I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

This popular song, now nearly 100 years old, is pretty much a standard in Western musical vocabulary. But have you ever stopped to think about the words? Don’t think about the happy-go-lucky child with his bottle of soapy water, skipping through the park merrily blowing bubbles into the air, watching them lift into the sky, or bounce on the grass.

Rather, think of the aspiring novelist receiving his 200th query rejection. The high school senior denied admittance to the last college on her list. The young man nursing a broken heart after yet another girl passes him by. This is a song about crushed dreams, and opportunities slipping through fingers. It’s the kind of song a worn out and weary songwriter would write when all his other songs have failed to gain an audience. The kind of song he writes when he has lost all hope of success. And, as irony would have it, the song goes on to be one of the most successful songs of the century.*

I guess in a weird kind of way, that’s the message of hope behind “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.” Don’t give up on your dreams, because even your lament about dreams fading and dying could be the song that makes your dreams come true.

Here are the words:

I’m dreaming dreams,
I’m scheming schemes,
I’m building castles high.
They’re born anew,
Their days are few,
Just like a sweet butterfly.
And as the daylight is dawning,
They come again in the morning.

(Chorus)
I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.
Fortune’s always hiding,
I’ve looked everywhere,
I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.

When shadows creep,
When I’m asleep,
To lands of hope I stray.
Then at daybreak,
When I awake,
My bluebird flutters away.
Happiness new seemed so near me,
Happiness come forth and heal me.

(Chorus)
I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.
Fortune’s always hiding,
I’ve looked everywhere,
I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.

Here’s the song:

And if you want the sheet music, click HERE.

*I don’t know if the writers were down on their luck. In fact, my cursory research didn’t come up with anything regarding the story behind the song.