Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

For the album, see Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album).

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
Single by Eurythmics
from the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Released	21 January 1983
Format	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1982
Genre	New wave, synthpop
Length	3:35 (7" Single) 4:48 (12" Single)
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart
Producer	David A. Stewart
Certification	Gold (SNEP) Silver (BPI) Gold (RIAA)
Eurythmics singles chronology
"Love Is a Stranger" (1982) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983) "Who's That Girl? (1983) "Love Is a Stranger" (1991 reissue) (1991) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1991 reissue) (1991) "I Saved the World Today" (1999)

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (or simply "Sweet Dreams") is a song written and performed by the British pop music duo Eurythmics (Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart). It was released as a single in early 1983, the title track of their album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), one of their biggest hits, and the song which provided the group with their breakthrough into commercial success. Its striking music video helped to propel the song to #2 on the UK singles chart and to their only #1 ranking on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, on 3 September 1983, after The Police's "Every Breath You Take" had held it off at #2 for four consecutive weeks in August. It was the fourth and final single released from the Sweet Dreams album in the UK and the first ever single to be released by Eurythmics in the United States.

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is arguably Eurythmics' signature song. Following its success, their 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 (the group's only song on the list). Eurythmics have regularly performed the song in all their live sets since 1982, and it is often performed by Lennox on her solo tours.

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" (peaking at number ten).

Background

The original recording's main instrumentation featured a sequenced analog synthesizer riff, which Stewart accidentally discovered in the studio when he played a bass track backwards. Apart from the synthesizer, the arrangement also utilises a Movement Systems Drum Computer, a piano in the middle eight, and Lennox's multitracked harmony vocals.

Track listings

7" vinyl

• A: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" – 3:36
• B: "I Could Give You a Mirror" [alternate version] * – 3:51

12" vinyl

• A: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" [extended version] – 4:48
• B1: "I Could Give You a Mirror" [alternate version] * – 3:51
• B2: "Baby's Gone Blue" – 4:17

3" CD (1989 re-release)

1. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" – 3:36
2. "I Could Give You a Mirror" [alternate version] * – 3:51
3. "Here Comes the Rain Again" – 4:54
4. "Paint a Rumour" – 7:30

* This version is different from the one found on the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

Music video

Annie Lennox in the music video for "Sweet Dreams".

The music video for "Sweet Dreams" was directed by Chris Ashbrook and filmed in January 1983, shortly before the single and the album were released. The video received heavy airplay on the then-fledgling MTV channel and is widely considered a classic clip from the early-MTV era.

Lennox's striking androgynous visual image, with close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and attired in a man's suit brandishing a cane, immediately made her a household name. Her gender-bending image would be further explored in other Eurythmics videos such as "Love Is a Stranger" and "Who's That Girl?"

There is also an alternative music video with the duo on the train.

Chart performance

Original release

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	9
Belgian Singles Chart	2
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Singles Chart	10
French Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Polish Singles Chart	14
South African Singles Chart	5
Swiss Singles Chart	8
UK Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart	36
U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Maintstream Rock Chart	16

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)	Gold	951,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	250,000^
United States (RIAA)	Gold	1,000,000^
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

1991 Reissue

Chart (1991)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	48

1995 Reissue

Chart (1995)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	136

2005 Reissue

Chart (2005)	Peak position
French Singles Chart	27

2006 Reissue

Chart (2006)	Peak position
French Singles Chart	19

2010 Reissue

Chart (2010)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	150

Marilyn Manson cover

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
Single by Marilyn Manson
from the album Smells Like Children
Released	1995
Format	CD-Single
Recorded	1994
Genre	Industrial rock
Length	4:53 (EP), 4:25 (single)
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Eurythmics, Brian Hugh Warner, Jeordie White
Producer	Marilyn Manson & Trent Reznor
Marilyn Manson singles chronology
"Dope Hat" (1995) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1996) "The Beautiful People" (1996)
Music sample "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

Marilyn Manson released a cover version of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" as the first single from the 1995 EP, Smells Like Children. This version became an MTV staple and helped to establish the band in the mainstream. It also appears on the band's greatest hits album, Lest We Forget: The Best Of. This version is featured on the soundtracks to the 2005 documentary film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and the 2009 film Gamer. It is also featured in the films Trick 'r Treat, House on Haunted Hill, the trailer to Wrath of the Titans and in the pilot of The Following. In Manson's autobiography, The Long Hard Road out of Hell, he states that Nothing Records did not want to release this as a single. They wanted to release their cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You", which, according to Manson, "was far too dark, sprawling and esoteric, even for some of our fans."

Marilyn Manson added some extra lines to the lyrics that are not present in the Eurythmics version: "I wanna use you and abuse you/I wanna know what's inside you," along with "I'm gonna use you and abuse you/I gotta know what's inside you."

The video for Manson's cover contains several clips of Manson and bandmates in what appears to be an abandoned building. The overall video was shot with unusual filters: this was one of the first videos shot with a director^{[citation needed]}, not based solely on what the band came up with. In between the clips are a number of surreal shots of Manson wearing a wedding gown, Manson wandering around an abandoned street in a tutu, birds fluttering around him and leaving droppings on his body, and of him riding a pig wearing a cowboy hat and covered with mud. In 2010 the music video was rated the "Scariest music video ever made" by Billboard, beating Michael Jacksons Thriller for the top spot.

Formats and track listings

Australian CD single

1. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" – 4:25
2. "Dance of the Dope Hats" (Remix) – 4:46
3. "Down in the Park" – 4:58
4. "Lunchbox (Next Motherfucker)" – 4:47

U.S. promotional CD single

1. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" – 4:25

Other cover versions

• Macedonian darkwave band Mizar recorded an Orthodox folk version for their second album Svjat Dreams. An early version from 1989 appears on the compilation Svedozhba.
• Soul Rebels Brass Band covered the song on their Rounder Records debut record, Unlock Your Mind, released on January 31, 2012, and they performed the song on Later with Jools Holland in 2011.
• Italian-based Croatian singer Sharon C. covered the song for her same-titled debut single released in 1997, and since then it has been featured on many compilations including Dancemania 8.
• Polish band Moonlight covered the song for their 1999 EP Flos.
• French electroclash duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker covered the song for their 1999 EP Intimités.
• Actress Maria Bello performed the song in the movie Duets (2000), which is included on the soundtrack.
• "Sweet Dreams" was partially covered by Geri Halliwell as a medley with her song, "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" in late 2004.
• Finnish a cappella group Club for Five recorded a cover of the song.
• Brazilian singer Badi Assad covered the song for her 2006 album Wonderland.
• Brazilian singer Danni Carlos covered the song for her 2006 album Rock ´n´ Road Movies.
• German singer Thomas Anders (formerly of Modern Talking) recorded a jazzy, lounge music cover of the song for his 2006 solo album Songs Forever.
• Australian girlgroup Girlband recorded a cover of the song for their unreleased debut album.
• Tanghetto, the neo-tango band based in Buenos Aires recorded and released the song as part of their El Miedo a la Libertad album in 2008. Their cover is an instrumental version, where the bandoneon takes the "role" of the lead voice.
• American Christian rock singer Krystal Meyers covered the song on the 2008 Japanese release of her third album Make Some Noise.
• Ukrainian pop/rock band Lama covered the song as "Світ мрій" ("World of Dreams") for their 2008 album Світло і Тінь (Light and Shadow).
• The German Underground rapper Frauenarzt covered the sample of this song as "Feuchte Träume" on Feuchte Träume (Gastparts 3) in 2008.
• The melody was featured in the U96 featuring Das Bo single "Mr. DJ, Put on the Red Light" and was sung by Tryna Loules, who released it in 2006.
• Sylvie Vartan covered it in French (1983) under the title "Déprime", famous for its deep rhymes.
• In a 2002 episode of The Simpsons, "Half-Decent Proposal", at the end of the episode, Artie Ziff (Jon Lovitz) begins to sing the song through a speaker, culminating with the lyrics "I am watching you through a camera!"
• Doctor Steel covered the chorus of "Sweet Dreams" in the end of his song "Lullaby Bye".
• French singer Emily Loizeau covered jazz version of "Sweet Dreams" on her album Pays Sauvage (Track 15).
• The German/Greek a cappella band Five Live covered "Sweet Dreams" on their album Five Live live (track 4).
• Delta Goodrem covered 'Sweet Dreams' on her 2008 Believe Again Tour . The cover was later released on the CD/DVD release of the tour.
• Tori Amos covered the song live in Boston, MA while on her Original Sinsuality Tour in 2005.
• The German pop-singer Judith Hildebrandt performed the song live on 23 April 2009 in the Ultimative Chart-Show.
• Japanese musician Tomoyasu Hotei covered it on his 2009 cover album Modern Times Rock'N'Roll.
• Allison Crowe recorded a stripped-down acoustic version of "Sweet Dreams" for a Hollywood movie project in mid-2010
• Korean girl group Girls' Generation covered this song on a music TV show in 2010.
• Actress Emily Browning made a slow version cover of this song for her movie Sucker Punch, accompanying a scene of Browning's character being taken to an institution and on the film's soundtrack.
• Singer Kitty Brucknell covered the song on the fourth live show in the Eighth series of the UK X Factor.
• British singer Leona Lewis covered the song in her tour The Labyrinth.
• Danish group WhoMadeWho released a cover version of the song in 2012.
• The singer of the Belgium band Trigger Finger Ruben Block covered the song for the Dutch television show 'De Wereld Draait Door' in 2011.

Remixes and sampling

• American pop singer Britney Spears used a sample of the song on the song "Everybody" which appeared as an iTunes and Japan bonus track of her 2007 album Blackout. The song was produced by JR Rotem, and was used later as a B-side of her single "Break the Ice". Spears also used Marilyn Manson's version of the song in an interlude for The Circus Starring Britney Spears world tour.
• The American rapper Swing (later on known as Swingfly) released a Euro-pop version of the song featuring Dr Alban. It included additional rap verses but sampling greatly on the original song. The single had chart success in Sweden and in many European clubs.
• Rapper Nas uses an interpolation of the chorus from "Sweet Dreams" in his 1996 hit "Street Dreams".
• Pink and Redman used "Sweet Dreams" in a remix of Pink's 2001 hit, "Get the Party Started".
• Tricky used a sample in the track "You don't wanna" in the 2001 album Blowback.
• A eurodance remix of the song, "Sweet Dreams X-Clusive", was recorded for the 2001 compilation Dancemania Speed 7.
• Faith Evans sampled the song for the remix of her single "You Gets No Love" featuring original collaborator P. Diddy and rapper G. Dep.
• Stefy's song "Chelsea" features a sample of "Sweet Dreams" and was featured in the soundtrack for the 2006 film John Tucker Must Die.
• Drum and bass group Noisia recorded a remix of the song.
• Petey Pablo samples "Sweet Dreams" in his song "Get Me Out of Jail".
• UK artist M.I.A. mashed "Sweet Dreams" with Pretty Tony's "Fix It in the Mix" and her own "10 Dollar" to produce the seventeenth track off Diplo and her Piracy Funds Terrorism mixtape.
• Play-N-Skillz sampled and sped up the famous riff in their song "Get Freaky", featuring Pitbull.
• Rapper Busta Rhymes uses as similar riff in his 2009 single "World Go Round" featuring Estelle.
• Freestyle singer Rockell sampled the bassline and intro in her 1997 single "I Fell in Love".
• British electropop group Sohodolls sampled the songs on their song "Trash the Rental" taken from their album Ribbed Music for the Numb Generation.
• Escape The Fate sampled the intro effect from the Marilyn Manson version, for their song "Lost in Darkness".
• The Black Eyed Peas used this song to mix it with their song My Humps.
• Avicii sampled the song in his mix titled "Swede Dreams".
• Beyoncé Knowles used fragments of the song when singing "Sweet Dreams" in Glastonbury.
• Rapper Ludacris had mixed it with his song Stand Up in a faster tone with the music from the song in the background.
• Swedish House Mafia Have performed and used a remix of this song in their "Until One" Documentary.

Appearances in other media

• The song was used on D-TV's Monster Hits on NBC in 1987.
• Soul Rebels Brass Band performed their version of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" on Later with Jools Holland in 2011.
• Eurythmics performed the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards. The live performance of the song was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I.
• The Eurythmics version was used on Season 3 of So You Think You Can Dance, danced by Neil Haskell and Sabra Johnson, choreographed by Mandy Moore. It was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding choreography. The same routine was later used and made slightly longer for the finale of the UK version, danced by Lizzie Gough and Tommy Franzen.
• The song was used as the theme for NBC's 1996 made-for-TV thriller, Sweet Dreams, starring Tiffani Thiessen and Amy Yasbeck, using both the original Eurythmics version and the Manson cover.
• The Eurythmics version was used in the film Striptease.
• Used in the TV series The Simpsons in the 2002 episode "Half-Decent Proposal".
• It was used as the theme song for the 2005 TV reality series, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.
• A rock cover performed by Theo Crous was used in a VW Golf GTI MkV commercial.
• The Manson cover was used in a 2006 Fiat Grande Punto commercial.
• The song was used in the first episode of series three of the British drama Ashes to Ashes, on the series unveiling of Gene Hunt's Audi Quattro on Alex Drake's noting that "There's nothing for it – let's fire up the Quattro".
• The original version of the song was used in Everybody Hates Chris.
• Used in American Pie: The Wedding during the dance off scene.
• The track was used in the Flynn's Arcade scene on Tron: Legacy.
• In the Parks and Recreation episode "Telethon", "Pawnee's most bookable talent" Denise Yermley sings the song during a telethon.
• Both the original and the Marilyn Manson cover version were used in the pilot of the 2011 TV series Grimm.
• It was used on the YouTube video for See No Evil, where it was sung by Jacob Goodnight (played by Glenn Jacobs), lip syncing Manson's lips; voices from the cast of the film can be heard as well, including Samantha Noble, Luke Pegler, Michael J. Pagan and other actors and actresses.
• The Manson cover was used for the credits in one of the episodes of Luther TV series.
• The song was used in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
• This song was also covered by Emily Browning, and her cover of the song appeared in the movie Sucker Punch.

External links

• YouTube – Live rehearsal 2007
• YouTube – Marilyn Manson's music video
• YouTube – Nitty Gritty – Sweet Dreams
• YouTube – Térez Montcalm – Sweet Dreams
• IMDB – House on Haunted Hill Soundtrack

Preceded by "Every Breath You Take" by The Police	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Eurythmics version) September 3, 1983	Succeeded by "Maniac" by Michael Sembello
Preceded by "Our House" by Madness	Canadian RPM Singles Chart number-one single (Eurythmics version) September 10, 1983 – September 17, 1983	Succeeded by "Maniac" by Michael Sembello