Dream sequences in film, videos and television always catch my attention and I have fun analyzing them. This one stopped me in my tracks when it aired on VH-1 this morning. The Dave Matthews band's music video, "Dreamgirl" is a very realistic dream simulation and is loaded with symbolism.

Julia Roberts has been an international dream girl for more than a decade now, so it's not surprising to see her in a music video. The Dave Matthews Band's video, "Dreamgirl" vividly portrays one of those "is it real or is it a dream?" dreams. Scenes and people keep changing as well as the dreamer's state of awareness. At several points in the dream, Julia thinks that she is waking up, which may indicate that she is, in fact, lucid dreaming.

Julia "awakens" to a beautiful dream world in an endless field of bluebells. The actual scene was shot in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Bluebell Wood, an actual landscape of over 45,000 bluebells. A faceless man appears and re-appears throughout the dream. With each appearance, he morphs into a member of the band. Each either rescues Julia or tells her that "it's just a dream." Julia morphs into a child and back again as she run through a playground before climbing out of a dryer in a laundromat, taking a piece of clothing from one machine to cover up. The bench she sits down on transforms into a church pew. Julia thinks she's waking up in her bed and goes downstairs to find another man who offers to cook for her. She again finds the faceless man changing into Dave Matthews at her door before waking up to find in reality that she was still dreaming. One more man, presumably her husband, asks if she is all right. Throughout the video, Dave is watching the dream in a theater on a movie screen.

Well, Julia, if I had to interpret this dream I'd tell you that running indicates a need to escape from overwhelming emotion, insecurity or anxiety. Running into a wall is one of those rare literal symbols and doesn't need much explanation. Flowers symbolize beauty, sentiment and the life-death cycle of beginnings and endings. The laundromat symbolizes a need to come clean and the church symbolizes a need to confess. The playground symbolizes a desire or need to return to the carefree, playful days of childhood. Male figures have various meanings depending on the context of the dream and their significance to the dreamer. In this case, I'd have to say that the faceless man represents the consequences of yielding to the desires of the heart. This dream girl may be fantasizing about someone other than her husband......but it's just a music video, right?

It would be difficult to say anything negative about a band that, through their through their Bama Works Village Recovery Fund is partnering with CARE to help tsunami-struck communities in eastern Sri Lanka rebuild their lives. Although they've been around since the 1990's, I've only recently become acquainted with their music, which is best described as "jam rock." I find their bouncy, upbeat tunes uplifting. "Dreamgirl" is on the band's newest CD, Stand Up, available at Amazon.com.

May all your dreams come true!

Parthena Black is a professional social worker and ordained minister with experience in tarot and runes. For private spiritual counseling and intuitive readings via e-mail, please visit her at oymygoddess.com.

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