Music: Childhood Dreams

Another one of my top five favorite Romance songs. This one might actually be appropriate for your first dance at a wedding, which is a switch from most of the previous "love songs" I have featured.


Nelly Furtado is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actress. Not just Canadian, but Portuguese like me! Her Portuguese parents were emigrants to Canada from the Azores (where my mom is from!).

Like most of the Portuguese culture Furtado has stated that coming from a working-class background has shaped her identity in a positive way. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her mother and siblings. She began performing and singing in Portuguese at the age of four, was writing her own songs by the age of twelve, and performed in a Portuguese marching band as a teenager.

Furtado's musical success began as collaborations with groups like Plains of Fascination and Newkirk. She caught the attention of Gerald Eaton and Brian West from The Philosopher Kings after performing at a talent show and the three began to write and produced her first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)". They continued to collaborate which eventually led to Furtado's debut album, Whoa, Nelly!

Whoa, Nelly! was an international success with singles like "I'm Just A Bird" and "Turn Off the Light". It received four Grammy nominations and won for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance. Her work was critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. Slant Magazine called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium".

This defining style got even more eclectic on Furtado's second album, Folklore. Unfortunately, Folklore would not be as successful as Whoa, Nelly! due to this sound resulting in less "poppy" productions. Though some critics praised it for having "twice the originality" of her debut album. But the silver lining is that we were given this gem of a song, "Childhood Dreams".

"Childhood Dreams" was dedicated to her daughter Nevis. A concept I've never even considered when listening to it. All this time I thought it was a lyrical tribute to her husband and I'm just going to live in my own fantasy on this one. Let's examine the lyrics for further evidence:

I can't believe you need me,
I never thought would be needed for anything.
I can't believe my shoulder would carry such an important weight
As your head and your tears.
I can't believe you chose me, in all my fragility, me.
It hurts so much when I love you, it makes me cry,
Every time.

You, you are, oh you are,
The little boy made for me in the stars,
In the star, that's why I can't let you go.
The little boy made for me in the stars,
That's why I love you more the further I go.
And before this existence you were always there,
Waiting for me,
You are, you are the realest thing I know.
Hands down,
The realest thing I know.

I am not used to being carried,
Or being able to carry a pretty song.
I have been bruised by my many trails.
Sometimes my skin's so thick it's frail.
I just need to be ignored 'til I wake up to the beauty that is yours,
And it all comes to life so suddenly.
This is a place so deep, the water's so deep I hesitate, cause.

All the energy it takes to feel this power,
I tend to run, I tend to hide, I tend to scream 'til I find you and I know I
got you,
I know, I know, I know,

You're the little boy made for me in the stars
In the stars, that's why I can't let you go.
The little boy made for me in the stars,
That's why I love you more the further I go.
And before this existence you were always here,
Inside of me
You are, you are the realest thing I know.
Hands down...the realest thing I know.

I'm sliding on the rainbows of my childhood dreams.
I'm sliding on the rainbows of my childhood dreams.

When you carry me, when you carry me, when you carry me
It's so happy.

I'm sliding on the rainbows of my childhood dreams.
I'm sliding on the rainbows of my childhood dreams.

I guess knowing this now I can see how it relates to her son. But lyrics like "I have been bruised by many trails, sometimes my skin's so thick, it's frail" make me feel like Furtado has finally found the man to respect her heart and love her unconditionally. Which could be true of a child. I guess all art is open for interpretation!

Hope you interpret it in the way that suits you best. No official video from Furtado, but you can still hear the song (below). Enjoy!