A Dream (DeBarge song)


"A Dream" is a song by DeBarge. Written by Bunny DeBarge and produced by El DeBarge, the song is from their hit album In a Special Way. Although the track was not released as a single, the song has been popular over the years on R&B radio and has been sampled by several artists in the hip-hop and urban contemporary genres.

Background

"A Dream" was one of the few songs in which DeBarge member, sister Bunny DeBarge played a role as both its songwriter and its lead vocalist while her four brothers 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 suitor 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 again".

Samples, covers and other use

• In the following years, the song would be used as a sample for some R&B and hip-hop songs, mainly used in the basis of hit singles for Blackstreet, 2Pac, Children of the Corn , and Fifth Harmony.
• In 1997, R&B singer Mary J. Blige covered the song for the soundtrack to the Chris Tucker film, Money Talks.
• In 1997, during a scene in the film Soul Food, Miles played a variation of the song's instrumental intro as rehearsal for his wife's cousin Faith for a dance audition.
• In 2003 Keshia Chanté used a sample of it in a song titled "Unpredictable".
• It was used in 2008 by Lady Gaga on the song "Paper Gangsta."
• Z-Ro used the sample for his song “I Don’t Give a Damn” from his 2009 album, Cocaine
• Victoria Beckham sampled "A Dream" in an unreleased song she recorded titled "Right Back To You"
• Sampled in Whatever You Need in 2017.

Personnel