I Don't Want to Wake Up

The brain is a wonderful, terrible thing
When it takes over your nighttime hours
In your dreams, you're great, you can do anything
And most times have incredible powers.

You can fly, you're invulnerable, you're always right
And you always just make perfect sense
You've finished that novel, or you're a Hollywood star
Or the newest Secretary of Defense

Those dreams are cool, and most of us have them
Every week or two, monthly, or so
They're great, and you enjoy them whenever you have them
But they aren't the ones that hurt the most, though.

No, those dreams are great, and you wake up and think
If only the world was this
But you wake up and know that none of it's real
It's the dreams full of people you miss

That cause you to wake up, not aware that you dreamed
And just for a second or two
You don't know you woke up, and it's not a dream
No, it's real, just as real as you.
The friends that you miss, the things you can't fix
Because time is just linear, you see
It's happened, it's done, and your life marches on
But the dream's just a dream, not to be.

So you wake late at night, and you're finally aware
that the dream isn't real, your people aren't there
And you cry like a child, and a few gasps of air
Is all you have left of the people that care

And that's why I say, and my words they will ring
Through your soul and your heart for all time
That the brain is a wonderful, terrible thing
With your family and friends just a heartbeat beside

So you wake up, and cry, and you go on your way
In a world full of pain, greed, and hate
And you live for the nights, with those wonderful dreams
With those terrible dreams full of things you can't make
With those terrible, wonderful, dreams