November 14, 2024 • 3 mins
Today on The Story Behind the Song, we look behind the huge 1983 hit, ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ by Eurythmics.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let Me tell You a Story on.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Time Cleary and leases the story behind the song.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Today's Story behind the song song is Sweet Dreams by
You Rhythmics. It was the fourth single from their second
album the same name in January nineteen eighty three, but
it was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It
reached number two on the UK charts, number one on
the US charts, and it was number six here in Australia.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah, huge hit, wasn't it. And it got everyone's attention
because they were just so different to everybody else out
there and a duo is any talking about how she
was almost done?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's a funny story, isn't we Because on the day
that we started to create the song Sweet Dreams, I
was in a terrible mood and I was really ready
to pack it in and to go back to Scotland.
I had realized that there was no hope whatsoever and
it wasn't going to happen, and that was the mood
I was in.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I was thinking we're done here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, And I was. I was really
depressed by and Davis is like, you know, he's a
very brilliant individual. So he's like okay, you're down. Okay,
but now well you won't mind, will you if I
just go and do this. And then I was sitting
sort of mooching in the corner of the of the
studio that we had we were working in, and I
heared him doing this, and then I was like, hmmm,
(01:17):
that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Absolutely. Annie and Dave wrote the song after the Tourists
had broken up and they formed a Rhythmics, although the
two of them also broke up as a couple and
they continued to work together, and he says the lyrics
reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists
break up the band, not so much affair when she
felt they were in a dream world.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Interesting she is talking about that point in their careers.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It was about that dreaming or aspirational dream everybody has,
and then whether or not it comes true, whether it
or not, it is fulfilled. And in the case of
Sweet Dreams, ironically, what the what the song was all
about actually fulfilled itself, which is so strange. And I
think about it because at the time I really had
(02:03):
no thoughts that the song would have such a sort
of powerful trajectory.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well, certainly resonate in so many places around the globe.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I know, why do you think there is?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You know, it's so interesting. It's something about sweet dreams
that people latch onto that they identify with. And whether
it's because they want to celebrate a victory from a
football match or it's someone's birthday, I don't really know.
But there's something in the song that people just love.
And it's a very peculiar song because it's like a
little mandra It just goes around and around. It just
(02:37):
says the same thing over and over, and people just
have identified with it.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I think she's selling herself a bit short because there's
that magnificent voice as well.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yes, Louisey Win, doesn't it exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Absolutely lose you in now Dive Stewart, as Andy said,
there a couple of times he's in extraordinary talent and
he's proven that for the rest of his career as well.
But sometimes the best things happen in the studio, and
it might not even be your equipment that you meant
to be ampring with.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
It can come up with great I started to play
this little thing, but then Annie suddenly left to her feet,
going holy, and then ran to this synthesizer, which wasn't ours.
We weren't allowed to switch it on, and when we
switched it on, the sound that was there was magically
the other sound, which right now, remember we only had
(03:27):
seven tracks on an eight track tape recorder, so but
by recording only three tracks, they sounded like this, which
is those two sequences and the drums.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Wow, isn't that equivalent. That's so damn good hearing in
the studio like that. Yeah, very very cool.
Let Me tell You a Story on.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Time Cleary and leases the story behind the song.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Today's Story behind the song song is Sweet Dreams by
You Rhythmics. It was the fourth single from their second
album the same name in January nineteen eighty three, but
it was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It
reached number two on the UK charts, number one on
the US charts, and it was number six here in Australia.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah, huge hit, wasn't it. And it got everyone's attention
because they were just so different to everybody else out
there and a duo is any talking about how she
was almost done?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's a funny story, isn't we Because on the day
that we started to create the song Sweet Dreams, I
was in a terrible mood and I was really ready
to pack it in and to go back to Scotland.
I had realized that there was no hope whatsoever and
it wasn't going to happen, and that was the mood
I was in.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I was thinking we're done here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, And I was. I was really
depressed by and Davis is like, you know, he's a
very brilliant individual. So he's like okay, you're down. Okay,
but now well you won't mind, will you if I
just go and do this. And then I was sitting
sort of mooching in the corner of the of the
studio that we had we were working in, and I
heared him doing this, and then I was like, hmmm,
(01:17):
that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Absolutely. Annie and Dave wrote the song after the Tourists
had broken up and they formed a Rhythmics, although the
two of them also broke up as a couple and
they continued to work together, and he says the lyrics
reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists
break up the band, not so much affair when she
felt they were in a dream world.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Interesting she is talking about that point in their careers.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It was about that dreaming or aspirational dream everybody has,
and then whether or not it comes true, whether it
or not, it is fulfilled. And in the case of
Sweet Dreams, ironically, what the what the song was all
about actually fulfilled itself, which is so strange. And I
think about it because at the time I really had
(02:03):
no thoughts that the song would have such a sort
of powerful trajectory.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well, certainly resonate in so many places around the globe.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I know, why do you think there is?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You know, it's so interesting. It's something about sweet dreams
that people latch onto that they identify with. And whether
it's because they want to celebrate a victory from a
football match or it's someone's birthday, I don't really know.
But there's something in the song that people just love.
And it's a very peculiar song because it's like a
little mandra It just goes around and around. It just
(02:37):
says the same thing over and over, and people just
have identified with it.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I think she's selling herself a bit short because there's
that magnificent voice as well.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yes, Louisey Win, doesn't it exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Absolutely lose you in now Dive Stewart, as Andy said,
there a couple of times he's in extraordinary talent and
he's proven that for the rest of his career as well.
But sometimes the best things happen in the studio, and
it might not even be your equipment that you meant
to be ampring with.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
It can come up with great I started to play
this little thing, but then Annie suddenly left to her feet,
going holy, and then ran to this synthesizer, which wasn't ours.
We weren't allowed to switch it on, and when we
switched it on, the sound that was there was magically
the other sound, which right now, remember we only had
(03:27):
seven tracks on an eight track tape recorder, so but
by recording only three tracks, they sounded like this, which
is those two sequences and the drums.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Wow, isn't that equivalent. That's so damn good hearing in
the studio like that. Yeah, very very cool.
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