Dreams (Fleetwood Mac song)
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| "Dreams" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Fleetwood Mac | ||
| from the album Rumours | ||
| B-side(s) | "Songbird" | |
| Released | March 24, 1977 | |
| Format | 7"single | |
| Recorded | 1976 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:17 | |
| Label | Reprise | |
| Writer(s) | Stevie Nicks | |
| Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat | |
| Certification | Gold (RIAA (U.S.) – September 14, 1977) | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Fleetwood Mac singles chronology | ||
| "Go Your Own Way" (1976) |
"Dreams" (1977) |
"Don't Stop" (1977) |
"Dreams" is a song written by singer Stevie Nicks, for her group Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, Rumours. The song was the only U.S. number one hit for the group, and remains one of their best known songs. In the lyrics, a woman warns a man that he can be driven mad by loneliness in the wake of a broken love affair.
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[edit] Background and writing
The members of Fleetwood Mac were experiencing emotional upheavals while recording Rumors. Drummer Mick Fleetwood was going through a divorce. Bass player John McVie was separating from his wife, keyboard player Christine McVie. Guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and Nicks were ending their eight-year relationship. "We had to go through this elaborate exercise of denial," explains Buckingham to Blender Magazine, "keeping our personal feelings in one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other." [1] These circumstances inspired the writing of "Dreams."
Nicks wrote the song in Sausalito, California at the Record Plant studio in early 1976. "One day when I wasn't required in the main studio," remembers singer Stevie Nicks to Blender, "I took a Fender Rhodes piano and went into another studio that was said to belong to Sly, of Sly and the Family Stone. It was a black-and-red room, with a sunken pit in the middle where there was a piano, and a big black-velvet bed with Victorian drapes." [1]
"I sat down on the bed with my keyboard in front of me," continues Nicks. "I found a drum pattern, switched my little cassette player on and wrote 'Dreams' in about 10 minutes. Right away I liked the fact that I was doing something with a dance beat, because that made it a little unusual for me." [1]
When Nicks played the song to the rest of the group, they decided to record it the following day. Only a basic track was recorded at Sausalito. Recording assistant Cris Morris remembers that "all (they) kept was the drum track and live vocal from Stevie — the guitars and bass were added later in Los Angeles." [1]
[edit] Music and structure
Christine McVie described the song as having "just three chords and one note in the left hand" and "boring" when Nicks played a rough version on the piano. McVie changed her mind, after Lindsey "fashioned three sections out of identical chords, making each section sound completely different. He created the impression that there’s a thread running through the whole thing." [1]
[edit] Chart Performances
"Dreams" reached the number one spot in the United States on June 18, 1977, and held it for one week. It went to #24 in the United Kingdom.
[edit] Music Video
A performance of the song on stage was used as the promotional video. Fleetwood Mac wouldn't begin to make concept music videos till 1979.
[edit] Covers
1996 saw the band Whiskeytown (fronted by Ryan Adams, who - since branching out as a solo artist - has been very vocal about his appreciation of Fleetwood Mac) cover the song live and on their unreleased album A Stranger Is Born (they continued to cover it live until they disbanded in 2000)[1]. In 1997, The Corrs covered the song on their album Talk on Corners, and in 2005 Nicks contributed new vocals to a remake of the song by DJ and house music duo Deep Dish. The song appears on their album George Is On. Japanese pop singer Fayray has covered "Dreams" on her 2005 covers album, and Chihiro Yonekura covered it on her 2003 album Yakusoku no Basho e.
[edit] Notes
| Preceded by "I'm Your Boogie Man" by KC and the Sunshine Band |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single June 18, 1977 |
Succeeded by "Got to Give It Up (Part 1)" by Marvin Gaye |
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