In Dreams (song) - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

The tormented narrative of 1963 hit "In Dreams" veers unsettlingly between melancholy teenage romance and morbid adult obsession... Hearing his distinctive, plaintive voice sing, "I can't help it! I can't help it!" meant recognizing the real possibility that neither could you. Echoes of ranchera music offer bittersweet counterpoint from the lulling intro, through the aching verses to a finish that just seems to evaporate.

Robert Goldstein, National Public Radio (2011)

Recorded in Monument's Nashville studios in early 1963, "In Dreams" peaked at number 7 on Billboard's Hot 100 and spent 13 weeks on the charts in the U.S. During the five months the song was on the charts, Orbison replaced guitarist Duane Eddy on a tour of England. He was immensely popular in England, and shared billing with The Beatles, of whom he had never heard. English promoters were wary of Orbison as a draw; he was not conventionally attractive or animated while performing, and they wondered if audiences would walk out. The tour sold out in one afternoon, however. Orbison's first meeting with John Lennon was awkward because Orbison was overwhelmed with the amount of advertising devoted to The Beatles when Orbison was supposed to headline the show. Beatlemania, however, was taking hold and Orbison accepted that he was not quite the main draw, so he decided to go first on stage. On opening night, the audience reacted intensely toward Orbison's ballads, as he finished with "In Dreams". Philip Norman, a Beatles biographer, later wrote "As Orbison performed, chinless and tragic, The Beatles stood in the wings, wondering how they would dare to follow him". After demanding Orbison play for double the time he was scheduled, the audience then screamed for a fifteenth encore, which Lennon and Paul McCartney refused to allow by holding Orbison back from re-entering the stage.

A compilation of Orbison's updated and re-recorded most successful songs was released in 1987 under the title In Dreams: The Greatest Hits. It coincided with the release of the dark and surreal mystery thriller Blue Velvet, directed by David Lynch. Orbison was astonished at the way Lynch used "In Dreams". In the film, a murderous and morally bankrupt psychopath named Frank Booth (played by Dennis Hopper) is obsessed with the song and demands it be played over and over, calling it "Candy Colored Clown". In one scene it is lip-synced by a flamboyantly effeminate character played by Dean Stockwell, after which Booth becomes enraged and beats the protagonist. Lynch later stated, "it is a beautiful song and it was written by Roy... Those lyrics, that feel meant something to him. And it just so happened that a song in a certain situation could mean something else. And the way that Frank Booth used that song in two different places, it is just kind of unbelievable. But I can see why Roy was upset because for him it meant a third thing."

Orbison did not authorize the use of the song or know it was going to be used, but the use of "In Dreams" proved positive for his career, which had stalled in the 1970s. BAM magazine called the song "the emotional epicenter of the film". Orbison biographer Ellis Amburn called "In Dreams" deceptively simple and that it is used to significant effect in Blue Velvet because it suggests dreaming is preferable to waking, and power and control are the real themes of the song, instead of love, longing, and loss. The film made the song a cult favorite, and after seeing it a few times, Orbison reconsidered his stance on its use. Footage of the film is featured in the 1987 music video of "In Dreams", and interspersed with live action shots of Orbison's image projected over a filmy linen cloth blowing in the wind.

While listening to the Blue Velvet soundtrack on repeat during a sleepless night, Bono of the rock group U2 became fixated on "In Dreams". After eventually finding sleep, he awoke with another song in his head, which he at first presumed to be a different Orbison tune. This became "She's a Mystery to Me", a song written by Bono and fellow U2 member The Edge for Orbison. It appeared on Orbison's final album, Mystery Girl, released in 1989. On the same album, "In Dreams" received its companion piece, "In the Real World", which was written by Will Jennings and Richard Kerr. Many of Orbison's songs either address dreaming or are presented in a dreamlike quality. In addition to the album released in 1963 and the re-recorded album of hits in 1987, a Canadian documentary on Orbison's life and impact on rock and roll also touched on the theme exemplified by the song; it was titled In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story and released in 1999.