The first couple lines of the song, which are repeated for emphasis, set up the location of the song, “In the middle of the night / I go walking in my sleep.” Joel is not a sleep-walker; he is simply telling the listener that this song is going to be about his dreams. This is the first use of metaphor in the song and sets up the idea of dreaming.

In the sixth verse, Joel sings “I wade into the river / that runs to the promised land.” At this point in the song, Joel has worked up the courage to try wading into the water. Notice that he can only make this attempt after going through the “jungle of doubt,” and “valley of fear.” After exploring the “desert of truth,” Joel is ready to conquer the “river so deep” and “wide.” Joel believes that he will find what he is looking for in “the promised land.” The only way he can get there is to jump into this unpredictable ever-changing river. The metaphoric meaning behind wading into the water represents trying to get back the sacred piece of his soul that was taken from him.

There is a great deal of symbolism involved in the river, which is the focus the song. This “river of dreams” is most frequently referred to as “a river so deep.” Here, the word “deep” carries with it different meanings. There is the literal, the actual depth of the water, which keeps him from crossing; then there is the (excuse the phrase) deeper meaning, the river is difficult to comprehend. The river represents the ever-flowing subconscious. Everyone’s “river of dreams” is full of twists and turns making it impossible to understand fully, or in this case, difficult to cross.

Until the last few lines of the song, Joel only refers to himself; “I” “I’m.” In his final water metaphor, Joel suggests that “we all end in the ocean / we all start in the streams / we’re all carried along / by the river of dreams.” Joel implies that everyone

These lines correspond to Joel’s emotion/place metaphors. First he has “faith” that he can find what he has lost, and then he “fears” that someone has stolen “it” right out of his soul. Joel “do

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