Sweet Dreams (40 Years Ago!)

In 1981, Eurythmics released a debut album, “In the Garden,” that went nowhere, but its follow-up in 1983, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” unlocked America for them. The video for the title track was a constant presence during MTV’s early years. Stewart and Lennox were suddenly everywhere, glaring mysteriously from magazine covers, staring from videos in arch amusement….The success of “Sweet Dreams,” the fourth in a line of underperforming singles from their sophomore album, surprised everyone, especially them. “Obviously ‘Sweet Dreams’ is just a huge life-changer,” Lennox says…”it’s just played endlessly. ‘Sweet Dreams’ isn’t even a conventional song … it’s like a mantra. It just repeats and repeats. It doesn’t have that structure. But there’s something in the song that people clearly identify with, whatever they’re doing, you know, they’re having a celebration or somebody scored a goal or it’s a birthday.”

—  Allison Stewart, Annie Lennox beguiled us in the MTV age. Now she calms us down online. Nearly 40 years after Eurythmics hit it big with ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),’ the singer keeps her chin up in a world of anxieties (The Washington Post, June 30, 2022)

18 thoughts on “Sweet Dreams (40 Years Ago!)”

  1. It really is a meditative mantra – though I never thought of it that way, despite playing it incessantly back in the day.

  2. There are certain songs that I “see” because I watched them on MTV as the article points out. I can remember the feelings and sometimes even sensations I had… amazing- how multi-sensorial are these memories.

  3. Thanks for the good song memory…such a mesmerizing song…. I’ve always loved Annie Lennox’s persona–such power, such a beautiful voice, such an interesting and beautiful look, so out there!

  4. OK, so I watched it! I do miss those videos. But I have to fight trying to figure out what all that meant. Kind of crazy!

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