"I Still Dream" is one of those sentimental experiments where one explores a not-so distant ancestor's past works to find some sort of imaginary thread of connection. It is an interpretation of "Like A Dream" (1950), a photograph taken by the late Yip Cheong Fun.
Jon and Jared have never known Yip Cheong Fun. They've seen his pictures and attended exhibitions featuring his work, but they don't actually know the person. Their impressions of him are just fragments of stories and anecdotes about his life, his hobby and his techniques.
They do know their grandfather Andrew Yip who penned a poem based on this 73 year old picture of a misty road somewhere in Kallang. Called "I Still Dream and Just Dream", Jon was deeply drawn by its melancholic tone as an impressionable 17-year-old. Something about the expression of sheer despair placed it somewhere alongside Benjamin Gibbard's writing in "Narrow Stairs", a favourite album of Jon's.
So even though the poem holds a somewhat abstract connection to the original photograph, the way the imagery amplifies the bleakness in the poem made the idea of reinterpreting it into song a no-brainer. It captures the essence of emo in its most earnest form. No feigned toughness, just deep regret - a thread to resonate with, another Yip to figure out.
10 years and 3 different versions of the song later, Jon found it right to hand it over to another Yip: Jared, who had just gotten into math rock and midwest emo. It's no secret that Jared is the secret weapon of the band – he can be extremely versatile when he wants to be. One strand of lightning caught in a bottle later and here we are with whatever this is: another interpretation of the same mysterious photograph.
lyrics
I still dream and just dream
A tiny voice says it's sufficient
Just pick some stones downstream
To build a castle magnificent
I still dream and just dream
To see the beauty of your face
Loveliest visions of pure love beam
And memories of nameless grace
I still dream and just dream
Strands of hair that gently kiss your face
Touched by wind and stars agleam
With love so pure, so dear in its dwelling place
I still dream and just dream
Of the house I knew before
Where roses and violets grew by the stream
But now they fade for sure and are no more
I still dream and just dream
Of the trees I climbed, dark and high
To view their slender tops supreme
A childish dream to touch the sky
I still dream and just dream
But now fond hopes are pure pipedreams
Dead years like dark clouds in heaven's height
So sad, so strange, they still lurk in all delight
What is my only comfort in life and death
What is my only comfort in life and death
What is my only comfort
What is my only comfort
What is my only comfort in life and death
I shun the dream of heaven for there's little joy
It's much farther than I was just a boy
credits
released May 29, 2023
Written and Arranged by Andrew Yip, Jonathan Yip, Jared Yip, Diane Teo, Sarah Lim and Regan Wong
Executive Producer: James Yip
Artwork by Yip Cheong Fun
Alternate Artwork by Yanni Chia
Music Video by Jonathan Yip
Jonathan Yip: Vocals, Production, Mixing
Jared Yip: Supporting Vocals, Electric Guitar, Synthesiser, Keys, Drums, Production
Diane Teo: Supporting Vocals, Bass
Sarah Lim: Supporting Vocals, Cello
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