"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
Edgar Allen Poe's "A Dream Within a Dream," for me, has stood out for many years as one of the gothic poet's more saddening pieces. Poe comes off as deranged, perhaps even maddened by the prospect that his reality as he knows it may very well be an existential conjuncture; one which he has no control over nor any say in the outcome. But despite his clear deviation from conventional sanity, "A Dream Within a Dream" also stands out as one of his more courageous and optimistic poems, in a haunting and somewhat sweet sense. In the first stanza, it's cleat that Poe is watching his life go by, letting the sands of time slip right through his fingers as though he were merely a spectator; allowing his reality to fuse with his dreams, leaving him unable to discern or process the fleeting nature of the passage of time. But as he begins to weep in the second stanza, as he grasps desperately at a fleeting moment of clarity, he is awarded a grand epiphany. He understands for a moment that life is fleeting, that good things come and go far too fast, but above all that to feel is to live.
Liam Sheaffer is one of those artists that, much like Poe, is able to grasp onto these fundamental truths of the human experience and ride it down the line. He is able to take his dream within a dream, and feel it so deeply in order to create something extraordinary and violently resonant. He has proven this time and time again, whether through his unyielding physical need to create, or his desire to be heard lyrically. Sheaffer's upcoming EP, Make Your Own Life Out of This, showcases exactly that. Born not only from his evolving perspectives and steadily maturing psyche, but from his tightening grip on Poe's fundamental truths, Make Your Own Life Out of This stands out a raw example of what it takes to create positive personal change despite the frightening connection between feeling and truly living.
Ahead of his Friday release, Sheaffer was kind enough to find time in his busy schedule to swing by and chat emotional maturity, compelling storytelling and his new EP, Make Your Own Life Out of This.
Make Your Own Life Out of This is available for pre-save using the link below, and is available to stream Friday, April 26.
Rob Lucchesi
Liam Sheaffer