Dreaming (1979)

"Dreaming" is a song by American new wave band Blondie. Released in 1979, the song was the opening track from their fourth album, Eat to the Beat. Written by guitarist Chris Stein and singer Debbie Harry and partially inspired by ABBA's "Dancing Queen", the song also features an active drum performance by drummer Clem Burke, who did not expect the final recording to feature his busy drum track.

"Dreaming" was released as the lead single from Eat to the Beat in September 1979, reaching number two on the UK singles chart and number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band saw this as a disappointing performance, though the song remained one of the band's highest-charting singles to that point. The song's single release was accompanied by a music video.

The song has since become one of Blondie's most famous tracks, appearing on several compilation albums and becoming a mainstay of the band's live set list. It has since seen critical acclaim, and several music writers have named the song as one of the band's best.

Background

The lyrics for "Dreaming" originated from the line "dreaming is free", which band member Chris Stein thought of. After hearing the music for the song that Stein wrote, Debbie Harry wrote the rest of the lyrics. Harry explained the process of writing the lyrics in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying, "Sometimes Chris will come up with a track or a feel and pass it on to me, and he'll say, 'I was thinking "Dreaming/Dreaming is free",' and then I'll fill it out with a story line or some more phrases. A lot of times it's the rhythm track that suggests what the lyric is going to be. I like working like that."

Musically, "Dreaming" is a fast-paced new wave song. Stein has since claimed that "Dreaming" is "pretty much a cop" of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA; he continued, "I don't know if that was where we started, or if it ended just happening to sound like that." Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock said the song "tak[es] a cue from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound." Billboard described "Dreaming" as a "driving rocker that moves with rollercoaster intensity" and described Harry's lead vocals as "mesmerizing."

According to the band's keyboardist Jimmy Destri, the song, like many from the Eat to the Beat album, was recorded live in the studio. The song also features a frantic drum performance written by drummer Clem Burke. Burke said of his drumming on the song:

'Dreaming' came out the way it did... because [producer Mike Chapman] really gave me free rein and it was really a surprise. That take of 'Dreaming' was just me kind of blowing through the song. It's not like I expected that to be the take. I was consciously overplaying just for the sake of it because it was a run-through.

Release

The song was released on September 14, 1979 as the first single from Eat to the Beat. While the US release of the single had "Living in the Real World" as the B-side, the British version used "Sound-A-Sleep" instead. Both of those songs likewise feature on Eat to the Beat. A music video was produced to promote the single featuring Debbie Harry wearing a solid blue unitard and matching sheer blouse designed by Stephen Sprouse.

"Dreaming" was most successful as a single in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK singles chart. Burke later expressed disappointment at the song's inability to reach number one in Britain unlike other Blondie singles, saying, "English audiences are notoriously fickle. They go off on people after a while. It's been done before. We're so spoiled by having all those number ones."

The single was also successful in Ireland and Canada, reaching number three and number four respectively. In the US, it peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Blondie's third Top 40 hit there (after "Heart of Glass" (number one) and "One Way or Another" (number 24) earlier in the year). Clem Burke attributed the song's relatively lower chart position to his drumming, saying, "I always say 'Dreaming' would have been a bigger hit had I not played like that. It was Top 40, but it was never a huge hit."

"Dreaming" has since been featured on multiple compilation albums, such as The Best of Blondie (1981), The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie (1991), Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie (1998) and Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux in 2014, for which Blondie re-recorded the song.

In 2019, "Dreaming" was used as the opening credits theme song for the third and final season of the HBO drama The Deuce.