Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: 40 Day Dream Meaning

40 Day Dream Lyrics

I've been sleeping for forty days and
Yeah, I know that I'm sleeping cause this dream's too amazing
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be, yeah
One turn and I learned what it really means to see, yeah

It's the magical mystery...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 21st 2021 !⃝

   I found this song relatively recently, and I gotta say, I think most people are over analyzing a simple song (not that it isn't deep). Upon listening and reading the lyrics, I personally think the song is about a man who goes to sleep every night and dreams about a girl that he loves; a girl that doesn't actually exist. This is made evident (at least to me) by the repeated reminders that he's been sleeping for X amount of days, and that he doesn't want to wake up, so he doesn't want anyone to "pinch" him.
   
   A line I commonly see overanalyzed (IMO) is when he says "just one turn and I learn what it really means to see". I've seen people say it's a biblical reference, and, not to discredit them, another user on this site say he's sending the girl off on some sort of pilgrimage. I feel that the line has a much simpler meaning that fits perfectly in with my interpretation. My personal belief is that he is explaining that every night, he rolls over in his bed (or turns as the song says) and falls asleep, thus continuing his fantasy romance with the girl of his dreams, literally.
   
   What I think even further solidifies the interpretation that the song is about a dream, is the fact that he explains on the chorus that it "must be a lie". He knows he's dreaming and that it's a lie and has to say "bye bye to that too good to be true kind of love" every morning. Not to mention the song is literally called 40 day DREAM.
   
   With that being said, I do think there are valid points to be made that the song is much more deep and double sided than I've personally come to believe.
2. anonymous

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   Mar 27th 2012 !⃝

   40 days has significance in a bunch of arenas yet mostly relating to the Christian faith. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights due to God's wanting to clean & wash the world and start afresh. Noah waited 40 days after it rained before he opened a window in/on the Ark. The Egyptitians practice of embalming bodies with balming hay & formaldehyde salve could only happen after they/the bodies sat perfectly dead/still for 40 days. (The dead humans must have been "quite ripe" or "bloody well ripe".) Moses was a man on the mountain with God for 40 days. Moses' face shone shiny after the exact 40 days on the mountain with the biblical form of god. Jesus did not eat food/fasted/fast food for 40 days in the wilderness which made him quite hungry... All of these 40 days makes me think Edward is relating his love to the bible in some format. Maybe he loves her as much as the rains & heavens & parting of the seas and other acts of incredible supernatural Christian force. (Yes, if you didn't know, rain was created by the Christian God.) Edward's dream of his Love/friend is really potent. Her eyes are golden doorknobs which means glorious pricey openings into her face which = a window into her personality. "The magical mystery kind" is a reference to The Beatles who were a very popular band from England, back in the day. I believe when Edward says "one turn and I learned what it really means to see" is all about him sending her off on a pilgrimage of pain. She had to go through some type of hell on earth and he tried to grasp what it was she was experiencing, through her eyes. He was working to understand her pain & then write about it. He called his process "an amazing dream" and "too good to be true", when she was trying hard to stay alive by taking the opposite position which was, "ignore the nightmare". Suddenly something happens in between the lines, and he decides to say goodbye to her because he thinks she is a lying bitch who pinches. He feels as if he is going crazy now because he can't seem to wake up from his dream. Her lips are like a pair of long, thick, insulated electrical wires with large, clamplike terminals. They are used to start a motor vehicle's engine, by connecting its dead battery to a live battery, which means they make him feel alive but they squeeze him when he kisses her. The last time he felt her shocking lips was at least 40 or 60 days ago and this is far too long. Which makes him-n-her angry even though the act creates wrenching pain. The moral of this song is = great things have occurred in the span of 40 days. He shouldn't dream for too long because it is starving the girl who is relying on him ergo she will become severely hungry & dehydrated and/or die and have to get embalmed or cremated. Then he'll have to hope for the heavens to open and floods & rains to come wash away all of the famine, death & trauma he created. Then he'll have to go sit on a mountain for 40 days to punish himself and contemplate his past actions which resulted in his current problems. Edward: Just tell her you love her and then kiss the pinching bitch's lips.
   
   This Has Been A Wonderful Review For Me Because I Didn't Use The Word THAT Even Once.
3. anonymous

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   Jan 22nd 2011 !⃝

   40 days in the desert?

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