The Curious Meaning Behind Beyonce’s 2009 “Sweet Dreams” Video
Viewed by most people as a pure masterpiece who transcends time, the music video has been watched over 180 millions of times 11 years after its release.
Curious like I am, since I study design & the art of music video making, I had to dig deeper to understand what was going on the screen in front of me, to better understand how to make music videos that people relate to and are more than entertained by.
Even though the scenes matched with the lyrics at times, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the music video directors, because one thing I’ve learned in my school is that — every shot filmed by the camera matters, and what ends up being in the video is on purpose, never random, and Sweet Dreams doesn’t break that rule.
There’s nothing random about filming a music video, especially if you’re working for a big star like Beyonce. Every details has to be carefully planned ahead & approve by the team of designers & the singer. So, after weeks of research, I’ve finally understood the curious meaning behind the “shots” that turned the song Sweet Dreams into one of the most viewed music videos of all time.
The lyrics of the song and the imagery of the video have a supernatural & ethereal quality, as Beyonce professes her love for someone or something she calls a “sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare”. The overall atmosphere of the song seems dark and mysterious when we remove all the dancing part of it.
A Little History First
So what exactly is this song about? Love, of course. But the symbolism of the video tells a darker story of the singer being somewhat controlled by unseen hands. I know-“what the f***, Beyonce being controlled by someone, she’s the boss, the f*** are you talking about you jealous loser!!!”.
I hear you but don’t close the page just yet! I am not saying that Beyonce is mind controlled, I am only giving my point of view as a future music video producer, who has access to informations that can only be obtained as a student.
Something we do a lot in Music Video Making class is learn about camera movement, color gradients, composition & a set of specific tools and symbolism that can be used to suggest things to the audience without them being completely aware of it.
So what the heck is mind control? well, according to the 20 legit websites like the Washington Post, The Guardian & The New York Times that I had to visit in order for you to be reading this right now, it is a technique developed by the CIA in 1950, to literally control a subject’s mind & create spies like in James Bond 007. You can google MK Ultra if you’re just waaaay too curious like me.
Also called “Monarch Programming”, it is said that it uses weird, extreme treatments (such as electroshock) to cause a major trauma in the person’s psyche. One of my teachers, we will call him Robert because I need that shiny diploma though, explained to me in simple words what “Monarch Programming” means :
“The name MONARCH refers to the monarch butterfly. When a person is going through trauma induced by electroshock, a feeling of dizziness takes over their brain and makes them feel as if they are floating or fluttering like a butterfly.
There is something very symbolic about the transformation of this beautiful insect : from a caterpillar to a cocoon (inactivity, procastinate lol), to a butterfly (new creation) which will return to its point of origin. This is really what makes this species unique!
Project MONARCH can be described as a form of structured dissociation and occultic integration, carried out in order to divide the mind into multiple personalities within a same brain.
During this process, a strange ritual, usually including cabalistic mysticism, is performed with the purpose of attaching a particular demon or group of demons to the corresponding alter(s).
Alters and Triggers
Another way of to understand this is by looking at the process as a complex computer program: A file (alter) is created through trauma (electroshock), repetition and reinforcement. In order to activate (trigger) the file, a specific access code or password (cue or command) is required.
A former military officer connected to the CIA said in an article, “In the ‘big picture’ these people [MONARCH victims] are in all walks of life, from the bum on the street to the white-collar guy”. In corroboration, a retired CIA agent vaguely discussed the use of such personnel to be used as “plants” or “chameleons” for the purpose of infiltrating a designated group, gathering information and/or injecting an ulterior mission. (think about james bond)
Yeah, I know, creepy as f***!! Who would want to do that to someone??? Bruh, we live in a wonderful but creepy world. Reads like this made me so grateful to have a roommate cause I didn’t have to be home all alone while reading it.
It just looks like an episode of Miami Experts or another thriller/crime famous TV show like that.
MK Ultra Victim (1961)
OK, this heavy stuff but there are some important points to note which are directly related to “Sweet Dreams”:
- Monarch treatment gives a feeling of “light-headedness as if one is floating”
- It engenders a new creation, an alternate personality
- The victim sees his controller as “god”
- Dark strange rituals are involved in the process
- Symbols relating to Monarch programming involve mirrors, glass shattering, rainbows, robots and more.
Do you see where I’m going with this? All of these things are represented in Beyonce’s 4-minute video. Like I told you, there’s no coincidence in this art form, nothing is shown randomly in a music video, every details counts.
The truth is: “Sweet Dreams” is a metaphor for mind control, Monarch Programming to be precise, and Beyonce sings from the point of view of the programmed character, as a subtle way to raise our awareness on the subject, to those with eyes to see & ears to ear.
Song Analysis
“Every night I rush to my bed With hopes that maybe I’ll get a chance to see you When I close my eyes I’m going out of my head Lost in a fairytale, can you hold my hands and be my guide?”
Beyonce’s character is looking forward to “going out of her head” and getting “lost in a fairytale“. She is asking her controller to “hold her hand and be her guide“. The state of a mind-controlled character is often compared to a fairytale (they are said to be shown movies such as The Wizard of Oz). The controller will be her guide in the treatments.
“Clouds filled with stars cover the skies And I hope it rains, you’re the perfect lullaby What kinda dream is this?”
There is a real sense of a hazy state of mind. Beyonce’s character says to her controller, who is causing in her this mental state, “you’re the perfect lullaby”.
“You could be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don’t wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on) Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Somebody pinch me, your love’s too good to be true (Turn the lights on)”
So this state of mind control can be a sweet dream, which is a blissful state where the boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred. It can also be a nightmare due to the traumatizing treatments, the mental anguish and the fact that being a Monarch slave is probably the worst thing that can happen to anyone. Sweet dream/Beautiful Nightmare also describes the dichotomy between Beyonce and her dark alter-ego Sasha Fierce. As Patton stated in his discussion of mind control:
“A division of light-side (good) and dark-side (bad) alters are interwoven in the mind and rotate on an axis.”
-Ibid.“My guilty pleasure, I ain’t going no where Baby long as you’re here I’ll be floating on air”
“My guilty pleasure” refers to the fact that she knows that this state of synthetic bliss is false and ultimately harmful to her. But as long as her controller is there, she’ll be “floating on air”. This is especially significant when one knows that subjects of Monarch programming get a feeling of light-headeness, as if they’re floating.
“I mention you when I say my prayers I wrap you around all of my thoughts Boy you’re my temporary high”
There is here a mix of the “scientific” mind programming with the dark ritualistic aspect of it. As Professor Robert stated, ancient occult knowledge, rituals, and magick are incorporated in the programming of the subject. The person sees the controller as a god, who possesses his/her soul and thoughts. Beyonce’s character says she mentions the name of her controller when she says her prayers. She wraps her controller around all of her thoughts which is a nice way of saying that the possessor is in control of her thoughts.
“Tattoo your name across my heart so it will remain Not even death can make us part What kind of dream is this?”
She is basically saying that she gave her soul to her controller. “Not even death can make us part“, conveys an obvious spiritual meaning. The only thing that remains of us after death is our soul. She says that even after death, her soul will still be owned by her possessor. As in all works of art, the lyrics could be interpreted in numerous ways. The video, however, confirms the mind control theme of the song by visually representing the steps, the symbols and even many “triggers” associated with Monarch programming.
Video Analysis
So what is the message of the video? Yes, I know Beyonce is “smoking hawt”. Now that we got that out of the way, we can look past her hawtness…There’s way more to that video than hypnotic robot breasts. The video starts with Beyonce’s character sleeping to a creepy lullaby tune. A dove appears and levitates Beyonce from her bed while the lullaby gets increasingly menacing. This scene ends with a scream of terror.
In Christian symbolism, the dove represents the Holy Spirit. There’s, however, nothing “holy” about that scene. The scene is dark, the music is ominous, Beyonce’s character is troubled and she gets lifted in what looks like a feat of black magick. To find the true meaning of that dove, one has to go into its occult meaning.
Helena Blavatsky, an occultist, luciferian, magician, Mason, and founder of the Theosophical Society, along with Masonic author Albert Pike, in their writings of this belief, that lucifer is the holy spirit. Pike, referred to the Holy Ghost, when he wrote, “the body of the Holy Spirit, the universal Agent, [is] the serpent…”
The Holy Spirit of Occult Orders, the liaison between the earth realm and the heavens, is lucifer. This is graphically represented on the lamen of the Luciferian fraternity Ordo Templi Orientis.
Lamen of the O.T.O. Upside dove = Fall of lucifer?
So in the first scene of the video, we see the dove lifting Beyonce from her bed and sending her to a kind of weird heaven. As stated above, the song is at the same time about Beyonce character’s mind controller.
So the dove also represents the controller making Beyonce feel light-headed from Monarch programming. Beyonce’s character is sent into an “alternate world” with an omnipresent rainbow, a symbol associated with Monarch programming.
We often see in the video multiple Beyonce’s colliding into one or the opposite, which represent her alters or minions. If you look closely at the backup dancers in one particular scene, they are literally broken in half, as if they are not activated.
Notice the rainbow, the importance of the light source (lucifer = god of Light)…And is this a pale horse running in the background?
In this symbolic scene, Beyonce’s character is in a mirror room, not knowing who the “real Beyonce” is. This scene refers to the dissociative nature of mind control, not to mention that mirrors are an all-important symbol of Monarch Programming.
Mirror reflections symbolism
She then shatters a mirror and fragments fly all over the place, which represents the fragmentation and compartmentalization of her consciousness, an important prerequisite in order to create a new alternate personality in Monarch programming. Then it happens. The shiny new robot Beyonce, the new programmed alternate personality is born.
New controlled Beyonce’s character trying in vain to get back the fragments of her consciousness
What is a robot? It is a machine that is programmed to accomplish specific tasks. This description also applies to a mind-controlled character. So the video describes the steps of mind control and the metamorphosis of the worm into a Monarch butterfly.
In Conclusion
Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” describes the blissful journey of a mind control subject towards its new persona. Even if that process is insanely painful and nightmarish, the subject is programmed to enjoy it, hence the phrase “either way, I don’t want to wake up from you“.
Numerous symbols and mind control triggers are included in the video and, combined with the dissociative lyrics, the song leaves no doubt to those “in the know” of its dark meaning. Why are there allusions to Lucifer and mind control in the video and many others? What’s the purpose of it? Is it supposed to have an effect on the viewers? Are these types of videos mega-rituals acting on the subconscious of music fans? Are they preparing (programming) the new generation to accept those things as a reality? Those are questions I’m still attempting to answer.
One thing is for sure: when one realizes that Beyonce’s incredible beauty and talent are used to promote such horrors, the video becomes indeed a “beautiful nightmare”.
