"Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...

and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from the album. "Don't Dream It's Over" became the band's biggest international hit, reaching 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1987. The song reached No. 1 in Canada and in Finn's native New Zealand, while in Australia, it peaked at No. 8. In continental Europe, it reached No. 6 in Norway, No. 27 in the Netherlands, No. 13 in West Germany, and No. 25 in the United Kingdom. At the 1986 Countdown Australian Music Awards the song was nominated for three awards, winning Best Video. In May 2001, the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA) ranked "Don't Dream It's Over" second on its list of the Top 100 New Zealand songs of all time and seventh on its list of the Top 100 Australian songs of all time. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Don't Dream It's Over" was ranked number 65. The song has been recorded by other artists, including Paul Young, Sixpence None the Richer, and New Zealand artist Stan Walker—the latter producing a Māori version titled ''Moemoeā'' ("Dream").

Composition

"Don't Dream It's Over" is written and composed in the key of

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

and is set in the

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 82 beats per minute.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the song as a "majestic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 "The easy going and pretty song camouflages a pained longing. Neil Finn's voice, recognisable from his stint with Split Enz, is reedy and expressive and full of irony."

Music video

The music video for the song was produced by Australian film production company Meaningful Eye Contact and was directed by

Alex Proyas Alexander Proyas ( ; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian film director. He is known for directing the films ''The Crow (1994 film), The Crow'' (1994), ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1998), ''I, Robot (film), I, Robot'' (2004) and '' ...

.The video features some surreal special effects such as household objects—including shattering crockery—and film reels that float in the air, with lead singer Neil Finn playing a guitar and walking through the same house during different time periods while his bandmates are either performing household chores or playing various backing instruments. The video was nominated for Best Group Video and Best Direction at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and earned the band a Best New Artist award.

Track listings

"Don't Dream It's Over", written by

. "That's What I Call Love", written by Neil Finn and

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for their last year together from December 1983 to December 1984, and co-founding member an ...

. All tracks on vinyl, from the album ''Crowded House'' except the extended version of "Don't Dream It's Over". All live tracks, recorded on ''Phil Jupitus Show'' at BBC GLR, 21 June 1996. * 7-inch vinyl # "Don't Dream It's Over" – 4:03 # "That's What I Call Love" – 3:39 * 12-inch vinyl # "Don't Dream It's Over" (Extended version) – 6:10 (only in 12-inch vinyl single) # "Don't Dream It's Over" – 4:03 # "That's What I Call Love" – 3:39 * 7-inch US vinyl (American Pie label) # "Don't Dream It's Over" – 4:03 # "Something So Strong" – 2:51 * 1996 UK CD1 # "Don't Dream It's Over" – 3:53 # " Weather with You" (live) – 4:35 # " Into Temptation" (live) – 4:48 # " Locked Out" (live) – 2:04 * 1996 UK CD2 # "Don't Dream It's Over" – 3:53 # " Four Seasons in One Day" (live) – 3:08 # "In My Command" (live) – 4:14 # " Pineapple Head" (live) – 3:40

Personnel

: lead vocals, guitars * Nick Seymour: bass guitar *

: drums, backing vocals * Mitchell Froom: keyboards and organ * Tim Pierce: guitar * Jorge Bermudez: percussion * Noel Crombie, Jim Gilstrap, Andy Milton and

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

: backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Paul Young version

In 1991, British musician Paul Young covered "Don't Dream It's Over" on his first compilation album, '' From Time to Time – The Singles Collection'' (1991). Young's version, released by Columbia, was produced by Dan Hartman, and featured

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

singing the fourth chorus and performing the keyboard and synthesizers.

Track listing

* UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Don't Dream It's Over" (Neil Finn) – 3:56 # "I Need Somebody" (Paul Young) – 4:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sixpence None the Richer version

"Don't Dream It's Over" was the second radio single released in promotion of the album '' Divine Discontent'' by Sixpence None the Richer. The commercial single release features the B-side "Don't Pass Me By," which was recorded during the sessions for ''Divine Discontent''. Their version was also included in the 2003 compilation album ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

: The Talon Mix''.

Track listing

* US CD single # "Don't Dream It's Over" (radio edit) – 3:39 # "Don't Pass Me By" – 3:26

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Antonello Venditti version

Italian singer-songwriter Antonello Venditti interpreted an adaptation in Italian entitled ''Alta marea'' (''High tide''), inspired by Monte Argentario and recorded for his 1991 album ''Benvenuti in paradiso'' (''Welcome to Heaven''), which remains one of his most-remembered songs to this day. A 16-year-old

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

appears in the video.

In popular culture

"Don't Dream It's Over" was prominently featured in the 1994 miniseries adaptation of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's novel '' The Stand'' and in the ''

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

'' series '' Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'' in which the song was also referenced in the episode of the same name.

References

{{Authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles 1980s ballads 1991 singles 2003 singles APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Capitol Records singles Columbia Records singles Crowded House songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Paul Young songs Pop ballads Reprise Records singles Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Sixpence None the Richer songs Song recordings produced by Dan Hartman Song recordings produced by Mitchell Froom Songs written by Neil Finn Songs about dreams Soul ballads