I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of the American Dream.
To me it represents hope, ambition and the belief that life can always become something better.
As I’ve grown older I’ve realised that dreams and reality often exist at opposite ends of our universe.
Dreams create perfect worlds.
Reality rarely does.
In chasing those dreams we sometimes overlook the people, places and moments already surrounding us.
Someone once said to me:
“You never notice the moments of supreme happiness until they are gone.”
That thought stayed with me.
One day I wrote the opening line:
“Ain’t got much money… Ain’t got new shoes…”
I had absolutely no idea where the song was going.
I never do.
I don’t begin with a finished story. I simply follow wherever the lyrics lead me.
Within about thirty minutes most of American Dream had written itself.
As the song developed it became the story of someone leaving home believing the grass would be greener somewhere else.
Experience eventually teaches us that life isn’t always like that.
Sometimes the greatest things we ever possess were already within arm’s reach.
That is what American Dream means to me.