The Danger of Daydreams & ‘ceilings’ by Lizzy McAlpine

About a month ago, I heard a clip of a song called ‘ceilings’ by Lizzy McAlpine on TikTok. I immediately went and listened to the full song, and after that, I was completely hooked on it and all of Lizzy’s music. Though ‘ceilings’ is an unbelievably beautiful sounding song, it's the lyrical story of it that struck me on a deeply emotional level.

If you haven’t heard the song, I strongly encourage you to listen to it first because I don’t want my summary of it to spoil its magic.

‘Ceilings’ is just over three minutes long, and for the first two minutes and 26 seconds, we hear a beautifully romantic story. The song opens with, “Ceilings/Plaster/Can’t you just make it move faster/Lovely to be sitting here with you.” Then, the first chorus ends with the lyrics, “You kiss me in your car/And it feels like the start of a movie I’ve seen before.” I interpret this whole first verse and chorus to be telling the story of something like a first date. 

Then, in the second verse, this story progresses: “Bed sheets/No clothes/Touch me like nobody else does/Lovely to just lay here with you.” As you can see, we continue to hear more about this romantic relationship. 

But then, as the instruments build up in the background, we hear lyrics that feel like a punch in the gut after all that we heard already: “But it’s not real/And you don’t exist/And I can’t recall the last time I was kissed.” 

So, the entire romantic story was just a figment of the imagination; it wasn’t real. Yet, we think it's all real until the end of the song. 

The magic of the song is that it perfectly captures the feeling of an out-of-control daydream. The kind of daydream where it actually feels real until the painful snap back into reality. This song highlights the danger of daydreams, and it got me thinking about daydreams in general.

Daydreams

The last few months, I’ve done a lot of introspection around the many sorts of daydreams I’ve had throughout my life. I’ve had daydreams about romantic relationships (like in ‘ceilings’), being a famous singer, getting accepted into my dream university, living in Europe, and about a million other things. As weird as it feels to write all that down, I know that everyone experiences daydreams to some extent and it’s a normal part of the human experience.

Unfortunately, daydreams can cause a lot of pain and confusion, as we see in ‘ceilings.’ But daydreams can also be an extremely positive thing. As much as I’d like to find a clear answer about whether or not it’s a good thing to daydream, the actual answer is far more complex. 

As I said, daydreams can be a positive thing. Think about it: the only reason stories and books and movies exist is because they were daydreamed up. But even if you aren’t writing a novel around the story in your mind, your daydreams can entertain you and be a way for you to express your creativity. Daydreams can also just be a quick break from reality. 

So, at what point to daydreams become dangerous? 

I believe that daydreams become dangerous the moment they start to confuse our reality. This could mean a number of different things. First off, daydreams can make you think differently about real people. You may fantasize a whole relationship with someone in your mind (like in ‘ceilings’) and then end up getting emotionally attached to something that isn’t real. And, if you’re thinking about a real person that you know, this can actually change the way you perceive that person.

This doesn’t just apply to romantic daydreams, though. We can daydream idealized versions of ourselves and this can change how we view ourselves. We can imagine everything around us going perfectly and then become disappointed when things don’t go they way they did in our daydream. Also, daydreaming idealized versions of our lives can cause us to dislike our own reality and not appreciate all the great things in our lives.

Now, my point in saying all of this isn’t to tell you to never daydream again. I for one have certainly fallen victim to all of these “dangerous” daydreams. Daydreaming is a super regular part of the human experience and, like I said, it can often be a good thing. Even when it isn’t a good thing, though, it’s still a normal and largely unavoidable part of life. 

My point is this: as soon as you forget that you’re daydreaming and the way you see the world, yourself, and others changes, you may end up experiencing some difficulties. In order to avoid this, you simply need to develop an awareness for your daydreams. This is something I tell myself often, especially when I find myself a little too wrapped up in something that isn’t real.

Although it seems obvious to be aware of when you’re daydreaming, it’s actually not always so easy. As I said, sometimes your daydream can bleed into your reality without you even noticing.

And that is precisely why ‘ceilings’ is such a magical song. ‘ceilings’ doesn’t tell you that it’s about a daydream - it puts you into the daydream. The start of the song feels like the moment you escape into a daydream, and as the song progresses, this daydream becomes more and more intense. By the end of the song, you’re so emerged in the daydream that the line, “But it’s not real/And you don’t exist” hits like a rock. You realize that the difference between a daydream and reality isn’t so clear. But, if you can develop an awareness of your daydreams, you can still enjoy this natural human experience without the painful confusion of a falsified reality created in your own mind.

Written by Peyton Price - Entertainment Values