WAKEFUL DREAMER [Intro: low, close vocal] I thought I was awake. I knew my lines by heart. Never thought to ask Who gave me the part. [Verse 1] I learned to want what I was shown, To call a borrowed thought my own. Keep moving, keep your feelings small, Get somewhere first, then feel it all. I watched us teach the kids to share, Then praise the ones with most to spare. And when I asked what that was for, They said, “That’s how it’s always worked before.” [Pre-Chorus] I used to call it human nature, Like we couldn’t help ourselves. Now I wonder whose excuses I’ve been carrying around. [Chorus] I’m a wakeful dreamer, Eyes open, wanting more. I can see the world we’re living in, I can see what we could be living for. You call it wishful thinking, But what are wishes for? I know we can make a better world, I just need to get you on board. [Post-Chorus] Wake up. We’ve got a world to make. Wake up. What will it take? [Verse 2] I catch myself rehearsing fights, Deciding who you are at night. By morning, I’ve condemned a stranger For a sentence you might never say. So I ask you what you meant. Try to hear before I defend. If I want a world where we can listen, Here’s a place I could begin. [Pre-Chorus] I don’t have a view from nowhere, I’ve got habits I can’t see. If I’m asking you to question, You can ask the same of me. [Chorus] I’m a wakeful dreamer, Eyes open, wanting more. I can see the world we’re living in, I can see what we could be living for. You call it wishful thinking, But what are wishes for? I know we can make a better world, I just need to get you on board. [Bridge: stripped back, voice gathering force] I want the nurse to get some sleep. I want the hungry kid to eat. I want a life of honest work To leave you standing on your feet. And when you tell me, “Be realistic,” I know how much there is to do. But every rule we live by Was a choice somebody grew Into a custom, Into a system, Into something we don’t question Till it happens to you. [Breakdown: rhythmic, rising] What did we learn? What can we change? What do we lose By staying the same? Who gets our time? Who gets our care? What could we build If we knew you’d be there? [Final Chorus: full band, layered voices] We’re the wakeful dreamers, Eyes open, wanting more. We can see the world we’re living in, We can choose what we’re living for. Call it wishful thinking. We’ll give those wishes form. I know we can make a better world, I just need to get you on board. [Outro: instruments fall away] Bring the doubt. Bring the questions. Pull a chair up to the table. I’ve got dreams for the world. Let’s find out what we’re able To do.
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