I Dream of a Better Tomorrow
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
Unreleased
This song from the Boys' planned musical Naked, based on the 1837 Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Emperor's New Clothes," is the first that they've debuted from that stage show if you don't count "Why Am I Dancing?" which they've described as a sort of "dance mix" of another of its songs, "How Did I Get Here?" They premiered "I Dream of a Better Tomorrow" live as the final song of their first Obscure show at London's Electric Ballroom on April 6, 2026.
A midtempo number with occasional spoken parts (possibly reflecting its origins as a song from a musical), it sounds as cautiously optimistic—or at least as hopeful—as its title suggests. The narrator believes that "change is coming" and anticipates "the start of something new." The chorus finds him or her not only dreaming of that "better tomorrow" but also urging others to "Wake up [and] make it all true." Dreams require action to become reality. The key to that action, however, is love:
For love can rule our lives
We can believe it
Freedom will arrive
We can achieve it
It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how this song fits into the context of Naked, perhaps most likely as an expression of defiance in the face of an oppressive government within its fictional setting. But the context of a stage musical is hardly essential for appreciating this song and its message on their own merits. Undoubtedly the world's current sociopolitical climate as evidenced daily on the evening news served as powerful inspiration for this song and almost certainly triggered its inclusion as the final song of the Obscure concerts.
I'll provide additional information and observations concerning this song as I learn more about it.
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