Dreamlover (song)

"Dreamlover"

Standard artwork

Single by Mariah Carey

from the album Music Box

B-side

"Do You Think of Me"
"Someday"

Released

July 27, 1993

Format

Recorded

1992–93

Genre

Pop

Length

3:53

Mariah Carey
Dave Hall
Walter Afanasieff

Mariah Carey singles chronology

"If It's Over"
(1992)

"Dreamlover"
(1993)

"Hero"
(1993)

Alternative cover art
One of U.S. CD maxi-singles

"Dreamlover" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, first released on July 27, 1993 by Columbia Records, as the lead single from Carey's third studio album Music Box (1993). It was written by Carey and Dave Hall, and was produced by the pair and Walter Afanasieff. The song incorporates a sample of the hook from "Blind Alley" by The Emotions into its melody and instrumentation. "Dreamlover" helped Carey's transition into the pop music market, a choice made following the mixed reception to her previous studio effort Emotions (1991), which featured gospel and 1960s soul influences. Lyrically, the song pictures a protagonist calling for a perfect lover, her "dreamlover," that will whisk her away into the night and not disillusion her like her exes did in the past.

"Dreamlover" received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, many of whom praised the song's incorporated sample, as well as Carey's carefree vocal style. The song was the first of several of her lead singles that sampled older tunes as a musical bed, as seen in "Fantasy" (1995), "Honey" (1997), "Heartbreaker" (1999), and "Loverboy" (2001). It experienced strong worldwide success, becoming Carey's seventh chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining there for eight weeks. It peaked at number one in Canada and became a top-ten single in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

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Wikipedia