Tim Gick, leader of shadowy bleak-wave outfit TV Ghost, dreamt he broke down and cried in front of his father, but an occult book eased the pain. Perhaps he fears parental chastisement, or seeks his father’s approval in vain (in which case Gick’s dad should listen to TV Ghost’s latest, Disconnect and get real.) There’s certainly a ruptured family connection here, but the significance of an occult book seems ambiguous or elusive, at least to this credentialed dream interpreter. Liz Liles, drummer of Sacramento’s sneering rock mainstays G. Green, is even more qualified to interpret dreams than myself, what with her various awards for deciphering the latent desires of restless sleepers internationally (turns out rhythm and intimate knowledge of the Id’s strange mechanics go hand in hand.) She sussed Gick’s need for paternal wisdom, the significance of a bishop and related some personal experience.
TIM GICK OF TV GHOST’S DREAM
I'm at my parents’ house. Everything is dizzy, dim and blue. I walk into my father's room quite upset. He walks to his dresser, procures a mason jar full of sand and hands it to me. Still on the verge of tears, he tries to soothe me. I can see something buried in the jar of sand so I reach in and pull it out. It's a chess piece – a bishop made of glass and silver with a medallion emblem of a knight on its collar. This upsets me even more and I burst into tears. It's a confessional type of rapture that burdens me. So, as I near hysterics my father hands me a book. It's a cult book, early 19th century pressing filled with flowery prose and esoteric passages. It seems to explain the jar, its contents and my dilemma. As I read, the winding passages soothe me into waking.
LIZ LILES OF G. GREEN’S INTERPRETATION
It’s all about the wisdom, baby!
My father used to constantly give me an obscure, long-winded answer when I would ask the question, “Is there a God?” He would never say yes or no. Instead he would respond with, “When you pick up a handful of sand from the beach and slowly drop it to the ground, the sand recollects and becomes part of the earth once again instead of flying into space.” Looking back to this, I think that image is completely stunning and representative of his vast philosophical knowledge.
It’s insane to me that I was given this dream. Sand is nostalgic and important to me. In your dream, your father offers you a jar with a bishop buried within the sand. It's as though he was offering you a vessel of his wisdom. In chess, experienced players understand the power of this piece, while less experienced think the bishop is pretty powerless. It tends to be difficult to look past your parents “job” and see what they have offered you your whole life. Are you scared of losing your father without truly knowing him as a man? The fact that you become calm once receiving something to explain this wisdom (book of prose,) signifies the need for perhaps time together.
But then again, who the hell knows? Who am I to tell you? Dreams are so bizarre and abstract. You could be tapping into an alternate reality, dreaming about a story your friend told, or a movie you saw recently. The sand in the jar could resemble graham cracker crust for all I know! The bishop could represent the priest that gave you a bad time as a kid. Either way, if you do have a living father, get dinner with him.
TV Ghost's Disconnect is out now on In The Red, read our review here. Keep up with the latest from G. Green on Bandcamp. Get their Our Boss 7″ from A Wicked Company.
