‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ is a song by the British new wave music duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), in January 1983. The song was Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and all over the world. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 63 in February 1983 and reached number two the following month, spending a total of six weeks in the Top 5. The duo performed the song on the BBC's music chart show Top of the Pops on 24 February 1983 (when it was number 21 in the charts), and its continued climb up the charts saw them play it on the show's year end Christmas special. It was the 11th best-selling single of 1983 in the UK and has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ was the first-ever single released by Eurythmics in the United States when it was released in May 1983. The single debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and slowly eased up the chart. By August, the single had reached number two and stayed there for four weeks before it took the number one spot in the first week of September. The song also peaked at number one in France and Canada, and reached the top ten in a number of countries including Australia, West Germany, Spain and South Africa.
Appearing with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit in the music video, the BBC stated Annie Lennox's "powerful androgynous look" was the music video that "broke the mould for female pop stars“. Rolling Stone called the song "a synth-pop masterpiece that made Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars".
After the song's rise, the duo's 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. In 2020, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, it was selected by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry. Eurythmics have regularly performed the song in all their live sets since its release—with an early television performance coming on the BBC's Top of the Pops in February 1983—and it is often performed by Lennox on her solo tours.
Recorded by Eurythmics in a small project studio in the attic of an old warehouse in north London where they were living, the song's success heralded a trend of musicians abandoning larger recording studios for home recording methods. According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world" and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?" adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart thought the lyrics too depressing and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.
Label – RCA
Songwriters – Annie Lennox David A. Stewart
Producer – David A. Stewart
SONG LYRICS
[Chorus]Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
[Verse]
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
[Chorus]
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
[Bridge]
(Hold your head up, keep your head up) movin' on
(Hold your head up) movin' on, (keep your head up) movin' on
(Hold your head up) movin' on, (keep your head up) movin' on
(Hold your head up) movin' on, (keep your head up)
[Keyboard Solo]
[Verse]
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
[Chorus]
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
[Outro]
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Sweet dreams are made of this