About This Song
Scheduled for release July 28, 2026, as the first Dolby Atmos immersive single from From The Vault II: The Lost Chords and Stories and the opening chapter of The Branches Collection.
Inspired by Jeff Silverman’s mother, Barbara Silverman’s courageous battle with cancer, The World Is Better Dreaming was written during one of life’s most difficult chapters. Decades later, the song finally found its voice through the remarkable performance of Chris Taylor.
It now stands as the first musical chapter of From The Vault II and The Branches Collection, where the songs and the stories behind them finally come home.
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This stereo mix is not the standard stereo master. It is a custom binaural stereo presentation derived from the immersive mix, created specifically to provide a more immersive listening experience on both headphones and speakers while preserving much of the spatial character of the Atmos production.
Dedication
feat. Chris Taylor
Dedicated to my Mum, Barbara L. Silverman
Dec. 28, 1926 – July 31, 2011
Her place of peace was, and will always be, in her dreams.
Song Reflection
My Mum, Barbara, was living a nightmare, except when she was asleep. Her only escape was in her dreams.
When she was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer and given one year to live, everything changed overnight. I felt an urgency to capture what I was feeling in real time, watching her face, something no one should ever have to witness, while still trying to find peace within it.
This song came from that place. A place I couldn’t share with her then, but one I needed to find my way toward.
Some songs wait years to find their moment.
Some songs arrived quickly. Others waited years for their moment to be heard.
From The Vault II
The World Is Better Dreaming is one of many songs that found its way into From The Vault II: The Lost Chords and Stories, a collection of music, memories, and the unexpected moments that connected them.
Some songs arrived quickly.
Others waited years for their moment to be heard.
Each song is a branch. Each story strengthens the trunk.
For the full story behind this song, and how Chris Taylor and I found our way to this collaboration, read Chapter IX: “The Song That Waited Quietly.”
Lyrics
Verse 1
Haunted by a whisper
Heavy with the news
Iron gates are closing down
Everything to lose
Verse 2
The cell confides solutions
Secret answers interwound
You’re a soldier in a war zone
A million miles from home
Try not to talk about it
This running out of time
Chorus
The world is better dreaming
Smiling when you’re sleeping
When you’re cold and bleeding
The world, the world is
Better dreaming (Amen)
Better dreaming (Amen)
Verse 3
You will find no shelter
In a valley forged of tears
And when all that you have to turn to
Has been lost, you disappear
It’s hard to talk about it,
You’re running out of time
Chorus
Verse 4
It’s too much to talk about it
When you’re running out of time
Credits
Song: The World Is Better Dreaming
Artist: Chris Taylor
Written by: Jeff Silverman, Anthony Snape
Published: ©2009 So Look It Songs (ASCAP),
Anthony Snape Music Publishing (SESAC) (APRA)
Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Mastered by: Jeff Silverman
at Palette Music • Studio • Productions, Nashville, TN
Additional Engineering (Chris Taylor vocals): Jason Nantz
at N&T Studios, North Carolina
Instrumentation: All instruments performed by Jeff Silverman
(except acoustic guitars by Anthony Snape)
Lead Vocal: Chris Taylor: Click for Website
Background Vocals: Chris Taylor, Anthony Snape
License: All rights reserved
