“These Dreams” Single by Heart from the album Heart
B-side “All Eyes”
Released January 1986
Recorded January–April 1985
Label Capitol
Songwriters Bernie Taupin, Martin Page
Producer Ron Nevison
Charted No.1 in US, No.6 in Canada, No.62 in in UK, No.30 in Ireland
“These Dreams” is a song by American rock band Heart from their 1985 self-titled eighth studio album. It was released on January 18, 1986, as the album’s third single, becoming the band’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Bernie Taupin, long-time Elton John collaborator, and Martin Page teamed up to write “These Dreams” in 1985. In true 80s fashion, Page and Taupin collaborated via fax and 8-track player. “The lyrics would come through the fax machine, and I would just put the paper by the keyboard, and off I would go,” Page recalled in a 2017 interview with Songwriter Universe.
“With “These Dreams,” Bernie wrote a lyric that [he] initially called “Boys in the Mist.” It was a lyric that he had originally given to Stevie Nicks. But Stevie wasn’t interested in it or wasn’t available to do it, so he sent it to me. I was able to convince him to change the title to “These Dreams.” He had written [those words] in the bridge, and he let me move it around.”
In an instance of divine timing, Canadian-American rock band Heart stumbled upon “These Dreams” shortly after signing with Capitol Records. Although they had plenty of original material, the powerful ballad impressed them so much that they opted to include it on their 1986 eponymous album. The rest, of course, is history. “These Dreams” became Heart’s first No. 1 single on the Billboard charts, cementing its place as one of the band’s most iconic tracks.
A music video was made for the song, recorded via Capitol Records and directed by Jeff Stein. The clip for the track, which used the single version instead of the album version, received heavy airplay from MTV and was the third of four US Top 10 singles from Heart. This version (slightly shorter) does not have the second strophe of the original verses.
In the video, Nancy Wilson sings as she looks out over a pool of water and plays guitar in other sequences. Ann Wilson sings with her from shadow and the other band members have brief appearances performing the song. Wilson plays a Dean guitar as well as a petite sail-shaped electric guitar, created by luthier David Petschulat.
