am tired of being spoon fed boring songs that are so linear that there is no room for the imagination. The best poetry, and songwriting, to me– is poetry that makes you argue with your friends about what the real meaning is.

We are all spending alot of time bantering back and forth over what the song really means here– so that means it’s good. It accomplished its goal, to make you think, debate, argue, cry, etc- and most importantly– feel the pain of the woman who lost her one true love.

I was surprised you did not get the real message of the narrative of the song “Just A Dream”. This is a haunting tale of a young widow attending the funeral of her husband who died fighting for our freedom. The funeral starts at the verse “And when the church doors opened up wide. She put her veil down trying to hide the tears…” Then the writers used a “Flashback” to show that they got married two weeks after the day she turned eighteen in the verse “It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen…All dressed in white, going to the church that night.” The fact that they handed her a folded up flag is a confirmation that the wedding already happened before the church doors open up wide. During the funeral, she feels clinging to the fact and so desperate to accept the reality that her husband is already dead. She is in a state of denial and could not believe that this is happening to her…She said that this is JUST A DREAM. Very sadly, this is not the reality because this is not JUST A DREAM, but, a FACT that she could not accept. This is the most powerful song I ever heard in my entire life. Lots of very powerful stuff in the song.

Not to add to the testimonials, but I was married on a Friday night too (at my parents’ house), four years ago.

Yes very powerful song indeed. I’m a Carrie fan and found nothing appealing in “Last Name”, but definitely hoped this would be a song coming off her album and so glad it is!

Brady, I suppose it could have happened a few years after the wedding and it would fit in with a flash back type scenario. The reference to her age is what had me leaning toward newlyweds but that would make it too easy.

Chris: But that’s the beauty of the song–it manages to invoke the war for purpose of the “if you hate this song you don’t support the troops” marketing while at the same time sidestepping having any sort of an opinion that anyone could disagree with.

This song for me has nothing to do with the war other than he is a soldier and he died. It doesn’t mention which war. For all we know this could be the Civil War or WWII. The subject is the wife of a soldier and how his death affects her.

The moment she finds out her husband is dead. What does one feel that first moment upon hearing the news? A roller coaster of emotions that begin to separate with time as the process of mourning begins. Sadness, confusion, and anger would be the dominate feelings initially and I think that really comes out in Carrie’s vocal.

Maybe the link will work this time.

http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/carrie_underwood_at_the_beach#22324

That girl needs to eat.

She could use a sandwich or two, but still …

Northtexas: And if Kelly were as much overweight as she is underweight we would be criticizing her for putting her health in jeopardy. Her health isn’t any less jeopardized because she is conforming to a destructive beauty standard.

Man…that is a gorgeous and HOT, HOT, HOT body!!! Perfect figure - Carrie Underwood!!! I know already that her face is gorgeous. This is the first time I saw her in a bikini. WOW!!!WOW!!!WOW!!!

I just can’t believe you actually said this song is “deeply, deeply broken.” Then you gave it a thumbs up. We all know you are not a fan of Carrie Underwood. I think I read your reviews just to see how outrageous your remarks are. This song is beautifully done and you know it. You just can’t say something good about her work without something bad to go along with it. I guess this is something that we have come to expect.

I mean, they got married two weeks after the day she turned eighten.

Maybe they are still looking for the same mescaline that inspired it…..

Stormy: If we could have as many “mescaline” refernces as we do Dale WAtson mentions, this site would be even better than it already is!!!

BTW, I am pretty sure that the orgianl first verse had Carrie toting a “red umbrella” to cover all her pain, but they wanted to wait until the greatest hits album to break that one out again…

I actaully got to hit a movie this weekend, my choice was between that and “the visitor”, i ended up choosing “the visitor”, based upon being more in the mood for a fictional story vs. a docu-type thing. I highly suggest it…..Country Music, there, this is a relevent comment now…

Kelly: Yeah, well, my movie had more sex, drugs, rock and roll and really freaky stuff in it. Lol.

Actually leaving the theatre the greeter asked me how my movie was and then said, “Sex in the City, right.” That momentary flash of Carrie Bradshaw and Hunter Thompson in the same box nearly broke my brain.

Chris, I actually got to chat with Lillie Mae just outside the tent where Sam Bush was performing during the Stagecoach Festival. I asked her what was up with her label announcing the indefinite delay of the CD release of Jypsi’s debut album and she was unaware of it! When Lillie Mae sings live her vocals tend to go all over the map, so she just needs to add a touch of discipline into the mix……

I cannot wait to see the video. Hopefull– if roman White produced it- it will be a masterpiece, along the lines of the Before He Cheats video, or Wasted. I was not a fan of the Jesus Take the Wheel video, though the song was incredible. I liked his other videos- but he needs to knock this one out of the park to clarify what some of you are confused about. I think most people get the meaning- it still seems clear to me- but if you need a video to clear up confusion, then so be it. It doesn’t take away from the greatness of the song, or Carrie’s vocals.

I think Carrie sounds even better in this song then Jesus Take the Wheel, and I never thought she could surpass that song. Makes me think she is getting better vocally- and that we have only just begun to see what she is capable of.

If this is supposed to be from “our times” meaning sometime after The Femine Mystique was published, why is she still wearing a veil to a funeral and why are we expected to believe that her hopes and dreams started on her wedding day?

What are the veil and her hopes and dreams symbolic of?

The point is, the setting for the happiest day of her life is now the setting for the saddest day of her life, which means that she must endure the latter while constantly being reminded of the former.

No, people don’t wear veils to funerals anymore.

Does it have to be larger than life and death?

And why don’t people wear veils to funerals anymore? Why wasn’t I told this?

Thanks.

don’t ya’ll have something better to do then talk about my girl’s wonderful song. it’s perfect. it talks about the loss of a woman’s husband. this song is for all the military kids and wives out there who lost their husband. the reason why you can’t understand it is because its not for you its for the military people!!! Remember that!!!

The essential strength of the song is that it’s really about a universal situation: the sudden, confusing loss of a loved one. If it was “for” anyone in particular it would not be as good as it is.

If bona fides are necessary for listening, two of my closest friends have done two tours each in the Middle East over the last four years, and my sister is in the Air Force.

Billboard likes it:

The fourth single from Carrie Underwood’s double-platinum “Carnival Ride” finds the singer charting new territory. Previous singles have stuck to a similar lyrical theme, contrasting between Underwood’s girl-next-door image with inspirational or family-centered songs (”So Small,” “All-American Girl”) and her naughtier bad-girl side (”Before He Cheats,” “Last Name”). “Just a Dream” delivers the heartbreaking, storytelling side of Nashville with the kind of song usually reserved for vets like Reba McEntire or Martina McBride. Underwood convincingly sells the story of a young widow of a soldier killed in combat, using shades of her emotive vocal to convey anger and despair. While the subject matter is sensitive in this day and time–particularly for flag-waving country pundits–it is rooted in reality. Add Underwood’s adoration by the format’s listeners and there is bound to be an immediate and receptive response to this beautifully executed song.–Chris Williams

Chris N. is perfectly right!!! This is a universal situation - the “REALITY IN OUR LIVES”…That all of us will experience losing a loved one - husband, wife, children, parents…Anybody very close to your heart. This song is about the sudden, confusing loss of someone very close to your heart that, very sadly, you could not accept at that time and the only thing that you could do is just to hope that it is “Just A Dream”. Up to what extent this tragic loss an individual has to deal with, this kind of an experience will vary from person to person. This song is also an “EPIC” because it is the emotional pain and suffering of a young widow attending the funeral of her husband who died fighting for our freedom, in service for our country, so that we can do what we want to do here in our country without fear of being harmed.

Dustin: I think we all understand Just A Dream. Its like a murkily written Dress Blues.

Anybody up for a game of buzzword bingo?

I haven’t heard “I’ll Stand By Your Man,” but it sounds like it would be way more scandalous than that one Tammy Wynette song.

Ok, this song is kinda confusing, but it made sense eventually. Apparently there was a clerical error at the record company, because Carrie is obviously trying to show us shes POP and NOT COUNTRY WHATSOEVER!!!!

Hey Mirandas2cool,

If Carrie is Country/Pop then Miranda is Country/ Rock! By the way, I bought both of their CD’s and am a big Miranda fan.

Love or hate Carrie who else gets such a response…145 comments!

Hey NorthTexas, i totally get your comment, Miranda has some songs, like “Kerosene” and especially her current hit “Gunpowder and Lead” that do lean a bit toward rock, but as a whole Miranda is country since Nashville star thru her second cd. The day Carrie sings “Bring me down”, “Dry town”, or “More like her” and pulls it off like Miranda does, i’ll quit saying she cant sing country; but until then she is the Pop queen in the genre formerly known as country music. And i dont turn on country radio to hear pop, i turn it on to hear COUNTRY like “Me and Charlie talkin” by Miranda, “Sounds so good” by Ashton Shepherd, or “In color” by Jamey Johnson. ;)

I find the song very dull and nothing good at all.
It is just another dull song that Nashville write for her.

On a side note, I thought she was popular. She is only averaging 6000 people a concert and many aren’t even sellouts according to billboard.
In fact her last 6 concert in June weren’t even a sellout and the capacity was only 5000.