Singing Winkle

Music and written works, when integrated, have the power to evoke profound feelings and to intensify a message or idea. The lyrics of "I Could Be Dreaming" by Belle & Sebastian capture the dolour and mystique of the tale "Rip Van Winkle." These two works display how a story can be told through all human senses and can touch the heart in a familiar way no matter the medium.

The song lyric “a family's like a loaded gun” reflects Dame van Winkle’s scathing yammer by which Rip is burdened and unhinged. Rip Van Winkle runs from this loaded gun, as anyone would, because it’s harmful to his well-being as a care-free man. There is a great sense of dissension felt through this lyric, which gleans from Dame and Rip’s intolerable relationship.

Throughout the song, questions are asked, just as one finds themselves asking questions throughout Irving’s story, and such questioning displays the perplexing quality and obscurity of the tale. “I'm feeling awkward I'm feeling tongue tied” seems to derive from Rip van Winkle’s line, “that flagon last night..has addled my poor head sadly.” The soft singing, resonating guitar strums, cymbal swishes, and buzzing of the synthesizer play up the vertiginous descriptions of the rolling Catskill mountains, and Rip’s desire to escape from his wife’s rath.

Together song and story intertwine to address the hardships and wonders of Rip van Winkle’s life and the change in spirit of a quiet colonial village in the pieces "I Could Be Dreaming" and "Rip Van Winkle." Although composed during extremely different time periods, the essence of both are very much alike and speak to human emotions.