within a dream -- he heard the
song that became his 1994 hit
and Grammy nominated Song of
the Year, “The River of Dreams.”
Sometimes dreams are forgotten
the moment we wake up. Joel
says he often gets song ideas
in his dreams and struggles to
remember them. “The River of
Dreams,” however, was an ear
worm; it wouldn’t go away. “I
tried NOT to write it.” He even
questioned that he, an atheist,
should write it.
On a The Howard Stern Show
Joel said, “I thought, who the hell
am I to try to pull off this gospel
song, so I took a shower to wash
the song away. But as I sang it in
the shower I knew I had to write
it down.” The biblical imagery in
“The River of Dreams” referenc-
es Psalm 23:4, “Though I walk
through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil.” And
in the song there are images of
people being baptized in the wa-
ter. The phrase “river of dreams”
is a play on the phrase “stream of
consciousness.”
Watch a video for “River of Dreams” by Billy Joel
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 44
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