This filk rap is about the tough times nerdy kids have growing up and trying to live in a world where they and the world of story they escape to – and often end up helping create – aren’t taken seriously, but are met with abuse and derision. It is the first rap to win a Pegasus Award, winning Best...
“We are the music-makers …”
"It starts when we're kids / A show-off at school --"
“... and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
"It starts when we're kids --"
It's like you need a breath of air but the window's too far
I know where you've been 'cause I've been where you are
I know it's hard right now -- it never really gets easy
But hold on, it gets better, kid you gotta believe me
It's hard to keep breathing in this kind of pressure
That leaves your soul bleeding and your mind a mess, your
Heart beaten so bad it feels crooked and swollen
So you're hiding in the attic with the book that you've stolen
Or in the children's section of the library stacks
Sometimes you try to leave, but they keep driving you back
Besides, your friends are all here, they're in line on the racks
And some have got torn pages and the bindings are cracked
But this is where your love lies, that's the primary fact
And that's a statement of truth you'd rather die than retract
You don't know why they react with mockery and derision
Don't let em tell you you're wrong, it's got to be your decision
You've got a secret ambition but you're surrounded by doubt
They don't believe in the vision and so they're drowning it out
And that's a pain that you work so hard to disguise
But there's a tall pale man with stars in his eyes
He's the lord of the dream realm, he's a muse and a seer
He's the force and the beam, the reason you can be here
He's the source of every myth that binds us one to the other
His name is Morpheus, and if you're one of his, you're my brother
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
You know those days when you're awake but your thoughts are all muddy
And you get the feeling something's tryinna tell you somebody?
When every headline and street sign holds a more secret meaning
And every song on the radio says no more sleepy dreaming?
When you're away from all the crowds and choices
You're the storyteller, hero with a thousand voices
You're building worlds, that's what your proudest joy is
Be not afeared, the isle is filled with noises
Yeah, getting through high school's like proceedin to hell and back
You know you never needed Joss Whedon to tell you that
But that's why when you need it most you pick up the pen
You find the rhythm and then you find you're livin again
You don't have to be afraid, you've got your name and your cause
And if your life is a prison, who's to blame for the bars?
Free yourself from the earth, you've got a claim to the stars
You've got nothing else to use, so use the shame and the scars
You take the pain in your heart and you convert it to glory
Turn the stain into art, turn the hurt into story
Find the happy ever after once upon a beginning
And never give up, not even when the windmills are winning
We know the world is cruel, we need to survive
So turn the suffering into fuel to feed to the drive
Like they say, the best revenge is just being alive
You know you were only waiting for this dream to arrive
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
This world's inhospitable, hostile and toxic and
You're stranded with no pressure suit and not enough oxygen
Too far away to see the sun, freezing and desolate
Alone and getting colder and increasingly desperate
That's the part you know, can you believe in the rest of it?
That I was here before and I've been leaving you messages?
A few subversive ciphers there beneath the surface
To fight the ones that tell you to believe you're worthless
They told me the same once, you know how it hurts us
So you know how come we channel it to prose and verses
You know how we work this with the alchemies of rage
And with the stroke of a word we pin the anger to the page
Leave it beating its wings there like a falcon in a cage
When you're bleeding you sing, cause that's your anchor in the waves
And that's the meaning of things, the truth in back of the displays
That's the feeling that brings you through from balcony to stage
We write it down cause it's something we have to do
And you can find your voice for the ones who come after you
And you can be the one to tell the kids, hang in there
There's a way to survive, you can believe me, I've been there
I'm not that strong, I can't fight this crime
I can't right this wrong but I can write this rhyme
If I can write this song well then it might just shine
And I swear to god I'm a get it right this time
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
Creatures of Dream
We are the creatures of Dream
(yeah, swear to god I'll get it right this time)
Creatures of Dream
I know where you've been, 'cause I've been where you are
It gets better
You can make it
Hold on
It starts when we’re kids
Creatures of Dream was written by Batya the Toon.
Creatures of Dream was produced by Jesse Dangerously.
Batya the Toon released Creatures of Dream on Sat Jun 25 2016.
From my blog post on the announcement of the 2016 Pegasus award:
“Creatures of Dream” wouldn’t exist without Jesse Dangerously, who introduced me to nerdcore and told me that there was no reason I couldn’t write rap and said super nice things about the first lyrics I sent him, and cobbled together...