DeBarge, A Dream | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 61^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “A Dream” by R&B collective, DeBarge. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 61^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “A Dream”, performed by R&B collective,  🎙 DeBarge. 

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“Last night I dreamed / That you were here with me / And we were in each others arms, it was oh so heavenly.” That does sound heavenly, 🎙 Bunny DeBarge.  She penned and sings lead on the 🎙 DeBarge classic, 🎵 “A Dream”, which appears on their 1983 album, 💿 In A Special Way.  While it’s interesting Bunny is the lead, her brother, 🎙 El DeBarge, produces.  The production is incredibly sophisticated, embracing those gentle, smooth, and sensual vibes of the 1980s.  One of the key features of the production is the distinctive piano line, which is sampled in numerous songs, including the 🎙 2Pac gem, 🎵 “I Ain’t Mad at Cha”.

Focusing on “A Dream,” Bunny dreams about the restoration of a defunct relationship that is like a fairytale – simply beautiful.  Unfortunately, in the pre-chorus, she asserts, “In a flash I was alone (It was just a dream) / Haunting me once again.” Dang, that sucks! In the chorus, she confirms the disappointing truth – the cold reality: “A dream, a simple fantasy / That I, wished was reality / That you’d come knocking at my door / And we’d, relive this dream once more.”  While “A Dream” comes from a woman’s perspective, anyone who has experienced a break-up, and hopes for a reconnection, yet knows it is not in the cards, can relate to this song.  While this one is all about Bunny, the DeBarge brothers do fabulous job backing her up. 🎵 “A Dream” is one of those gems that deserved more attention than it received. Four decades later, it is nothing short of spectacular.

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🎙 DeBarge • 💿 In A Special Way • 🏷 Motown • 🗓 1983

DeBarge, “A Dream”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 61 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Motown; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]