Two kinds of dreams run through this list: the ones you have asleep, and the ones you chase awake. Songwriters slip between them constantly, and these picks cover both.
Updated 2026
Dream On by Aerosmith 1973
A young Steven Tyler urging himself to keep reaching, building to that scream.
Dreams by Fleetwood Mac 1977
Stevie Nicks lets a fading love drift off like a dream.
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics 1983
A cool, synthetic look at what everybody is really after.
Dream a Little Dream of Me by The Mamas & the Papas 1968
A goodnight wish to be remembered once the lights go out.
In Dreams by Roy Orbison 1963
The only place he can still be with her is asleep.
Dreams by The Cranberries 1992
The giddy, can't-quite-believe-it feeling of a new love.
Daydream Believer by The Monkees 1967
A sunny ode to the daydreamer who keeps hoping anyway.
All I Have to Do Is Dream by The Everly Brothers 1958
Close harmonies on conjuring someone just by drifting off.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day 2004
Walking a lonely road where the dreams have already gone quiet.
Dream Weaver by Gary Wright 1975
A swirl of keyboards carrying the singer through the night.
I Have a Dream by ABBA 1979
Holding on to a dream is what gets you through the rest of it.