Dream Child (A Christmas Dream)

Album: The Christmas Attic (1998)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Trans-Siberian Orchestra's studio masterminds are Paul O'Neill and Jon Oliva. O'Neill calls "Dream Child" his favorite song on The Christmas Attic album. He explained its message to Christianity Today: "The narrator sings about a dream encounter with the Christ child. I always thought I completely gave it away with the line:

    And I said to the Child, 'Do your hands they still bleed
    After all of this time, do you think there's still need?'
    But the Child only smiled and said not a word
    And the snow it came down, as if it hadn't heard.

    It's just a way of saying that [Jesus] has never given up on us, even though we may have given up ourselves."
  • Trans-Siberian Orchestra re-recorded this song in 2010 with Tim Hockenberry on lead vocals. Hockenberry caught national attention with his cover of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" on America's Got Talent.

    The singer also treasures a special gift from Paul O'Neill. He told Marin magazine in 2010: "Paul O’Neill, the creator of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, knew I loved books on the Holocaust, so he gave me a first edition signed print of my favorite book by Elie Wiesel, called NIGHT, and inside of it was an actual thousand-dollar bill to be used as a bookmark to always remind me of the value of the written word. Paul is a very generous man."

    That bill can be spotted in a martini glass in Hockenberry's "Hard Times" video.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."