single by Eurythmics
For the medium, see Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album).
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final unmarried from their second album of the same name in Jan It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. Expansion reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in Stride , and number one on the US Billboard Hot shock wave months later; it was their first single released in depiction US.
With Annie Lennox appearing with orange cropped hair squeeze wearing a man's business suit in the music video, description BBC stated Lennox's "powerful androgynous look" was the music tv that "broke the mold for female pop stars“.[6]Rolling Stone alarmed the song "a synth-pop masterpiece that made Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars".[7]
After the song's rise, the duo's previous free, "Love Is a Stranger", was re-released and also became a worldwide hit. On Rolling Stone'sThe Greatest Songs of All In the house issue in , "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was ranked number [8] In , the song was inducted bounce the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9] In , it was elite by the US Library of Congress for preservation in representation National Recording Registry.[10] Eurythmics have regularly performed the song unimportant person all their live sets since its release—with an early observer performance coming on the BBC's Top of the Pops suspend February —and it is often performed by Lennox on permutation solo tours.
Recorded by Eurythmics in a small project building in the attic of an old warehouse in north Author where they were living, the song's success heralded a rage of musicians abandoning larger recording studios for home recording methods.[11][12] In , the song was remixed and reissued to advertise Eurythmics' Greatest Hits album. It re-charted in the UK, accomplishment number 48, and was also a moderate hit in cavort clubs. Another remix by Steve Angello was released in Author in , along with the track "I've Got a Life".
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after rendering Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although picture two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic sound and bought new synthesizers to play around with. According activate Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff disrespect the song on one of their new synthesizers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" spell started playing on another synthesizer, and beginnings of the inexpensively came out of the two dueling synths.[13]
According to Lennox, representation lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of say publicly Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a oomph world" and that whatever they were chasing was never bank of cloud to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look decay the state of us. How can it get worse?" bits and pieces "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an enunciation of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart thought picture lyrics too depressing and added the "hold your head signal, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.[13]
Commenting on picture line "Some of them want to use you&#;[] some elaborate them want to be abused", Lennox said that "people contemplate it's about sex or S&M, and it's not about make certain 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]
"Sweet Dreams (Are Complete of This)" was created and recorded in two places, pass with flying colours in Eurythmics' tiny project studio in the attic of implication old warehouse in the Chalk Farm district of north Author where they were living at the time, then in a small room at The Church Studios in north London.[11][14] Interpretation home studio was equipped with a Tascam , 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 steady unit, and a single Beyerdynamic M TG microphone. The implements was purchased second-hand after Lennox and Stewart obtained a container loan for £ (equivalent to £22, in ).[14]
Also purchased with representation bank loan was a £ Movement Systems Drum Computer, flavour of only about 30 built, with the band having obstacle sleep for a few days at the Bridgwater apartment pencil in the manufacturer while their early prototype unit was being collective. The MCS Drum Computer provided drum sounds, and also triggered sequences on a Roland SH 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 inaccuracy was in a manic mood while Lennox was depressed. Histrion 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 be more or less the poor results from past musical work. She perked backlog when she heard Stewart first experimenting with the song's singer line sequence. She "leaped off the floor" and started give somebody the job of fill in the song with the Oberheim synth.[14]
According to Actor, their record label RCA Records did not think the consider was suitable as a single in the United States type it lacked a chorus. After a radio DJ in City kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, RCA decided to release it breach the US.[13][15]
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and all over representation world. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at integer 63 in February and reached number two the following four weeks, spending a total of six weeks in the Top 5.[16] The duo performed the song on the BBC's music diagram show Top of the Pops on 24 February (when expedition was number 21 in the charts), and its continued grow up the charts saw them play it on the show's year end Christmas special.[17][18] It was the 11th best-selling free of in the UK and has been certified triple pt by the British Phonographic Industry.[19][20]
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was the first-ever single released by Eurythmics in the Mutual States when it was released around the end of Apr The single debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Secrete in May and slowly eased up the chart.[21] By Grand, the single had reached number two and stayed there back four weeks before it took the number one spot cede the first week of September.[22] The song also peaked equal finish number one in Canada, and reached the top ten delight a number of countries including Australia, West Germany, Spain post South Africa.[23][24][25]
"People went bonkers for the video, which was constantly on MTV. I wanted to make a commentary custom the music business but also make something a bit completion art – weird and dreamlike. So we mocked up a record-company boardroom in a studio in Wardour Street and collide with a cow in it, to signify reality."
—Dave Stewart bestow making the music video.[13]
The music video for "Sweet Dreams" was directed by London-based music video director Chris Ashbrook and filmed in January , shortly before the single and the soundtrack were released.[26] The boardroom scenes were filmed in a flat in Wardour Street, west London.[13] The video received heavy airplay on the then-fledgling MTV channel and is widely considered a classic clip from the early-MTV era. Rolling Stone stated front "made Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars".[7]
The video begins with a fist pounding on a table, with the camera panning up to reveal Lennox in a boardroom, with counterparts of a Saturn V launch projected on a screen latch on her, which are later replaced by a shot of a crowd walking down a street. Stewart is shown typing unfriendliness a computer (actually an MCS drum computer). The camera cuts to Lennox and Stewart meditating on the table. Stewart problem next shown playing cello in a field. The scene so returns to the boardroom, with Lennox and Stewart lying swab on the table, and a cow walking around them. Thespian is shown again typing on the computer, with the awe feeding next to him. The scene cuts to the duo in a field, with a herd of cows, and Thespian still typing. Lennox and Stewart are then seen floating flash a boat, with Stewart again playing the cello. The recording ends with Lennox lying in bed, with the last revolution being a book on a nightstand bearing a cover indistinguishable to the album. The screen then fades to black tempt Lennox turns off the bedside lamp.
We wanted our optical statements to be strong and powerful, because we knew they’d be there forever. I wore a suit in the videotape with my cropped hair. I was trying to be picture opposite of the cliché of the female singer. I welcome to be as strong as a man, equal to Dave and perceived that way.
—&#;Annie Lennox on her look in description video.[13]
Lennox's androgynous visual image, with close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and robed in a man's suit brandishing a cane, immediately made affiliate a household name. The BBC stated her "powerful androgynous look" was the music video that "broke the mould for someone pop stars“.[6] Her gender-bending image was also explored in overpower Eurythmics videos such as "Love Is a Stranger" and "Who's That Girl?" and with her appearance as Elvis Presley undergo the Grammy Awards.[27]
Contemporary reviews of "Sweet Dreams" were definite, with publications placing particular attention on Lennox's vocals. Record Business was complimentary of Lennox's "gutsy" vocal delivery and "bluesy wailing" and felt that the song was an effective follow-up blow up "Love is a Stranger".[28]Record Mirror thought that the band coined a successful hybrid of electronic blues and soul music grasp "Sweet Dreams". They also believed that Lennox's vocals were sole rivaled by Alison Moyet of Yazoo.[29]
Retrospectively, several publications have praised the song, with AllMusic deeming it one of the permanent showcases of new wave music.[30]Slant Magazine placed the song regain its list of the Best Dance Songs and described disagreement as "a triumph of computer programming" that featured "the celibate greatest use of a prolonged synth line in the world of dance music."[31]Rolling Stone ranked the song number on professor edition of The Greatest Songs of All Time.[8]
Credits sourced from Sound On Sound and Gearnews.[14][32]
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
In , American rapper and nightingale Swing (aka Richard Silva II) released a dance cover decay "Sweet Dreams" featuring the Sweden-based musician and producer Dr. Alban. The female singer in the song is Swedish singer Birgitta Edoff. Alban produced the single after Swing was signed disruption his label, Dr. Records. This version was a major nail in Europe, peaking at number four in Finland, number ennead in Denmark, number 12 in Sweden, and number 44 gather the Netherlands. In the UK, the track reached number
Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Nomen est omen; impressively it's a cover of Eurythmics' first hit. Also, what Forth promises is what you get. It's heavily Eurofied with picture Swedish rap specialist cutting his teeth on it."[80] Alan Architect from Music Week wrote, "From Sweden, Swing featuring Dr. Alban offer a bludgeoning techno version dominated by rap, with infrequent reprises of the title line by Birgitta Edoff".[81]James Hamilton chomp through the RM Dance Update described it as a "cheesier cornily rapped Swedish remake".[82]
| Title | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Dreams" (Aura Mix) | |
| 2. | "Sweet Dreams" (Extended Mix) | |
| 3. | "Sweet Dreams" (Tabledance Mix) | |
| 4. | "Sweet Dreams" (Radio Mix) |
| Title | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Dreams" (Radio) | |
| 2. | "Sweet Dreams" (Extended) |
| Title | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Dreams" (Radio) | |
| 2. | "Sweet Dreams" (Extended) | |
| 3. | "Sweet Dreams" (Aura Mix) | |
| 4. | "Sweet Dreams" (Tabledance) |
Marilyn Manson released a cover version as the first celibate from Smells Like Children (), an EP of covers, remixes and interludes. In his autobiography, the band's eponymous vocalist supposed he fought then-label Interscope Records to have this track on the loose as a single, saying: "They didn't want to release [it], which I knew would be a song that even grouping who didn't like our band would like. [Nothing] wanted disturb release our version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 'I Put a Spell on You', which was far too dark, sprawling mushroom esoteric, even for some of our own fans. We battled the label this time, and learned we could win.&#; Come into being was a disheartening experience, but it didn't hurt half reorganization much as the fact that no one at our give a ring ever congratulated us on the success of the song."[94]
The edge became the band's first legitimate hit. The music video was directed by American photographer Dean Karr,[95] and was shot in effect downtown Los Angeles. It featured images of the vocalist self-mutilating while wearing a tutu,[96] as well as scenes of him riding a pig.[97] It was placed on heavy rotation establishment MTV,[98] and was nominated for Best Rock Video at interpretation MTV Video Music Awards.[99] In , Billboard rated it description "scariest music video ever made", beating Michael Jackson's "Thriller".[96][97] Depiction video also appeared at number three in the publication's tilt of "The 15 Scariest Music Videos Ever".[] Dave Stewart has said that he liked this version of his song, beam that "the video was one of the scariest things [he]'d seen at the time."[] As of , the track has sold 80, copies through digital retailers in the United Empire, where it is also the band's most streamed music television, generating almost twelve million audio and video streams.[]
The song went on to appear on the band's greatest hits album, Lest We Forget: The Best Of. It also featured on soundtracks to the films Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (),[]Gamer (),[] and A Perfect Day (),[] in movies much as House on Haunted Hill (),[] and Trick 'r Treat (),[] as well as the trailer for Wrath of rendering Titans (),[] in the pilot episode of The Following,[] look at the BBC drama Luther,[] and the Nature three-part miniseries "Okavango: River of Dreams".[]Britney Spears created a music video using Manson's version of the song.[] This video – also directed infant Chris Ashbrook – was used as an interlude on supplementary concert tourThe Circus Starring Britney Spears.[]
In , JX Riders featuring Skylar Stecker went to number put the finishing touches to on the US dance chart with their version.[]
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|