Dreams was written by singer Stevie Nicks, for the album 'Rumours' which was released in 1977. It turned out to be the only #1 song The Mac ever scored. The lyrics tell of a woman who is in the throes of the break up of an affair, telling him that all might not be that rosy for the man who jilts her. He just might find pain, sadness, and ultimate insanity because of the lonliness this choice has brought to his life.
There were plenty of 'Soap Opera' stories circulating around the band at the time of this recording: Drummer Mick Fleetwood involved in a divorce. Bass player John McVie and his wife, keyboardist Christine McVie were divorcing. Even singer Stevie Nicks was ending her long term relationship with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Nicks were ending their eight-year relationship. "We had to go through this elaborate exercise of denial," explains Buckingham to Blender Magazine, "keeping our personal feelings in one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other." These circumstances inspired the writing of "Dreams."
The song, penned by Stevie Nicks. was written in Sausalito, CA. in the winter of 1976 at the Record Plant recording studio.. Stevie said "One day when I wasn't required in the main studio, so I took a Fender Rhodes piano and went into another studio It was a black-and-red room, with a sunken pit in the middle where there was a piano, and a big black-velvet bed with Victorian drapes."
"I sat down on the bed with my keyboard in front of me, I found a drum pattern, switched my little cassette player on and wrote 'Dreams' in about 10 minutes. Right away I liked the fact that I was doing something with a dance beat, because that made it a little unusual for me."
When Nicks debuted the song for the rest of the band the wanted to record it right way. They got as far as a basic track in Sausalito. A studio engineer the recalled that the drum track and live vocal from Stevie were all the kept from that session. The bass and guitars were then mixed in later in Los Angeles.
Christine McVie tells of her part in the song as "just three chords and one note in the left hand. Lindsey fashioned three sections out of identical chords, making each section sound completely different. He created the impression that there’s a thread running through the whole thing."
"Dreams" reached the number one spot in the United States on June 18, 1977. 'Rumours' the album reached #1 on this day in Rock Apri 2, 1977.