Dreams

Dreams is a song written by singer Stevie Nicks, for the 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. The members of Fleetwood Mac were experiencing emotional upheavals while recording Rumours. Drummer Mick Fleetwood was going through a divorce. Bass player John McVie was separating from his wife, keyboard player Christine McVie. Guitarist Lindsey 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." These circumstances inspired the writing of "Dreams." Nicks wrote the song at the Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California, 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 & 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." "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." 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." 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." "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. From their top-selling album Rumours, “Dreams” was Fleetwood Mac’s only No. 1 hit in the US back in 1977. The song was written by Stevie Nicks at a turbulent time for the band. She and Lindsey Buckingham’s relationship was coming to an end. Christine McVie was in the process of divorcing her husband, band member John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood was in the process of divorce from his wife as well. Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way” can be considered a companion piece to “Dreams” as it details the other side of the breakup from his perspective. Audio engineer Ken Caillat recalls the origin of the song, Most of the material for the album was composed in the studio but Stevie used to get bored, sitting around while all the technical stuff was going on, so she asked if there was a room with a piano to noodle around on. Well, the Record Plant told her she could use Sly Stone’s studio — a little sunken room that they’d built for him to work in — and one day while we were working on some track, she came in and said, ‘I’ve just written the most amazing song.’ ‘Really? Let’s hear it.’ So, she walked over to the Rhodes — which, like everything else, was always mic’d up and ready to go — and she played ‘Dreams’. Everyone else joined in, she did a guide vocal, and that was the keeper. It’s the only time that ever happened. She tried to redo the vocal again and again, but she could never beat the original. I actually wanted her to beat it, because it had the drums leaking into her vocal mic and, in a couple of spots where she sang softly, I had to ride it up and you could hear even more of the snare. Still, it was a one-off.

[Intro] [Verse 1] Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom Well, who am I to keep you down? It's only right that you should play the way you feel it But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness [Pre-Chorus] Like a heartbeat drives you mad In the stillness of remembering what you had And what you lost and what you had and what you lost [Chorus] Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining Players only love you when they're playing Say women they will come and they will go When the rain washes you clean, you'll know, you'll know [Bridge] [Verse 2] Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions I keep my visions to myself It's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams And have you any dreams you'd like to sell? Dreams of loneliness [Pre-Chorus] Like a heartbeat drives you mad In the stillness of remembering what you had And what you lost and what you had, oh, what you lost [Chorus] Thunder only happens when it's raining Players only love you when they're playing Women they will come and they will go When the rain washes you clean, you'll know Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining Players only love you when they're playing Say women they will come and they will go When the rain washes you clean, you'll know, you'll know [Outro] You will know, you'll know