Ozzy Osbourne – Dreamer

About The Song

“Dreamer” is a ballad and the third track from Ozzy Osbourne’s album Down to Earth, which was released on October 16, 2001. The single peaked at number 10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks. The song describes the rockstar’s vision of people and humanity destroying Earth. In the liner notes to Osbourne’s Prince of Darkness box set, Ozzy refers to this song as his version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. The Japanese and European press of the single also include a slightly different version of the song, dubbed “Dreamer (acoustic)”, and a previously unreleased song titled “Black Skies”.
This is Ozzy’s vision of a better world for his children. He envisions a place where they are happy and safe.
This was written about three years before it was released. It took on new significance after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001.
Ozzy compares this to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which contains the line, “You might say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” The Beatles were a big influence on Ozzy, as they also became stars after growing up in a poor section of England.
Another reference to John Lennon is the line “After all, there’s only just the two of us.” This is an acknowledgment of the Beatles song “Two of Us.” Although Paul McCartney wrote it to his wife Linda, it has since become accepted as a description of his relationship to close friend Lennon, and was even used as the title to a VH1 TV-movie about them.
Rob Zombie directed the video. Zombie toured with Ozzy that year on the “Merry Mayhem” tour.
This is Ozzy’s favorite song on the album.
Osbourne told The Sun that he asked Paul McCartney to play bass on this song but the former Beatle declined because “he couldn’t improve what was already there.”

Video

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering will mother earth survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her sometime
After all, there’s only just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself time after time

[Chorus]
I’m just a dreamer, I dream my life away
I’m just a dreamer who dreams of better days

[Verse 2]
I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
I’m hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us, this time

[Chorus]
I’m just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeah
I’m just a dreamer who dreams of better days

[Bridge]
Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ
It doesn’t really matter much to me
Without each other’s help, there ain’t no hope for us
I’m living in a dream of fantasy, oh yeah, yeah, yeah