"Your Wildest Dreams" is a 1986 single by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

, written by

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

. The song was first released as a single, and later released on the Moody Blues' 1986 album '' The Other Side of Life''. Written by Hayward as a lookback toward his first love, the song features a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

style that marked a stylistic departure from the band's standard lush pop sound. When released as a single, "Your Wildest Dreams" became the band's second biggest US hit, reaching number nine on the American charts.

Background

Moody Blues singer and guitarist

was inspired to write "Your Wildest Dreams" after reminiscing about his first love. Of the song's lyrics, he stated, "For me, wanting to know about the first girl you ever fell in love with, really fell in love with and broke her heart, you always want to know, I wonder what happened. I wonder where they are. Hop in to that time machine." According to Hayward, the song set off a "personal journey" to delve into his past, which he characterized as "fantastic, amazing, and disturbing." Hayward has since noted the universal nature of the song's lyrics. He explained, "I thought 'Wildest Dreams' would be a throwaway thing that people wouldn't really take much notice of lyrically. But I found out that it was a common experience and desire by a lot of people. So that was very revealing." Musically, "Your Wildest Dreams" featured a synth-heavy production that diverged from the band's traditionally lush arrangements. This was, in part, at the recommendation of producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. Hayward noted, The song is in the key of

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

, with a tempo of 142 BPM.

Release

"Your Wildest Dreams" was released as the first single from the band's 1986 album '' The Other Side of Life''. The song was a top-10 hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, peaking at number 9, the band's highest charting US single since the number two hit "

Nights in White Satin "Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album ''Days of Future Passed''. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 ...

" in 1972. Hayward attributed this commercial success in part to the support of the record company, commenting, "From our side of the fence … well, you’re linked with a record company and they choose to promote certain tracks. They either get on board or they don’t. In this case, we delivered the album and I traveled to New York City with it. There was a promotion guy and he jumped up when he saw me and shouted, 'Woooo eeee oooooo! Hey man, we have a hit!' People were behind it from the start. " The song became an

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

number-one hit, and charted at number two on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said of the song that "a lilting and pretty mid-tempo marks The Moody Blues resurfacing." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' said it "sounds more folksy, less spacey, but just as lyrical as he Moody Blues'classics." ''Classic Rock'' critic Malcolm Dome rated it as the Moody Blues' 7th greatest song, saying that it "has a smooth pop rock vision that complements a simple, wistful melody with nostalgic lyrics." "Your Wildest Dreams" was followed up by a sequel song, "

I Know You're Out There Somewhere "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" is a 1988 single by the English rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by guitarist Justin Hayward, and it is the sequel to the Moody Blues' 1986 single "Your Wildest Dreams", also written by Hayward. It ...

", from the 1988 Moody Blues album '' Sur la Mer''. "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" was also released as a single, and its music video again featured Janet Spencer-Turner.

Music video

A music video for "Your Wildest Dreams" was produced and was directed by

Brian Grant Brian Wade Grant (born March 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was known for his tenacious ...

. It depicts Hayward and an unnamed woman throughout his career, showing how their relationship drifted apart as the band's success grew. Both are shown moving on while also wondering about each other and what might have been throughout the years, culminating in her attending one of their performances. She tries to meet him backstage but is unsuccessful, as Hayward is ushered away before they can reunite. This storyline would later be continued in the music video for "

". The video received a ''

'' Video of the Year award and saw heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. The actress in the video is Janet Spencer-Turner. In flashback scenes, the young Moody Blues are represented in the video by the British band Mood Six. The video was recognized as the "best overall video" at the ''Billboard'' Video Music Conference held in Los Angeles in November 1986. Grant was awarded the top director honor. Hayward recalled that, initially, the band was meant to play themselves throughout the whole video, but their age prevented this. He explained, "

rant A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. His ...

was like, 'It can't be you starring in the video, it's too personal and you're too old.' We still looked all right as 40-year-olds, but Brian was like, 'We need younger people for you all.

Personnel

– acoustic guitar, guitar synthesiser, vocals * John Lodge – bass guitar, vocals *

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...

– keyboards *

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as t ...

– drums, percussion *

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Night ...

- tambourine, vocals

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Moody Blues songs 1986 songs 1986 singles Songs written by Justin Hayward Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Polydor Records singles Songs about dreams