Dave Matthews Band: The Dreaming Tree Meaning

The Dreaming Tree Lyrics

Standing here
The old man said to me,
"Long before these crowded streets
Here stood my dreaming tree."
Below it he would sit
For hours at a time
Now progress takes away
What forever took to find
And now he's falling hard
He feels the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Oct 3rd 2006 !⃝

   This song has a special inspiration behind it. My name is chase, and I attend the university of alabama. Walking home one day I passed an older black man with cerebal palsy(sp?) in a motorized wheel chair and became good friends with him. His name is nathan, and a book is written about his amazing story. Suffice it all to say that he was physically and mentally abused growing up, until his uncle took him to a cherry tree as a child to learn how to read, write, and grow. Condemned to a wheel chair all his life, despite all of his problems, he has spent all his life trying to help others, even to send me free tickets to dave's final show of his 2006 tour in charlottesville, va. The song "dreaming tree" is about the cherry tree in tuscaloosa, al and nathan's impact on dave matthews life as he played several shows in tuscaloosa during his earlier years.
2. joeyroc

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   Jun 13th 2019 !⃝

   First of all, this is and probably will always be my favorite DMB song for a couple reasons. I've been listening consistently since 1990 when nobody knew who heck Dave was. He sings all his songs with a lot of heart and soul but this song stood out to me. At first i thought it was a tribute to Dave's native american background. The first verse reminds me of a tired old indian chief reflecting on his land that was basically stolen. However if you keep listening it most definitely is about the loss of Stefan's daughter. i think they (dave and stefan) wrote this seperately and put it together ultimately because well why not...
3. anonymous

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   Jun 30th 2017 !⃝

   No. Y'all don't know what your talking about. Believe me, I know Dave, and this song is about butt sex. Fuck you.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

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   Aug 20th 2011 !⃝

   I'm going to say that he is trying to tell everyone that you have you dreams in life and sometimes they die off but to always remember those dreams and if you really believe in them never give up on them. Dave has a weird way of saying things so it could be several different meanings. But he is one of the best song writers I know of and all of his songs have a special impact on my life. From the happiest to the lowest. But he helps me get through them and I couldn't imagine life without his songs. So thank you Dave .
5. Baldenthin

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   Nov 26th 2009 !⃝

   Dave Matthews tells his stories through his music. Listening to The Dreaming Tree is exactly that. A dreaming tree that has weathered many years and comforted many souls from the young to the old. As everything in life fades, so does the life of a tree. A beautiful tree. It is just a story.
6. anonymous

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   Feb 24th 2009 !⃝

   Dave says himself that the meanings of his songs change over time. So all of you could be right. I personally think the dreaming tree is like a comfort blanket when you are growing up. When you realize you are in the real world now and that this is real life. Just growing up in general and how hard it is. Thats just my opinion
7. akasik23

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   Sep 25th 2008 !⃝

   First off I would like to say that everybody has their own opinions on what the song means and it's their own opinion and interpretation of the song so let them have that. I believe this song is to be about youthfulness, innocence, and exactly what the song is called: about your dreams. The song about how when you are young and in your youth years you have no troubles no real world to deal with. And then when you are older you just wish you could go back to those times where there were no worries and you can dream about innocence and no worries...that's my interpretation and I may be wrong but that's what I truely believe it means.
8. jmorrowdmb

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   Jun 11th 2008 !⃝

   No y'all are wrong Dave and Stefan wrote this together about Stefan's daughter that died when she was a child.
9. anonymous

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   Sep 8th 2007 !⃝

   Heheh Hi Chase! I used to live in T-town myself until about two years ago..
   Personally I feel that this song is about losing memorable places and important people and things of sentiment in our lives.. Such as the tree being dozed over by some development company... and how the loss of something so sentimental of his past makes him long for the days of being able to find comfort in the arms and laps of parents, just as much as we did when we were children.. Such as the same as the second verse; except the lady couldn't keep a relationship together so she began drinking heavily and feeling desperate.

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