Dream On
Depeche Mode Lyrics

Can you feel a little love
Asking if you are able to experience any type of love

As your bony fingers close around me
Describing the feeling of being grabbed by someone with bony hands

Long and spindly death becomes me
The singer feels like death, which is thin and long, has overtaken them

Heaven can you see what I see
Asking if heaven can see what the artist sees, which may be something dark or ominous

Hey you pale and sickly child
Addressing someone who appears unwell

You're death and living reconciled
The child mentioned above has come to terms with both life and death

Been walking home a crooked mile
Describing a journey home that was not straightforward

Paying debt to karma you party for a living
Acknowledging that the artist is living life to the fullest, but at a cost due to their karma

What you take won't kill you
The substances the artist takes will not cause their death

But careful what you're giving
Warning about the potential harm in giving to others

There's no time for hesitating
Encouraging the listener not to wait or delay

Pain is ready, pain is waiting
Implying that the journey will be painful, but ready to be faced

Primed to do it's educating
The pain is meant to teach a lesson

Unwanted, uninvited kin
Describing a feeling of being invaded by something unwelcome

It creeps beneath your crawling skin
What is invading the listener is causing physical discomfort

It lives without it lives within you
The unwelcome thing is both part of the listener and a separate entity

Feel the fever coming you're shaking and twitching
The physical discomfort has escalated and turned into a fever accompanied by tremors

You can scratch all over
The itching caused by the fever is so intense that scratching provides no relief

But that won't stop you itching
Despite the futility, the singer still feels the urge to scratch

Blame it on your karmic curse
Suggesting that the listener's current hardship is the result of their own karma

Or shame upon the universe
Alternatively, blaming the universe for the situation

It knows its lines, it's well rehearsed
Implying that these hardships are expected and part of the natural order

It sucked you in, it dragged you down
Describing how the negative karma or universe has led the listener to their current state

To where there is no hallow ground
Implying the artist is in a place where there is no hope or comfort

Where holiness is never found
There is no peace or righteousness in this place

Dream on, dream on
Encouraging the listener to keep dreaming, despite the current state