Gordon Davidescu wrote this article.

It all started a few nights ago. It was sometime early in the morning, far earlier than I would ever consider waking up. I was in the middle of what seemed to be quite a bizarre dream. I was with my father at his house and we were listening to the music of Adriano Celentano – with good reason, I think.


I spent a lot of my childhood listening to some of the greatest hits of Celentano such as the song Azzuro,
which used to be a bit annoying to me.
Now I listen to the same songs that got on my nerves and smile and have
happy memories – funny how that works, isn’t it?
Anyhow, we were listening to a song called Piacere – the word means “a
pleasure” in Italian, and is the prime example I use to show people how
Romanian is a romance language – the same word in Romanian is spelled
with one different letter and one different accent.

The thing is that
the song just doesn’t exist in real life.
My father told me that he had never heard the song before and I said
that it must have been a new song – Celentano has not yet retired from
the music business and continues to record new albums just about every
year.
Then while we were discussing this song and how my father had never
heard it before, it occurred to me that Celentano would be the perfect
subject matter for an Urban Semiotic article.
That’s right, in the middle of this absurd dream, my mind did not think
about how weird it was that I was in New Jersey when I had not made any
plans to visit until my move (Please G-d in August) and so there really
should not have been any good reason for me to be there.
Instead, my mind went straight towards the practical matters of life
and how I wanted to choose a good subject for an Urban Semiotic article
– and there it was, coming out of my father’s computer!

When I first awoke I thought that perhaps I was trying to tell myself
that writing about Adriano was what I really wanted to do since it was
all there in the dream in front of me – in a way I figured that my
brain was telling me that it was what I really wanted to do. In a
manner of speaking, it seemed as though I was talking to myself through
the medium of the dream.
Then again, was this really the case?
Could it have been that somewhere Celentano had been on my mind and the
fact that I was searching for a topic for an Urban Semiotic article
just happened to be the thing to collide with that thought in the
ethereal world of my subconscious mind?

In a previous relationship, the person I was dating told me that
whenever she had a complicated science problem at work, she would just
think about the problem before going to bed and somewhere in the course
of her dreams the answer to the problem would come to her.
I told her that I was a bit jealous as the answers to problems have
pretty much never come to me while I was dreaming – have they ever come
to you?
Since I have found out recently via this very Urban Semiotic blog that most people dream in black and white,
does that mean that the answers to their questions come to them in
black and white as well?
If you are a writer of fictional works, how many plots of your stories
have come to you through your dreams?

Some people have the astonishing ability to dream about whatever they
want – if you had this ability, would you choose the happiest memories
from your life and relive them as often as you wanted to? If not, why
not?
I can’t help but think that if I could more easily control my dreams I
would feel as though I have more time, so to speak. I could do the
mundane things of the world during the day and then leave the time of
sleep to have fun, so to speak.
What kind of dreaming do you like?

16 Comments

  1. Great article, Gordon!
    I actually write in my dreams. Then I forget it all. During the dream, though, the feeling is one of ecstasy… and not the drugged up sort!
    Several years ago I came up with the perfect movie for Arnold Schwarzenegger and I vowed, mid-dream, to remember the plot so I could write it down when I awoke.
    When I awoke I remembered the plot so well I didn’t need to write it down. I wish glowing with success!
    Then.
    I forgot the plot.
    That was one time I should’ve listened to my gut!
    Some say you should keep a notebook by your bed to write down your dreams as soon as you awaken — but I’ve found that more inhibiting than helpful.

  2. What is inhibiting? Do you feel like there’s pressure to remember your dreams and so you don’t? Maybe it would help to keep a notebook there just for general notes and then when you feel like writing down a dream it is there for you! 🙂

  3. Yes, Gordon, it’s like the dreams want to remain ethereal and not be pinned in the real world. I actually used to have a tape recorder by my bed to record the dreams upon awakening. I always felt like I was betraying my true self by recording the thoughts on paper or tape and so I never did. The really good dreams I remember, though, and enjoy them during my wake state.

  5. Hi Gordon,
    It’s interesting that usually I don’t remem
    ber my dreams except something very distinct. When I remember it – it’s like a movie – one sequence comes after another.

  6. I have dreamed the most beautiful musical compositions and poetry on a few rare occasions.
    It would be remarkable to be able to “recreate” these. I’ve never had that ability and it doesn’t come up all that often for me.
    Speaking of Billy Joel (see American Idol topic),
    I remember reading that he has dreamt music and then gone onto the piano and written.
    Tom Petty had a rather vivid dream about his current wife and wrote a song about it called Angel Dream.
    I love any and all discusssions about dreams. I wish I could get a better handle on my dreams. I once went to a seminar that provided a very precise methodology for analyzing dreams.
    I believe dreams reveal so much about the inner self. I’ve always wanted to keep a dream journal . . .

  9. I’m not sure it would actually help. Because I lose it almost immediately upon awakening.
    As you said so nicely, these dreams don’t seem to want to be pinned in the real world. It seems to me that they were designed to be forgotten as if they reveal some really deep and profound secrets about the self and human existence that
    we’re not quite ready to handle in real life.
    Perhaps a part of me doesn’t want to go there.
    I once had a dream that helped me resolve a personal issue that was eating away at me. The solution in the dream involved doing something quite unethical which I clearly remembered. That morning I did what the dream told me to do and lo and behold got the information to resolve the dilemma.
    I never quite felt right about that.
    So I’m not so certain I want to delve into these dreams so much. I’m not sure they always reveal the side of my self I want to see or be!!
    Now sometimes they do with the beautiful music and poetry and prose. That might be nice to capture via a journal.

  10. Eugene Mirman said something about always doing what he does in his dreams which apparently doesn’t work out so well when he’s standing outside his old middle school with no pants.
    I can’t take credit for the thought about dreams in the real world – that was all db! 🙂

  11. Gordon–Forgive me for asking such a personal question. But I’m curious if your father is still alive. Because that is a beautiful connection you have with your father through Celentano’s music. And I see all of these things in your dream as related in some way and not really distinct issues.
    Fascinating dream! Lots of strong images. Good you could remember. Again what a nice memory you will always have about your father through this music.

  12. The timing of this amused me – with things all going awry at New Year – we managed to finally celebrate Christmas with one of them today and I got a dream journal !

  15. Love the topic 🙂
    I keep a journal next to my bed and write in it sometimes when I awake. I remember once I woke up in the middle of the night and just HAD to write in the journal. But I didn’t want to put on the lights as I didn’t want to wake my husband. So attempted to write in the dark. In the morning it was complete gibberish and I couldn’t make out a word!
    Another time I awoke early, but this time it was light, and I wrote. Went back to sleep and woke much later. This time, the words were at least legible, but made no sense what-so-ever!
    Dreams can be a lot of fun 🙂

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