Tag: 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.

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)

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