This performance is the opening track of my album Alicia Bay Laurel – Live in Japan.
“Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” is a visionary peace song written by the late folksinger and peace activist Ed McCurdy in response to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and copyrighted in 1950. I first heard it as a child on Pacifica Radio, the pacifist radio network created by the US peace movement during WWII, and which is still broadcasting from many cities around the United States.
I sang it at Nagaregawa Church, at ground zero in Hiroshima, two days after the 70th memorial of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, on August 8, 2015. I would like as many people as possible, all over the world to sing it, in many languages. I read that it has been recorded in 76 languages, so I can safely assume that world peace is a very much beloved idea. At Hiroshima, I sang it in English and Japanese, so I am offering the words here in both languages.
Here are the lyrics in English:
Last night I had the strangest dream
I never dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was full of men
And the paper they were signing said
They’d never fight again.
And when the paper all was 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 swords and guns and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground.
Here is a translation of the lyrics into Japanese created by the wonderful singer/songwriter Maiko Kodama in 2013.
Here is a guitar chart in the key of G, the key in which I sing this song.
If you are an English-speaking person, and want to learn Maiko’s Japanese lyrics phonetically, here is how they go:
Kee noh yoh roo kee myo oh nah
Last night I had the strangest dream
Yoo mei woo oh mee tah
I ev – er dreamed be fore
Sei kah ee gah seh nn soh oh
I dreamed the world had all agreed
Woh yah mei roo oo yoo mei
To put an end to war
Oh oh kee nah heh yah deh
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
Oo oh zei gah
The room was filled with men
Nee doh toh tah tah kah wah nai
And the paper they were signing said
Toh sah ee nee ee shee tah
They’d never fight again
Nah nn woh koo noh sah ee nn
And when the papers all were signed
Gah koh pee ee ee sah rei
And a million copies made
Tei woh tzu neh gee ah tah mah woh sah geh
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
Ee noh ree sah sah geh tah
And grateful prayers were prayed
Too oh ree noh hee toh bee toh
And the people in the streets below
Wah oh doh ree dah shee
Were dancing round and round
Jyoo toh ken toh goon poo koo
And guns and swords and uniforms
Wah soo tei rah rei tah
Were scattered on the ground
Kee noh yoh roo kee myo oh nah
Last night I had the strangest dream
Yoo mei woo oh mee tah
I ev – er dreamed be fore
Sei kah ee gah seh nn soh oh
I dreamed the world had all agreed
Woh yah mei roo oo yoo mei
To put an end to war
