The human mind is truly a remarkable thing. In every moment of our lives, it is constantly active and processing millions of stimulii: from the blink of an eye to the fact that I am able to type this text to you, from mastering language and the written word to enabling the creation of magnificent works of art and composing heartbreaking, beautiful and epic melodies. It is the most complex computer known to mankind, with the ability to master numerous types of problem solving and with a capability to learn and adapt that Alan Turing could only dream of in a machine. And yet, for all it's power of thought and creativity, it is also the most fragile organ in the body, with even a minute amount of damage resulting in profound, possibly life-changing effects for the sufferer. Medical science has made colossal leaps and bounds over the past century, but we are still a million miles away from truly understanding the complexity and function of the mind. But when you consider the many varied functions our brains provide, there is one area in particular that manages to fascinate, yet simultaneously perplex and bewilder. It is arguably the aspect that most differentiates us from the numerous other species we share this world with and is that one thing that truly defines us as human: our capability for imagination and to dream - a desire to constantly better ourselves and to push forward... not to be satisfied with the here-and-now, but to shape the future.
I realise that this reads more like the beginning of an article in a science journal and you're probably now thinking "What does this have to do with Keane?", but bear with me on this. One of the most interesting aspects of the whole area of the subconscious mind and the sleeping-dreaming state is trying to figure out what the purpose of our dreams actually is. Are they completely superfluous, being nothing more than the random expulsions of our stressed-out minds? Or are they in fact something much more fundamental to our well-being, helping us to manage and cope with the multitude of chaos and drama thrown at us in our normal, everyday lives? Clearly, the latter viewpoint becomes slightly less watertight when you consider the sheer ludicrousness that our dreams can take. After all, very few of us (as the well-rounded, intelligent, sophisticated adults that we are) can have ever faced the situation where we might suddenly find ourselves back at school, only to then notice that we aren't wearing any trousers (or is it only me that has had that recurring dream?). Maybe it does serve a purpose though: after all, I can now safely say that I have never once ventured beyond the front door of my flat without checking that I have all the essentials:
- Wallet: check.
- Keys: check.
- Mobile Phone: check.
- Trousers: check.
Perhaps the dream was my mind's way of preparing me for that eventuality and making sure I was never going to fall foul of a public indecency offence? We may never know for sure, but perhaps a third option concerns another great unknown about the workings of our minds: namely, that wonderfully vague and speculative "sixth sense", commonly referred to as extrasensory perception (or ESP, in these buzzword-conscious times). Although I don't believe that it's ever been proven, there is certainly some degree of mileage in the investigation of the relationship between dreams and "deja-vu" - could our dreams be giving us a glimpse into a potential future? In the case of the forgotten trousers, I certainly hope not... but there was a truly momentous dream that I had the other evening that, if ESP were to play a part, would make for a truly epic event in my otherwise dull existence.
This is where Keane come in (thank-you for sticking with me this far!). It had been a relatively ordinary day, followed by the usual quiet evening of television, music and web-surfing. In preparation for another day of hard work at the coalface of building performance analysis software development (that's the rock'n'roll lifestyle, my friends), I retired to bed for an early night and quickly slipped into a sound sleep. The scene rapidly shifts to me standing at the side of stage in Hall 4 of the SECC in Glasgow, with Tom, Tim, Richard and Big JQ on-stage finishing a storming rendition of Perfect Symmetry. In a blur of lights, introductions and noise, I bound on-stage to take my seat at the trusty CP70 while Tim switches over to to the CP60 piano beside JQ. The click-track begins in my in-ear monitors and I gently start the intro notes to A Bad Dream and we're off. Tim plays the middle-eight string parts from the CP60, before playing the chords (leaving Tom free to concentrate on singing) while I batter hell out of the CP70 for the big distorted piano finale. With the song completed, there's only time for a quick handshake from Tom and a backslap from Tim before I'm off, leaving the band to kick into a triumphant Somewhere Only We Know.
I woke up with my mind buzzing from the dream - it was extremely vivid and realistic and I'm pleased to report that at no point during the "performance" did I glance downwards and discover that I had forgotten to put any jeans on (of course, this worryingly could still mean that I had forgotten, but merely hadn't noticed). The dream gave me such a delirious high, in fact, that I can only deduce that this was my mind's way of preparing me for an event that is now clearly destined to happen. After all, the band will be Glasgow-bound in a little over two months from now, so it seems only right that my subconscious would want to give me an early warning and sufficient practice time. As I write, I still haven't had the official word from the band to say that they'd love for me to take to the stage with them on their sole Scottish date of the forthcoming UK arena tour, but I'm sure that offer will be made soon enough - only a matter of biding my time.
Of course, dreaming that I can play the song successfully and convincingly is one thing: doing it for real is an altogether different and more challenging task! So, I decided that it would be prudent to sit down at my old CP70, rig up a distortion effect for the solo sections and give it a good crack of the whip, in order to see just how close or far removed the dream Mart was from the reality. I'd be lying if I said it went totally smoothly (listen out for a Les Dawson-esque clanger during the middle-eight when I forget what chord I'm changing to, then laugh as I consistently mess up the effects changes) but on the whole, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Given that the gig isn't until the end of January, that gives me plenty of time to get my act together. You can now judge for yourself exactly how steep (or gradual!) this particular mountain will be to climb, because I helpfully recorded it for your delectation (if you can't get it to play, try installing the latest Flash Player - oh, and don't put the volume up too loud on the distorted sections, or you may risk hearing loss!):
Apart from the mistakes, you could almost believe it was Tim himself! Well, not really... but it could've been a lot worse, I hope you'll agree. Like I say, once I've got the official nod, I'll practice it religiously every evening until I can practically play it in my sleep - in which case, the dream really will have come full-circle! Hell, I'll even have a go at singing the backing vocals with Tim, Richard and JQ... bring it on! After all, I've sung (badly) on-stage before - admittedly, that was only to about 100 folk in a tiny venue in Edinburgh, so singing to nearly 10,000 people while trying to play piano with one of the country's best-loved bands will require me to up my game by just a tad. But I'm ready and raring to go - I can almost taste the aftershow beers and pizza now!
Right, with the scene now set for what can only be a resounding triumph of a gig, I'm off to get back to the CP70 for more practice. In the meantime... Tom, Tim, Richard, Jesse: you've got my number, I'll be waiting on your call - you know it makes sense! This time next year, we could all be millionaires... ;-)