Dreams

"Dreams" is a song by British singer Gabrielle. It was written by Gabrielle and Tim Laws and produced by Richie Fermie for her debut studio album, Find Your Way (1993). Originally, the song included a sample of the song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, but because of copyright reasons the sample had to be removed. Released as Gabrielle's debut single, "Dreams" entered the UK Singles Chart at number two, which was the highest chart entry a debut act had scored in the United Kingdom at that time. before reaching number one for three weeks in June 1993. The song also peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States while peaking at number-one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.

"Dreams" is widely seen as Gabrielle's signature song and its lyrics inspired as the title of her greatest hits compilation Dreams Can Come True, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (2001). The song was later sampled by the More Fire Crew on their 2002 single "Dreams" and is featured heavily in the 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia, where William H. Macy's downtrodden character Donnie Smith plays the song repeatedly as a motivational aid. In 2013, Gabrielle re-recorded the track with producer Naughty Boy for her compilation album Now and Always: 20 Years of Dreaming.

"I don’t think Gabs had been in a studio before and I’m pretty sure Dreams was only her second ever recorded vocal, after the duet she did earlier with the other girl. I didn’t have a vast amount of experience with singers then, but Gabs was awesome. She sang Dreams twice. I took the best bits and that was that. She didn’t need fancy production techniques. She had the voice."

—Producer Tim Laws talking to The Guardian about the song.

Gabrielle used to perform at a London club called Moonlighting. One night after she'd performed Luther Vandross covers at the club, a woman told her, "This is as good at it's going to get for you." Disheartened by this, the singer went home and wrote the first lines of "Dreams" in her diary. Shortly after, Gabrielle and another singer, Jackie King from the club, got a opportunity to make a record in a studio in Byfleet, Surrey. Her boyfriend had paid for them to do it. Producer Tim Laws was impressed by her voice and asked if she could come back later on her own. The singer then performed the lyrics of "Dreams" over Laws' music which was a backing track, using a Korg M1 synthesiser for most of the parts – piano, bass, string line – with an Akai S900 firing off drum loops and hits. The first version became a hit in nightclubs, being played by underground DJs. This was the version that featured the "Fast Car" sample by Tracy Chapman, released on 12" vinyl in 1991. After selling a few thousand copies, Gabrielle got signed to the Go! Beat label. Due to the use of the "Fast Car" sample not being cleared, a producer named Richie Fermie rerecorded a new version of "Dreams", without the sample. This version went straight to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart as the highest charting debut single ever, before hitting number-one.