The story behind “Dream #2”
by Ken Tobias / 2012.
Just the other day I was asked again what my song Dream #2 was about and where and why I wrote it. Some of you might not know the title because it isn't mentioned in the song. Most people know it from the first line “I drew a picture of a pair of wings because I want to fly”.
The usual way a song is titled is from the chorus-hook like my song Every Bit Of Love. I don't really like to explain what a song is about because from my experience when I do give in and tell, it upsets some people because they already have an interpretation that gives them a sense of “getting it” on there own and a lot of times it's not the meaning I intended but is meaningful to he or she. That said here is my Dream #2 story and I'm sticking to it.
In the late 60's I was living in Montreal for the winter season taking a break from my summer job singing on CBC TV's Singalong Jubilee. I was living in a little basement hole-in-the-wall down near McGill University. One night I was having a glass of wine with a beautiful girlfriend of mine just kicking back and chillin’ out. I remember she had to leave the room for a few minutes and while I was sitting with a drawing pad doodling (I'm also an artist.) I started to draw a pair of wings on the paper and was getting an unusual feeling inside, well it could have been the wine but whatever it was it felt good. Just then my girlfriend came back into the room and asked me what I was doing and I said (without thinking) “I'm drawing a pair of wings because I...want...to...fly”. While I was saying the words my heart started to pound and I was getting high on the words and I said to my friend "don't say anything."
I started writing as if I was being dictated to by the writing muse. The words to most of the song just fell off the tip of my pen. I grabbed my guitar and started to develop the melody right there and then.
What can I say I've always believed that Dream #2 was given to me by the gods to pass on to those people who dream of flying not just in body but like a metaphor for the striving of the spirit to reach higher ground. A child is trying to tell his parents that to fly you have to believe so hard and think so high you can float like a feather but you have to learn to let go.
His mother loves him and says, sort of, that's nice dear but his father thinks he is wrong to be living in a fantasy world. This does not deter the child's spirit or his seeking higher ground.
Dream #2 has been studied in some university classes in Canada and has many stories of inspiration accumulated around it over the years. Dream #2 has received the SOCAN Classic Award for over 100,000 Canadian radio performances. The gods were right about this one, it connected with the hearts of people. I'm blessed to have written such a song. /Ken.