The Strangest Dream

The paper they were signing said they'd never fight again

Apr 01, 2025

Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for “The Peace Poem” and today’s song, “The Strangest Dream” by Ed McCurdy (1950). If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.
🔰Note: today’s article is written at a level of TOEIC (PBT) 350, Eiken Pre-2, CEFR A2.

John Denver (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

(562 words)

Today’s song is about peace. When we think about the meaning of peace, most people might say it’s when there isn’t war. Peace is also about fairness. It’s about the way we work and about the way we treat each other. Another word for this is justice.

The first part of this article is a poem. John Denver gives the poem before he sings the song. In the last few lines of the poem, he talks about separation that keeps people apart because of the color of their skin, their gender, the amount of money and things they have, their age, and so on. In reality, there is no difference. We are all part of this world When it's (really) all for us (together) or nothing. We have to share it and take care of each other. If we don’t, we will have nothing. When Denver says, “For me, the name is ‘past’”, he’s saying, “Can’t we stop the hatred? Can’t we make separation a thing of the past?”

The Peace Poem

There's a name for war and killing
There's a name for giving in
When you know another answer
For me, the name is sin

But there's still time to turn around
And make all hatred cease
And give another name to living
And we could call it peace

And peace would be the road we walk
Each step along the way
And peace would be the way we work
And peace the way we play

And in all we see that's different
And all the things we know
Peace would be the way we look
And peace the way we grow

There's a name for separation
There's a name for first and last
When it's all for us or nothing
For me, the name is “past”

But there still is time to turn around
And make all hatred cease
And give a name to all the future
And we could call it peace

And if peace is what we pray for
And peace is what we give
Then peace will be the way we are
And peace the way we live

For there still is time to turn around
And make all hatred cease
And give another name to living
And we could call it peace

**John Denver 'Spirit' Statue** on the Windstar land in Snowmass, Colorado. Photo: SandianeCarter (Wikimedia Commons)

Denver then sings this simple, beautiful song which was written by Ed McCurdy in 1950. According to Wikipedia, the song has been recorded in seventy-six languages. School children sang this song in 1989 as the Berlin Wall was being torn down.

The song is about a dream of world leaders signing a promise not to have any more wars. The leaders gave thanks. The people were so happy. They gave up their weapons. There was no more need for soldiers.

What a wonderful dream.

The Strangest Dream

Last night I had the strangest dream
I’d ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

I dreamed I saw a mighty room
And the room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again

And when the paper was all signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed

And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

How can we make this dream a reality?

I believe that education should be free.

All of the articles about the songs will remain free for students to use. (We are all students, are we not?) However, if you find these articles useful and are in a position to make a small (or large) donation, I would be deeply grateful.

buymeacoffee.com/socialissuesinsong

Read about more songs supporting peace:

https://louisehaynes.substack.com/t/for-peace