Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name in January 1983. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US.
For the album, see Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album)."Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
"I Could Give You a Mirror"
21 January 1983
3:36 (single/album version)
4:48 (12" version)
David A. Stewart
With Annie Lennox appearing with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit in the music video, the BBC stated Lennox's "powerful androgynous look" was the music video that "broke the mould for female pop stars“.[6] Rolling Stone called the song "a synth-pop masterpiece that made Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars".[7]
After the song's rise, the duo's previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was re-released and also became a worldwide hit. On Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time issue in 2003, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was ranked number 356.[8] In 2020, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9] In 2023, it was selected by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.[10] Eurythmics have regularly performed the song in all their live sets since its release—with an early television performance coming on the BBC's Top of the Pops in February 1983—and it is often performed by Lennox on her solo tours.
Recorded by Eurythmics in a small project studio in the attic of an old warehouse in north London where they were living, the song's success heralded a trend of musicians abandoning larger recording studios for home recording methods.[11][12] In 1991, the song was remixed and reissued to promote Eurythmics' Greatest Hits album. It re-charted in the UK, reaching number 48, and was also a moderate hit in dance clubs. Another remix by Steve Angello was released in France in 2006, along with the track "I've Got a Life".
Background[edit]
Composition[edit]
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after the Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although the two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic music and bought new synthesizers to play around with. According to Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff of the song on one of their new synthesizers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" and started playing on another synthesizer, and beginnings of the song came out of the two dueling synths.[13]
According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world" and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?" adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart thought the lyrics too depressing and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.[13]
Commenting on the line "Some of them want to use you [...] some of them want to be abused", Lennox said that "people think it's about sex or S&M, and it's not about that at all."[13] On the song's title she said, "Apparently, it's the most misheard lyric in British pop. People think I'm singing: 'Sweet dreams are made of cheese.'"[13]
Recording[edit]
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was created and recorded in two places, first in Eurythmics' tiny project studio in the attic of an old warehouse in the Chalk Farm district of north London where they were living at the time, then in a small room at The Church Studios in north London.[11] The home studio was equipped with a Tascam 80-8, 8-track half-inch tape recorder, a Soundcraft mixer, a Roland Space Echo, a Klark Teknik DN50 spring reverb, a B.E.L. Electronics noise reduction unit, and a single Beyerdynamic M 201 TG microphone. The gear was purchased second-hand after Lennox and Stewart obtained a bank loan for £5000 (equivalent to £19,000 in 2021).[14]
Also purchased with the bank loan was a £2000 Movement Systems Drum Computer, one of only about 30 built, with the band having to sleep for a few days at the Bridgwater apartment of the manufacturer while their early prototype unit was being assembled. The MCS Drum Computer provided drum sounds, and also triggered sequences on a Roland SH-101 synthesizer, used for the synth bass line. To fill out the complement of instruments, Lennox played a borrowed Oberheim OB-X for sustained string sounds. Their only microphone, a utilitarian model typically used for hi-hat, performed all the acoustic duties, including tracking Lennox's vocals.[14]
Stewart recalls he was in a manic mood while Lennox was depressed. Stewart was upbeat because he had just survived surgery on a punctured lung, and felt like he had been given a new lease on life. Lennox was feeling low because of the poor results from past musical work. She perked up when she heard Stewart first experimenting with the song's bass line sequence. She "leaped off the floor" and started to fill in the song with the Oberheim synth.[14]
According to Stewart, their record label RCA Records did not think the song was suitable as a single in the United States as it lacked a chorus. After a radio DJ in Cleveland kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, RCA decided to release it in the US.[13][15]
"Sweet Dreams"
"Remix"
1995
Dr. Records Studio
3:28
- Cheiron
- F. Lokar
- V. Salazar
June 22, 1995
Summer 1995
- 4:25 (single edit)
- 4:53 (album version)
- Marilyn Manson
- Trent Reznor