A Dream

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"A Dream" is a 1983 song performed and recorded by the famed Motown singing family, DeBarge, for their album, In a Special Way. Though the song was not released as a single and was not a hit, the song's key legacy derives from the fame it received from the interpolation of its melody being utilized in hit R&B and Hip-Hop tunes recorded in 1996, thus making "A Dream" a hidden staple in R&B and urban contemporary radio throughout the close of the 20th century.

Overview

"A Dream" was one of the few songs in which DeBarge member and lone female member, sister Bunny DeBarge played a role as both its songwriter and its lead vocalist while her four brothers (Mark, Randy, El and James DeBarge) sung in the background. The song talked of a woman's dose of reality when she realizes the happiness she thought she felt with a man wasn't real, recalling how at one point she and her lover "danced to a melody" of a song, then when "the music stops", she realizes the dream is "haunting (her) again".

Famous samples, interpolations, covers and other usages

When Tupac Shakur was murdered in September 1996, "I Ain't Mad At Cha" (featuring artist Danny Boy) -- the third single from his LP, All Eyez On Me (the first original double-CD/double-cassette/quadruple-vinyl Hip-Hop album ever released) -- introduced the world to and was the first tune to popularize the melody of "A Dream", which was replayed for the recording. Within a span of no less than one month later toward the end of 1996, BLACKstreet released "Don't Leave Me" (also replayed) from their second album Another Level as the follow-up to the smash hit "No Diggity". "Don't Leave Me" became a smash hit, mainly on account of the Tupac single, and thus popularized the melody even more. To date, the BLACkstreet tune, whose popularity remained vital throughout 1997, remains the most definitively popular song to implement the melody from "A Dream".

Later in 1997, R&B singer Mary J. Blige covered "A Dream" song for the soundtrack to the Chris Tucker film, Money Talks. That same year, during a scene in the hit movie Soul Food, Miles (portrayed by Michael Beach) played a variation of the song's instrumental intro for his wife's cousin Faith (played by Gina Ravera) for a dance audition. In 2003 Keshia Chanté used a sample of it in a song titled "Unpredictable". It was also used in 2008 by Lady Gaga on the song "Paper Gangsta."

Credits

• Lead vocal by Bunny DeBarge
• Background vocals by Mark DeBarge, Randy DeBarge, El DeBarge and James DeBarge
• Written by Bunny DeBarge
• Produced by El DeBarge