Over-thinking

I'll take a brief departure from my usual material to give you a glimpse inside my mind.  I'm the kind of guy that over-thinks small things.  If you're ever trying to have a conversation, and I seem distant, chances are I'm just thinking about something really stupid.  This week's blog is an example of the stupid stuff I think about.  Listen to this song:

You've probably heard this song.  I heard it again, as I have many times, while driving home at night from a friends' house.  I got stuck on the lyrics of the chorus:

It's only in my dreams

That I can Change the worldI would be the sunlight in your universeYou would think my love was really something goodBaby, if i could change the world

So the question for me became, why is it only in his dreams?  There's basically two options here:

• The artist's love is not good enough.  The artist has the rapt attention of his intended lover, but he's just not quite good enough of a man.  Perhaps he's inattentive, or he doesn't have the means to provide for her, or maybe he's got demons he needs to work out.  Regardless, he wishes his love were good enough to satisfy his lover, but it isn't.  This is supported by the second verse of the song;

If I could be king, even for a day
I'd take you as my queen
I'd have it no other way
And our love would rule
this kingdom we have made
Til' then i'll be a fool
Wishing for the day

The imagery of him being a king highlights the idea that he needs something else in order to get his way.  He needs an outside source of empowerment, and once that happens, he can finally satisfy the woman he would make queen.  Until then, he becomes a fool.  He doesn't become lonely, he just becomes a fool.

• The artist has the love he needs, but he doesn't have the girl yet.  He knows he could get the job done if he just had the chance, but the girl either doesn't know him, or more likely, doesn't think of him "that way."  I've grown up surrounded by emotional boyhood songs lamenting these dreaded fates.  This theory is supported by the first verse;

If I could reach the stars
Pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart
So you could see the truth
That this love I have inside
Is everything it seems
But for now I find
It's only in my dreams

In this alternate reality, we see the artist going to great lengths just to get the right attention drawn on him.  The star he reaches up and pulls down is a source bright enough to illuminate the love hidden in his heart, which apparently she hasn't yet been able to see.  It would be undeniable; she'd have to finally see how much better she could have it with him.

What does this song say about love, furthermore?  This artist has the potential to be anything, and he chooses to be sunlight.  Don't get me wrong, I like sunlight; it lets me see outside my window, it gives me Vitamin D, and it saves us all energy since we don't have to turn the lights on.  That said, it's something I take for granted.   I'm not really thankful for sunlight, but rather, I just assume it will always be there.  Is this what the artist thinks that love is?  One would have to presume so.  Since this is the case, we get a bleak picture of the artist.  He is so desperate for his lover that even being taken for granted would be a huge upgrade over his situation.

Is there a right answer?  Probably not; I think it's a mix of both.  The artist is probably a good friend of the subject, who burns passionately for her but is also unable to get the courage to actually put that passion into action.  Thus, we're left with actually a pretty sad image of a man who is literally wishing upon a star for love to fall into his lap.  All we can hope is that this song is actually sung to the woman in question, and not simply lamented into the nothingness of space.

I wonder if I'm the only one who spends way too much time thinking of nonsense like this.