With Dave Steward‘s musical skills and Annie Lennox‘s supple soulful vocal acrobatics the Eurythmics writing partnership proved hugely successful throughout the 1980s.
On their fantastically swooping 1983, trademark hit single ‘Sweet Dreams’ , lifted from the album of the same name, Lennox’s lyrics are ripe with hopelessness and regret apparently inspired by the immediate aftermath of the break up of the duos previous band The Tourists. It was a period when Lennox felt they were living “in a dream world”, and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She said: “Sweet dreams are made of this” is basically me saying: “Look at the state of us. How can it get worse? I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic.” Steward however decided the lyrics too depressing, and added the “hold your head up, moving on” line to make it more uplifting.’ This juxtaposition of existential questioning and uplifting motivation underscores the lyrics with a dynamic that wrestles throughout the song.
A glorious collision of soul and electro pop, ‘Sweet Dreams’ with its entwined nagging beat and grand production which bore the influence upon the synth wave of Kraftweek and Giorgio Moroder. With its insistent chirping synths, that sound almost like classical string stings fed through an analogue desk, while Lennox’s billowing vocals that contrast force in the verse with a spiralling, dramatic falscetto that lifts to exhultant cresendos in the outro. The unforgettable video sees Lennox playing with gender identity, adopting the role of chair woman with a stark red, close-cropped hair and suit a thump of the boardroom desk ushers in another stanza, along with the references to S&M or corporate greed, possibly both ‘some of them want to abuse you’ in the lyric, it’s a visual laced with a sharp social commentary upon the excesses of the 1980s. It’s an impactful video to accompany this memorable pop classic. Eurythmics would follow it up with a run of hits but none more memorable than their signature song. Sweet dreams are made of this, indeed.
