Hall and Oates – You Make My Dreams

I have always liked this keyboard-driven song. The funky riff makes it irresistible. After this album, they released Private Eyes and that is when I stopped following them as much…although Private Eyes was a huge success.

You Make My Dreams peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100 and #17 in Canada in 1981. The song came off of the album Voices which peaked at #17 in the Billboard Album Charts and it went gold in Canada.

Voices was a huge success with 4 singles coming off the album making the top 40.  How Does It Feel to Be Back, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, Kiss on My List, and this song. Along with those songs the album also included “Everytime You Go Away” which wasn’t released as a single for some reason. Later on, Paul Young covered the song and had a #1 song in the Billboard 100.

Back in 2020, the song reached 1 billion streams worldwide. The riff in this song was played on a Yamaha CP30 Electric Piano.

Yamaha CP30 Electric Piano 1981 Brown | Yamaha CP30 Electric | Reverb

The single was not initially a hit in the UK but gathered momentum as time went on thanks to its frequent use on TV and film soundtracks. In 2018 it was the UK’s most-streamed song during the year out of all the records released in 1980.

John Oates: “It’s a great song, simple as that. Good songs are good songs. They stand on their own, they can be stripped away of the production. A song is what happens when a writer sits down on their individual instrument and creates something out of nothing. And there’s magic involved and there’s inspiration involved. ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ represents a vibe, it represents a collaboration between myself and Daryl and the band in the studio in the ’80s. Its simplicity and directness is where the charm lies in that song.”

“It’s amazing, right? What really gets me about this is when the song ‘You Make My Dreams’ was released as a single in 1981, it wasn’t a massive Number One hit – it reached Number Five in the US. We couldn’t have predicted the impact it would have. Over the years, it’s taken on a life of its own. It’s become this anthemic feel-good thing. A lot of it started with its use in the movie 500 Days of Summer and the dance sequence they created around that song. From there on, it took on this life of its own. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s an amazing feel-good groove and it has a great timeless appeal.”

Daryl Hall: “It’s funny – it’s ubiquitous, especially now. I think because it’s such a happy song, just a pure expression of joy. And it’s set to a really old-time-gospel kind of feel.”

You Make My Dreams

What I want you’ve got
But it might be hard to handle
Like the flame that burns the candle
But the candle feeds the flame, yeah yeah
What I got full stock
Of thoughts and dreams that scatter
And you pull them all together
And how I can’t explain, oh yeah

Well well you (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
You make my dreams come true
(Ooh you you ooh ooh)
Well well well you (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Oh yeah, you make my dreams come true
(You you you you) hell yeah (you)

On a night when bad dreams become a screamer
When they’re messin’ with a dreamer
I can laugh it in the face
Twist and shout my way out
And wrap yourself around me
Cause I ain’t the way you found me
And I’ll never be the same, oh yeah

Well cause you (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Hmmm hmm, you make my dreams come true
(Ooh you you you) oh yeah (you)
Well well well you (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Ooh, you make my dreams come true
(You you you you) oh yeah (you)
Well, listen to this

I’m down on my daydream
All that sleepwalk should be over by now
I know

Well you, hell yeah
You make my dreams come true
(You you you you) oh yeah (you)
I’ve been waiting for, waiting for you girl
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Oh yeah, you make my dreams come true
(You you you you) Me you, me you, me
I’ve been waiting for, waiting for you girl
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) all my life

You make my dreams come true
(You you) whoa (you you)
Whoa whoa, I’ve been waiting for
Waiting for, waiting for, waiting for
Waiting for, waiting for, waiting for
(You make my dreams) ooh ooh ooh ooh

I’ve been waiting for you, girl (you you you you)
(You make my dreams, you you you you)

….

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “Hall and Oates – You Make My Dreams”

  5. it was a good one… they really had a knack for catchy pop tunes around then. Thinking back, I’d reckon they held a personal record for me for “most singles owned by an artist for whom I don’t have an album”… had a whole lot of their 45s but didn’t have any albums until somewhere along the way I got a Greatest hits CD.

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      1. I’m not surprised, they had an incredible string of hits. I’ve heard their take , original as it were, of “Everytime You Go Away” but I think Paul Young did it better.

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      2. I did hear it at the time I believe…when I heard Paul Young’s version I thought…I heard this before..

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  6. Love these guys. I saw them in concert when G.E. Smith was in their band. Awesome show. I saw them on the H20 tour. I love all their albums until after Big Bam Boom. After that one I checked out. You Make My Dreams Come True is one of the most requested wedding reception songs–even now. Great Tune.

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    1. I like G.E. Smith…I got to see him when he was in Dylan’s band. I was in Jr High in the early 80s and they were huge.
      I can see it being highly requested there.

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  7. Big fan of hall and oates but never really noticed this track until the last few years. Its fun but id still go for shes gone, i cant go for that, maneater, out of touch and many more other gems in preferance… 🙂

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  9. It’s catchy but, it was played to death in my area. Kiss On My List, too. How Does It Feel To Be Back…I don’t recall. The Private Eyes album, I did not like…too pedestrian & over played. *yawn*

    I love Maneater, Adult Education, Sara Smile, She’s Gone (the long version), Wait For Me, One On One and, in particular You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ because that song has the wonderful balance of both guys, just like the original. John Oates sings more instead of just being a background voice. He opens the song which is rare.

    I can’t stand Rich Girl. It’s right up there with Big Shot by Joel. They sound obnoxious & constipated.

    Hall & Oates ran hot & cold with me. Sometimes, they were outstanding. Other times, not so much.

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    1. I liked their seventies stuff up to this song. I don’t like from here on and that damn eighties sound… this one still sounds like their older stuff… don’t like man eater and after.

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      1. There older stuff was more bluesy. I just listened, again, to She’s Gone. I did like the back & forth of their voices. As they got farther into the 80s, Oates got put in the background. Hall did most of the singing. I preferred both voices.

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      2. Yea they were more real in the 70s…as was everyone else….a more earthy sound. Sara Smile and others.

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      5. I can’t help it! You can see how miserable I was in that damn decade music-wise. Replacements, Prince, Springsteen, Petty, Mellencamp and a few more…great. I did like the occasional one hit wonder like Martin Briley or someone. I liked REM also.
        What did they have in common? None of that awful sound…that “Safety Dance (I cringe even typing it)”bs

        Now let me tell you how I really feel lol

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      7. Sure I liked Blondie…but they were mostly 70s and the 80s didn’t become the 80s until 82-83

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  12. I generally dig Hall & Oates, especially their ’70s output. I like their soulfulness. I saw them once in September 2019. My wife had come across a touring announcement and convinced me to go. The 1.5-hour drive from our house to Allentown, Pa (that would be the one Billy Joel once sang about) was absolutely worth it. They were great!

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