The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
| "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" | ||||||||
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| Single by The Human League | ||||||||
| from the album Dare | ||||||||
| Released | 21 January 2008 | |||||||
| Format | 12" single, digital download | |||||||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||||||
| Genre | Synthpop, new wave | |||||||
| Length | 8:57 | |||||||
| Label | Hooj Choons | |||||||
| Songwriter(s) | Philip Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright | |||||||
| Producer(s) | Martin Rushent | |||||||
| The Human League singles chronology | ||||||||
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"The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" is a song by the English synthpop group The Human League. It was originally recorded for the Dare album of 1981. It was remixed, remastered and released as a dance EP single in 2008; partly to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Human League, 26th anniversary of Dare and the band's Dare '07 tour. It reached number two in the official UK Dance Chart in February 2008.
The song started as an album track on the Human League’s Dare album, recorded at Genetic Studios in the summer of 1981 and was produced by Martin Rushent. Often informally abbreviated TTDAMO, the song is a tribute to the simple pleasures in life which are then juxtaposed against a greater ambition. Philip Oakey namechecks some of his and Philip Adrian Wright's favourite things, an eclectic list from ice cream to Norman Wisdom and the names of the band members of Ramones. The song contains Dare's album title lyric "…do all the things you ever dared!". Philip Adrian Wright called the song a metaphor for the band's ambition in 1981. Female backing is provided by Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall (then 18-year-old schoolgirls) who today together with Oakey are now the only remaining band members from the original Dare line up. Perhaps viewed as a sly dig to their former band mates, the drum machine intro to the song is identical to that of the title track from the first Heaven 17 album Penthouse and Pavement. A more likely explanation is timing: the two albums were being recorded at the same time at a single recording studio—Genetic.
Since the recording of Dare, the Human League have frequently played the song live, principally because of its stadium friendly bass line. It was the opening track of performances on the Dare '07 tour. The song live today is now a much different and more dynamic version than the original. This due to the technical input of David Beevers the technology the band now uses live, although Sulley, Oakey and Catherall’s vocals are unchanged.
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