Dream On (Aerosmith song)

"Dream On"
Song
B-side	"Somebody"

"Dream On" is the first single by Aerosmith from their 1973 debut album, Aerosmith. Written by lead singer Steven Tyler, this blues-influenced power ballad became their first major hit and classic rock radio staple. Released in June 1973, it peaked at number 59 nationally but hit big in the band's native Boston, where it was the number 1 single of the year on the less commercial top 40 station, WBZ-FM, number 5 for the year on highly rated Top 40 WRKO-AM and number 16 on heritage Top 40 WMEX-AM.

The album version of "Dream On" (4:28, as opposed to the 3:25 1973 45rpm edit), was re-issued early in 1976, debuting at number 81 On January 10th, breaking into the Top 40 on February 14th and peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 national chart, April 10th. Columbia chose to service Top 40 radio stations with a re-issue of the 3:25 edited version, thus, many 1976 Pop Radio listeners were exposed to the group's first Top 10 effort through the 45 edit.

Dream On was first played live in Willimantic, Connecticut at the Shaboo Inn. In a 2011 interview, Steven Tyler reminisced about his father, a Juilliard-trained musician, and recalled "lying beneath his dad's piano as a three-year-old, listening to him play classical music. That's where I got that Dream On chordage," he said. The song is noted for its guitar work as well as Tyler's high screams.

Composition

The song is composed in the key of F minor.

Single track listings

7" 45 RPM

Side one

1. "Dream On"

Side two

1. "Somebody"

CD-Maxi

1. "Dream On"
2. "Dream On" [Live]
3. "Walk This Way"

Chart Performance

Year End Chart

End of year chart (1976)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6

Live performances

Long a concert staple, the song's piano part has been played live by Tyler. The band has also played "Dream On" with an orchestra on a couple of occasions. One of these performances, conducted by Michael Kamen, was performed live for MTV's 10th Anniversary (in 1991) and included on the soundtrack for the movie Last Action Hero. Additionally, in 2006, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performed the song live with the Boston Pops Orchestra at their Fourth of July spectacular. On September 19, 2006, Aerosmith dedicated the song to captured Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser. On September 22, 2007, at a concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Aerosmith dedicated the song to one of their fans, Monica Massaro, who had been murdered earlier that year. In August 2010, Tyler performed much of the song on a grand piano on top of the "Green Monster" at an Aerosmith concert at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, before the rest of the band joined in to close out the song. On May 25, 2011, Tyler performed a brief rendition of the song live during the finale of the tenth season of American Idol.

Music Video

A coinciding video directed by Marty Callner was also created at the MTV 10th anniversary special performance with the orchestra.

Appearances on other albums

The song has appeared on almost every Aerosmith greatest hits and live compilation, including:

• Live! Bootleg
• Greatest Hits
• Classics Live I
• A Little South of Sanity
• Big Ones (as a bonus track in CD 2)
• Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology
• O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
• Devil's Got a New Disguise
• Music From The Original Motion Picture "Last Action Hero"

It also appears on both of the band's box sets.

Achievements

The song "Dream On" is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. It is also ranked #172 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Most people consider it Aerosmith's signature song.

Samples and covers

• It has been covered by Ronnie James Dio (vocals) with Yngwie Malmsteen in 1999.
• Danny Gokey sang this song on American Idol Season 8 in 2009 during the Top 4 round. He received negative reviews from the judges, and was also mocked in many media outlets for an overlong, ear-splitting scream at the end of the song.
• The song was sampled by rap artist Eminem for his song "Sing for the Moment" from his 2002 album The Eminem Show. Joe Perry also played the guitar solo on the track.
• "Dream On" was covered by the American rock band Train on an episode of the MTV show, Icon that was dedicated to Aerosmith.
• The song was re-made by Andru Donalds as the cover song for his album of the same name.
• "Dream On" was covered by The Mission on their album Children.
• "Dream On" was also covered by Fisher on their Uppers & Downers dual-disc album. The cover version performed by Fisher was featured in the series-finale episode of the NBC drama Windfall.
• Michael Angelo Batio also made an instrumental cover of this song in his album Hands Without Shadows.
• It has also been covered numerous times by pop singer Anastacia.
• blessthefall covered "Dream On" on the compilation cover album Punk Goes Classic Rock, which is part of the Punk Goes... series.
• The song was remixed by Immortal Technique on his song "Angels & Demons", on his album The Martyr.
• In 2011, Reece Mastin, X Factor Australia winner, covered this song for his album Reece Mastin (album).
• American post-grunge band Cold covered this song which later appeared on their fifth album Superfiction (album) as bonus track.

In other media

• This song was parodied in the opening sketch of Saturday Night Live, "Rock For Michael" on October 9, 1993.

• This song was also used in ESPN SportsCenter's "Images of the Century", a video montage about memorable moments in sports history from the 20th century. The video montage was played at the end of the final instalment of SportsCenter in 1999.

• The song made an appearance as the closing theme to the Disney movie Miracle, as well as the trailer for Miracle.

• A live, orchestrated version of "Dream On" was also used in the movie Last Action Hero.

• It was used in the opening cut scene for the Tecmo video game Dead or Alive Ultimate (Dead or Alive 2 Disc Only).

• It was used in a video tribute to Ken Griffey, Jr. in his return to Seattle on June 22, 2007.

• A re-recorded version of the song appears in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. It was one of the four songs that Aerosmith re-recorded for the game. It also appears in the demo for the game.
  • Before Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was released, the song appeared as free downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock to promote the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The song was available from February 16, 2008 to February 18, 2008.

• "Dream On" appeared in Episode 49 of Cold Case, sung as Detective Rush witnessed the victim and his then-girlfriend as they were at the time of his death, driving into the distance in a vintage car.

• "Dream On" was played on HBO's Countdown for the Oscar De La Hoya-Stephen Forbes fight in May 2008.

• "Dream On" is the title and featured song in Episode 19 of the Fox show Glee, performed by Matthew Morrison and guest star Neil Patrick Harris in their audition for the stage musical Les Miserables.