"rêver" was farmer's first song to refer to the genocide of world war ii, in the first line, through the book "if this is a man", written by primo levi (the second single was "souviens-toi du jour"). one line of the chorus, ""j'irai cracher sur vos tombeaux"", refers to a book by boris vian under the pseudonym of vernon sullivan. this book provoked a controversy in 1947 because of its violent and sexual content. several lyrics are inspired by poems by french author pierre reverdy: e.g., words ""nous ne marcherons plus ensemble"" is an exact quote of the poem "dans le monde étranger", ""dansent les flammes, les bras se lèvent"" refer to the poem "esprit pensant" and lyrics ""le monde comme une pendule, qui s'est arrêtée"" seem to be inspired by the poem "toujours là". the song also mentions the "angels", a recurrent theme in farmer's songs.