THESE DREAMS

'"These Dreams"' is a popular song released in 1985 by the rock band Heart. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Contents

Origin of the song

Song's success

The song's storyline

Origin of the song

In 1985, Martin Page who cowrote several other pop hits, including "We Built This City" and "King of Wishful Thinking", and Bernie Taupin, longtime collaborator of Elton John, wrote the music and lyrics to the song now known as "These Dreams". At the time, Page and Taupin were under contract to Columbia Records and the record company offered the song to Stevie Nicks, who expressed no interest in recording it. Heart had just recently signed with Capitol. While the band had previously recorded their own material, they were impressed by "These Dreams" and agreed to use it on their upcoming album.
"These Dreams" differed from past Heart hits in that it was a polished, pop power ballad. The song also marked the first Heart single on which lead vocals were performed by Nancy Wilson instead of Ann Wilson. According to ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits'' by Fred Bronson, when it came time for Nancy Wilson to record her vocal, she was suffering from a cold and her voice sounded somewhat raspy and gravelly. After the song reached its peak of success, producers reportedly wanted Nancy to recreate the gravelly sound on future recordings, asking her, "Can't you just get sick again?"

Song's success

"These Dreams" was released as the third single from Heart's 1985 album ''Heart''. Following two consecutive US top-ten singles, the song elevated the band's success even further, becoming Heart's first single to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on Saturday, March 22, 1986. It also became Heart's first (and, to date, only) number one song in the US Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at number sixty-two in the UK Singles Chart; however, a re-issue released in 1988 reached number eight.
The music video for "These Dreams" received heavy airplay from MTV and was the third of four US top-ten singles from the ''Heart'' album. The single's B-side, "Shell Shock", was also the B-side of Heart's previous single "Never".

The song's storyline

This song was dedicated (on the album) to Nancy Wilson's good friend Sharon Hess who died of Leukemia. The lyrics of the song chronicle the struggle against cancer and of how the dream world serves as refuge from the pain of the real world. The lyrics are surreal, moving and ultimately grounded in reality. The final verse seemlingly suggests that moments before awakening one desires the most but exactly that is out of reach in a dream: "In a wood full of princes, Freedom is a kiss. But the prince hides his face, From dreams in the mist".