Analyze it! Find The Good: "Look To Your Dreams"

[Rick Henry]

Here is a new thread which I feel will be quite an enjoyable one.

I got the idea from a comment made by WJ7 about dissecting songs.

In this thread series we will dissect a Carpenters song and discus it. But the catch is - we will only make positive comments on the song at hand. You all know I can be a real critic - especially when it comes to Carpenters' music. In this thread we'll leave the critic behind and talk about what we love about these songs.

This first thread will be on the song "Look To Your Dreams"

This song came about as Karen had always wanted to record a "musical" type song. To appease her Richard and John wrote "Look To Your Dreams" in 1974. For some reason the song was put aside and forgotten. If they were to have pursued the song and recorded it at the time they wrote it - it most likely would have ended up on "Horizon". As it goes in 1978 interest in the song rekindled and they recorded it. It was recorded during the time they were working on "Christmas Portrait".

I will come back with my positive thoughts on this song. Including a mini dissection of the music itself.

[GoodOldDreams]

What do I like about "Look to Your Dreams"? Plenty. Mainly the message of hope and holding onto your ideals when the realities of life might beat you down.

I like how the songs begins with an introduction in an almost conversational tone with minimal musical accompaniment:

"To say I'm romantic would be quite semantically true,
But make-believe passion is falling from fashion's milieu.
It's understandable why we're a little confused.
It's asking for trouble just watching the six o-clock news.
But for a moment, all things aside,
Look to your self, somewhere inside..."

It then launches into the melodious theme with more instruments layered on top of Karen's rich vocals:
"Look to your dreams..."

I particularly like this part of the lyrics:
"When the world has us down, aren't you glad they're around?
Once conceived, once believed, fantasy's reality's childhood.
And like a seed, visions need constant care, like a child would.
We should look to our dreams, we can still make the stars.
We can still break the bars we have built here on earth."

More later...

[Dave]

"We should look to your dreams, we can still make the stars.
We can still break the bars we have built here on earth."

In the days and weeks after the Columbia accident, this was almost a universal sentiment amongst those who believe in why we reach for space...and a reason to honor those who have taken the ultimate risk by continuing their work.

[wisejester7]

There are many parts to analyze. It looks like the lyrics is the most logical starting place.

Look To Your Dreams Lyrics:


To say I'm romantic would be quite semantically true
But make-believe passion has fallen from fashion's milieu
It's understandable why we're a little confused
It's asking for trouble just watching the six o'clock news
But for a moment, all things aside, look to yourself somewhere inside

Look to your dreams
Don't they still seem worthwhile?
Don't they still seem in style?
Aren't you glad they're still there?

Look to your dreams
There's a need for them now
When the world has us down
Aren't you glad they're around?

Once conceived, once believed fantasy's reality's childhood
And like a seed, visions need constant care like a child would, we should

(*) Look to your dreams
We can still make the stars
We can still break the bars
We have built here on earth

(**) Look to your dreams
And tomorrow may be better for you and me
The future may say
Blame blind yesterday for taking dreams away
They could mean more than they seem

And like a seed, visions need constant care like a child would, we should

Repeat (*)
Repeat (**)

[wisejester7]

wisejester7 said:

There are many parts to analyze. It looks like the lyrics is the most logical starting place.

Look To Your Dreams Lyrics:


To say I'm romantic would be quite semantically true
But make-believe passion has fallen from fashion's milieu
It's understandable why we're a little confused
It's asking for trouble just watching the six o'clock news
But for a moment, all things aside, look to yourself somewhere inside
I like this intelligent conversational beginning. It is the opening salvo to the thoughts that are about to be presented. The material is not done in a flippant or tongue in cheek manner. The singer/composer really wants you to stop and think about what your dreams may hold ... the potential.

We begin to analyze the topic ... our dreams.
Look to your dreams
Don't they still seem worthwhile?
Re-evaluate what it is you envision for the world/your world. Don't you still want that?
Don't they still seem in style?
Aren't you glad they're still there?

Look to your dreams
There's a need for them now
When the world has us down
Aren't you glad they're around?
Positive feeling of gladness combined with the potential of the power of our dreams = a message of hope.

Once conceived, once believed fantasy's reality's childhood This is one of my favorite lines
And like a seed, visions need constant care like a child would, we should

(*) Look to your dreams
We can still make the stars
We can still break the bars
We have built here on earth

(**) Look to your dreams
And tomorrow may be better for you and me
The future may say
Blame blind yesterday for taking dreams away
They could mean more than they seem

And like a seed, visions need constant care like a child would, we should

Repeat (*)
Repeat (**)

[enigma]

Its fairly easy to say posative things about Look In You Dreams for me. I like the posative message and the song is beautifully arranged as only Richard can do. I really like the piano ending to this song it has always said to me that though the voice is silenced the music lives on and live on it did and still does. I feel releasing this just after Karens death gave me some comfort how little it was from a tragic event. Kind of though there is a tragedy we can still find hope in our dreams something posative from a negative event we can all use that I know I can.

[Rick Henry]

Yes, "Look To Your Dreams" was certainly a poignant release and the timing was right for it's release. It's as if Karen was speaking to us from beyond sending us this last message.

As with other Carpenters songs this song is recorded true to it's genre. when Carpenters decide to do a certain type of song - they do not do a watered down (fit for the masses) recording - they generally strive to be as authentic as possible in which ever genre of song they're recording. In this manner "Look To Your Dreams" was a complete success in emulating the style of 40's big band musical numbers. Karen was born to sing this type of song - but than again as we know Karen was born to sing anything whether reminiscent of a generation past or a contemporary style with a dance club rhythm - Karen was a highly versatile singer.

The song starts off with a mix of flute, keyboard and the tender strumming of Tim May's acoustic guitar - which works right into Karen's heartwarming vocal - then leads into the full orchestra.

The orchestration and arrangement of this song were composed by the one and only Peter Knight. "Look To your Dreams", although co-written by Richard, was not arranged by Richard. At this point in time (1978) Richard was too knocked out from Quaalude's to take on such massive arranging duties so most of the songs from this time period were arranged by Tim May and Peter Knight - as was with almost the entire "Christmas Portrait" album. Most of the songs recorded during this period ended up having that Christmas-y sort of sound to them - "I Believe You" and "Look To your Dreams". Others like "Thank You For The Music" (studio version) and "Dancing In The Street" (full length version) had a more contemporary feel. Peter Knight is best remembered for his work on the classic Moody Blues album "Days Of The Future Passed".

"Look To your Dreams" ends with an instrumental outro of the chorus - which gives us a faint remembrance of what was just heard. it's like a memory or a reminiscence.

[ps11932]

This has been an inspirational favorite since I first heard it about a year ago. It is easy for dreams- the things most valuable, the things of the heart, to become obstructed, for the intersection of dreams and reality can, for most of us, be variable and obscure at best. (This is not to say that our daily endeavor is bad or invaluable- a person with a dream for, say, correlating mathematical formulas into practical applications could still do a lot of good as an interior designer.) But keeping our dreams, or visions, intact is important because "there's a need for them now." Who has a need for a person's dreams? Not only that person, but others- and perhaps society or the world in general. With the dream of our heart, we can make the message of hope go far indeed. (Jan Karon, for example, was an award winning advertising executive whom, at age 50 or so, pursued her drream of being a novelist- and the result was The Mitford series of books, which has inspired countless thousands of us over the past decade plus.)