These Dreams

"These Dreams"
Single by Heart
from the album Heart
B-side	"Shell Shock"
Released	January 18, 1986
Format	7", 12" (picture sleeve), CD Single (UK only)
Recorded	The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA (January-April 1985)
Genre	Soft rock, pop
Length	4:15
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Martin Page Bernie Taupin
Producer	Ron Nevison
Heart singles chronology
"Never" (1985) "These Dreams" (1986) "Nothin' at All" (1986)

"These Dreams" is a song by the rock band Heart released in 1986 from their 1985 self-titled album. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Origin of the song

In 1985, Martin Page (who co-wrote 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 Records. 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 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 petite sail-shaped electric guitar Nancy played in the music video was the creation of Nashville luthier David Petschulat, which had been purchased years earlier.

Storyline

This song was dedicated (on the album) to Nancy Wilson's good friend Sharon Hess, who died of leukemia shortly before the song was made. The lyrics of the song describe the fantasy world a person enters when faced with a difficult situation in real life.

The story told by the song is of a woman describing how she is within a world of fantasy that occurs every time she falls asleep, a world where what is and what isn't cannot always be determined, "every second of the night, I live another life." She speaks of wishing to "hide away from the pain," but it is unclear whether she wants to live in the dream world to hide away from the pain of the real world, or wants to go back to the real world to hide from the pain of the dream world.

Versions and formats

On its UK 12" and CD single releases, the song was remixed and extended to 5:25. The UK CD single also featured the b-side "Heart of Darkness", and is the only known CD format availability for this rare Heart track.

There was also a limited 7" picture disc version released in the UK.

In 1987 after the success of "Alone", "These Dreams" was rereleased as a double A side in the UK with "Never". There was a 7", 12" and limited, laser etched, one sided 12".

Chart performance

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart[citation needed]	27
Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	6
Dutch Singles Chart	38
French Singles Chart[citation needed]	3
Irish Singles Chart	30
UK Singles Chart	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart	2

Appearances in other media

• In the 1980s, on The Young and the Restless, Nina (Tricia Cast), daydreams of a better life as the song plays in the background.
• An instrumental version of "These Dreams" by the group Time Pools can be heard in an episode of season 6 (2006-7) of The Sopranos.
• The song was covered in Spanish by the pop classical group The Three Graces on their 2008 self titled album. The title song was also featured on 2004's film smash comedy 50 First Dates starring American actors Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
• An acoustic version of the song appears on the Hawaiian group Na Leo Pilimehana's 2000 album Pocket Full of Paradise.

Notable Covers

• Filipino band MYMP cover the song from their 2008 album, Now.

References

Preceded by "Sara" by Starship	Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single March 15, 1986	Succeeded by "Secret Lovers" by Atlantic Starr
Preceded by "Sara" by Starship	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single March 22, 1986	Succeeded by "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco