Every Night I Wake Up Screaming
 (Rick Springfield)


If it's all a magnificent mistake
There goes the universe and it's order
I was dreaming wide awake
When something pulled me under the water


I can't surface I.....
it's in my fear
and I can't stop it
I can't, I can't breathe
I'm choking
and I don't want to sleep


Every night I wake up screaming
We're the last tribe as the world stops turning
Every night I wake up screaming
my car crashed isn't far from here
And everything looks better with my eyes closed
everything looks better with my eyes closed

There's a terrorist somewhere
with my name on a bullet he's loadin'
there's a meteor out there with the world 
in her sites and it's closing in

I can't set aside
it's in my fear
and I can't stop it
I can't, I can't breathe
I'm choking
and I don't want to sleep

Every night I wake up screaming
we're the last you and me as the world stops turning
Every night I wake up screaming
The end of everything very near
And everything looks better with my eyes closed
everything looks better with my eyes
closed
Every night I wake up screaming
I'm the last man as the world stops turning
Every night I wake up screaming
Dreaming that I'm blind again
And everything looks better with my eyes 
 closed
And everything looks better with my eyes 
 closed, closed closed

(total playing time 3:24)

Song Facts: This can be found on shock/denial/anger/acceptance

MORE FAN REVIEWS
 
 
First off, love this song, love the emotion, love the urgency. 

Part of this song makes me think of the "stay tuned to the news" type of society we live in. Where during sweeps news shows reveal how things like the 'kitchen sink sponge' might be killing you. Similar to the "there's a meteor out there with the world in her sites and it's closing in" line. 

So that's the sensational side but even more so the danger, sadness and fear have been brought to our doorsteps several times in the past 4 years. Our visions of safe and even tranquil lives were shred with the tragedy of 911 and the on-going war and level of threat we have been living under. So it shook our ability to deny the realities, as in "I was dreaming wide awake......" and forced us to see/feel a lot of horrible things.

So internalizing all of that is some scary scary stuff. "Everything looks better with my eyes closed" because opening them brings the realities back in. In this song the man goes from being part of a group (tribe) to a couple to the last man - as if everything is falling away or being taken away. As if every former sense of safety or security is been challenged or stripped away. The dream/desire becomes to be "blind" to the realities around us. 

Again I like this song because of the strength and the emotion that catches the blend of anger and fear just perfectly. This world can scare the shit out of me sometimes too and this just captures it.
This song is kind of in the middle for me. I never skip it when I'm listening to the whole cd, but it's not one of the ones I search for when I'm in the mood to skip around for specific songs. When you really sit down and concentrate on the lyrics, though, it's really a powerful song with a lot of strong, powerful emotions. I get a message of panic, total and complete panic. The vision that comes to my mind is always of someone drowning.  Drowning in their fear, maybe.

I never really noticed the tribe->you and me->last man. Even more powerful. Even more scary. 

I really like his voice on this.

The thing that has me going in circles is that on one hand "I don't want to sleep" (and I don't blame him, if I woke up in this kind of panic every night, I wouldn't want to either) and yet everything looks better with his eyes closed. "Dreaming that I'm blind again" is saying to me that sometimes when he sleeps, he's back to a time when he wasn't as worried or aware about all these things that are bothering him now.

I think this is going to be one of those songs that will continue to get better for me the more I listen to it.

 
(Picking up my shield, and putting on the armor), I don't like this one. I'm a love song, ballad, boy-meets-girl and falls in love, you're beautiful, type of girl.   I don't want to know about no nightmares or the fact that Rick wakes up screaming sometimes.   Must be a bitch to sleep with, is all I can say.  He's drowning.  He can't breathe.  He's choking.  His car crashed, not far from here.  He's dreaming that he's blind!?!?!   Oh, someone put an end to the misery.  This is TMI.
A lot of people list this as their favorite.  I just don't get it.  I don't like the other voice yelling "BREATHE"  (which btw, took me a long time to figure out what it was saying, I'm sad to report).  Someone make it stop!   Aren't we at the Acceptance point of the album by now?  I listen to music to *get away* from the "real" world.  I listen to Rick's music to make me feel happy, and alive, and to put me in a good mood.   This song does none of that for me.



 

Fan Reviews

 

This is one of my favorites on the album. The terror, fear, the way this sick feeling permeates seemingly everything in this song, I would have to probably go with shock. I suppose it's kind of crazy that I find this to be one of my favorites, but I think it's because it's the exact same way I feel about the way the world is going...if I allow myself to think about all of this, my head starts spinning with all of the things that can happen, are happening, might be happening, will probably happen...you get the idea.

When he says "I can't breathe, I can't stop it..." that points to the shock you'd feel when you were drowning, seeing a bullet with your name on it.

"If it's all a magnificent mistake...there goes the universe and its order..." is just a complete statement of shock. If everything wasn't all the sudden the way you always thought it was (kind of how we all moved from the 9/10 mentality to the 9/11 mentality), you'd be utterly shocked (as we were on 9/11). The anger follows for sure, but for me, this song is all about shock at the madness of the state of the world.

This is the song that I always felt should have been released as the first single. From the moment I heard it, it was my favorite song on the cd. The music is very "today" in the way that it sounds, and I seriously doubt anyone would listen to it and know immediately that it was a Rick Springfield song. (Anyone that's not a die hard fan, anyway.) I think, had it been released as the first single, it would have shown everyone out there that took the time to actually listen to it that this was definitely NOT the Rick Springfield of the past.

To me, this song is all about your worst nightmare coming to life, and being unable to stop what's happening once it's in motion. I think it's interesting how it goes from "we're the last tribe as the world starts turning" to "we're the last you and me." to "I'm the last man." I think it's a very good way of illustrating that, even when we share a common fear with others, we ultimately end up feeling alone when something terrifies us.

I can't surface I.. (Breathe)
It's in my fear (Breathe)
And I can't stop it (Breathe)
I can't , I can't breathe (Breathe)
I'm choking (Breathe)

This is one of my favorite parts of the song. it just adds that little extra punch to it, for me. In writing this review, it occurred to me that the "breathe" can be likened to that tiny voice of calm and reassurance in the back of your mind. You're afraid, in a near panic-state over something, but there's this little voice in the background trying to tell you, "Hey, it's going to be all right. it's not as bad as you think it is. You CAN get through this."

I really wish fear was an option when it comes to song categories, because this one is tough to pin down. I went with shock when we voted, but it doesn't feel like the right choice to me, even now. Arguments were made for "acceptance" that were very persuasive, but that's not quite right, either. I think it's more like shock with a large dose of anger thrown in, as well, because the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, because it's too late.

Best damn song of the whole cd, as far as I'm concerned.

The person in the song is very upset about he what perceives is going on around him- to the point of being paranoid...

There's a terrorist somewhere
with my name on a bullet he's loadin'
there's a meteor out there with the world 
in her sites and it's closing in

It is interesting that the meteor is a "she"- but we should not go there...   This person is so upset they walked away from their crashed car...

my car crashed isn't far from here

They seem so distraught by the things that they are thinking and feeling that they only want the view the world with their eyes closed.

This too is one of my favorites on SDAA. Especially with all that's going on in the world today ... war, terrorists, tsunamis, etc. It's easy to focus on the bad and worst in people, and by doing so I may be missing the good and best in people. One of my favorite lines of this song is "If it's all a magnificent mistake, there goes the universe and its order". This is something that I have been thinking about for as long as I can remember. I consider myself a religious person, but I still have doubts sometimes as to what this life is all about and I keep wondering if this is all there is. I need to focus more on the here and now and be the best person I can be, and I'm sure that the end will take care of itself. 

In the past several months I have had to deal with a daughter leaving home to go away to college and my sixteen-year-old son getting his driver's license So the chorus of "I can't set aside, it's in my fear, and I can't stop it, I can't, I can't breathe, I'm choking, and I don't want to sleep" is pretty much how I feel every time one of my kids leaves the house. It's amazing how there are so many of Rick's songs that at one point or another have helped me emotionally through difficult times. Rick may write for his own therapy, I listen to his music for my therapy.