"A Dream Within a Dream" lyrics
(feat. Ash Tell Em, Christina Rotondo & Liliia Kysil)
It's raining again? Wait, is this Baltimore? I was in Richmond... how? These clothes... they're not mine. And wait... is that me lying on the sidewalk?
I remember that moonlight shining on the James
Virginia singin' soft, calling out my name
"The Raven" hit the block, yo, they all knew my pain
Now I'm up in the stars no more thunder, no rain
Elmira's eyes were like a second sunrise
I thought I was cursed, now I realize
Those quiet walks, at dusk, breeze kissed my soul
Pages in my head, like a river they'd roll
I was broke, I was sick, man my heart stayed cold
But I saw bright colors in the world unfold
Talking harp strings, dream wings, candlelit nights
Now I'm floating through the clouds, no more struggles, no more fights
Hold that quill in my hand like a sword of light
Now I'm writing on the sky, yo the stars are so bright
All that loss down below? It made me this strong
Now I'm free in their hearts where I'll always belong
I ain't fearing no tomb, I've been through that gloom
I set my soul free inside of that room
Crooked critics? Cheap shots? They're gone, can't touch
All the roses in the dark? I loved them too much
Virginia in the chamber? Her voice still glows
Elmira by my side when I was feeling that low
Stone angels in my dreams? Now they sing in the choir
I'm watching all my nightmares burn up in that fire
Yeah I lost, yeah I fell, but my pen keeps swinging
Now I sip moon wine and I hear the saints singing
No more hunger, no more chill in my bones
I'm ghost-ridin' through the cosmos, finally home
No more debts, no more coughs, no more rage, no more knives
Just holy verse rivers and eternal sunrise
What was missing before? It ain't missing now
And it hit me like.... POW!
Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I remember that attic, books stacked to the beams
Lost inside the pages, chasing haunted dreams
Mama's voice was a whisper, then the silence came
Moving south to Richmond never felt the same
Now I'm face down in Baltimore...
But I ain't done scribbling this haunted lore!
Floating above, why's my shell in that rain-washed pit?
Fingers still curled like they're penning a script?
I tremble, start confessing, no more secrets left
I drank way too much whiskey... absinthe on my breath
Stacked mad debts I could never repay
Lost pages to horse tracks, let my genius decay
Married my cousin? She was only thirteen!
Called it "love", but the guilt gnawed holes in my spleen
Pride sick as the plague, burned friends for the thrill
Savage pen sliced egos... even mine couldn't heal!
I lied about medals, I was never a hero
I loaded cannon shells, isolated like Nero
Made fun of the saints, romanticized the tomb
Fed readers black roses, lit candles in doom
Mocked sermons in private, called your angels a farce
Blasphemed in my letters, spit ink at the stars
So God if you're real... don't let me fade to black
I carved my sorrow into rhyme, is there redemption in that?
I tried to make the pain sing, make the grave bloom wide
Turn my ruin into music, let the lost abide
I feel the dark forgive me... or maybe it's the gin?
I see the gates of heaven, but they won't let me in
Now I'm ghosting, shivering, trembling, sore
Begging you Peter... please don't lock that door
What was missing before? It ain't missing now
And it hit me like.... POW!
Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
Never have I known a person so susceptible to the influence of beauty in every form, or one to whom the poetic aspects of nature appealed with such resistless power
In his conversation there was a singular charm, and his manner had a refinement, a courtesy, an indescribable grace which I have never seen equaled. He seemed ever sensitively alive to the slightest deviation from the truth in his own words or those of others
In his tender and passionate heart there dwelt a love of the beautiful, and an equally delicate perception of the heroic, the pure, and the true
I loved him for the very earnestness of his nature
I remember that moonlight shining on the James
Virginia singin' soft, calling out my name
"The Raven" hit the block, yo, they all knew my pain
Now I'm up in the stars no more thunder, no rain
Elmira's eyes were like a second sunrise
I thought I was cursed, now I realize
Those quiet walks, at dusk, breeze kissed my soul
Pages in my head, like a river they'd roll
I was broke, I was sick, man my heart stayed cold
But I saw bright colors in the world unfold
Talking harp strings, dream wings, candlelit nights
Now I'm floating through the clouds, no more struggles, no more fights
Hold that quill in my hand like a sword of light
Now I'm writing on the sky, yo the stars are so bright
All that loss down below? It made me this strong
Now I'm free in their hearts where I'll always belong
I ain't fearing no tomb, I've been through that gloom
I set my soul free inside of that room
Crooked critics? Cheap shots? They're gone, can't touch
All the roses in the dark? I loved them too much
Virginia in the chamber? Her voice still glows
Elmira by my side when I was feeling that low
Stone angels in my dreams? Now they sing in the choir
I'm watching all my nightmares burn up in that fire
Yeah I lost, yeah I fell, but my pen keeps swinging
Now I sip moon wine and I hear the saints singing
No more hunger, no more chill in my bones
I'm ghost-ridin' through the cosmos, finally home
No more debts, no more coughs, no more rage, no more knives
Just holy verse rivers and eternal sunrise
What was missing before? It ain't missing now
And it hit me like.... POW!
Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I remember that attic, books stacked to the beams
Lost inside the pages, chasing haunted dreams
Mama's voice was a whisper, then the silence came
Moving south to Richmond never felt the same
Now I'm face down in Baltimore...
But I ain't done scribbling this haunted lore!
Floating above, why's my shell in that rain-washed pit?
Fingers still curled like they're penning a script?
I tremble, start confessing, no more secrets left
I drank way too much whiskey... absinthe on my breath
Stacked mad debts I could never repay
Lost pages to horse tracks, let my genius decay
Married my cousin? She was only thirteen!
Called it "love", but the guilt gnawed holes in my spleen
Pride sick as the plague, burned friends for the thrill
Savage pen sliced egos... even mine couldn't heal!
I lied about medals, I was never a hero
I loaded cannon shells, isolated like Nero
Made fun of the saints, romanticized the tomb
Fed readers black roses, lit candles in doom
Mocked sermons in private, called your angels a farce
Blasphemed in my letters, spit ink at the stars
So God if you're real... don't let me fade to black
I carved my sorrow into rhyme, is there redemption in that?
I tried to make the pain sing, make the grave bloom wide
Turn my ruin into music, let the lost abide
I feel the dark forgive me... or maybe it's the gin?
I see the gates of heaven, but they won't let me in
Now I'm ghosting, shivering, trembling, sore
Begging you Peter... please don't lock that door
What was missing before? It ain't missing now
And it hit me like.... POW!
Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
Never have I known a person so susceptible to the influence of beauty in every form, or one to whom the poetic aspects of nature appealed with such resistless power
In his conversation there was a singular charm, and his manner had a refinement, a courtesy, an indescribable grace which I have never seen equaled. He seemed ever sensitively alive to the slightest deviation from the truth in his own words or those of others
In his tender and passionate heart there dwelt a love of the beautiful, and an equally delicate perception of the heroic, the pure, and the true
I loved him for the very earnestness of his nature
