Dreaming of You (Selena song)

Background

Selena performed at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards, which was attended by José Behar, the former head of Sony Music Latin who had recently launched EMI Latin Records, and the new head of Sony Music Latin. Behar was searching for new Latin acts, and wanted to sign Selena to EMI's Capitol Records, while Sony Music Latin was offering double of Capitol's sum to Selena's father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. Behar thought that he had discovered the next Gloria Estefan, but on coming to know about this, his superior called Behar illogical since he had only been in Texas for a week. Quintanilla Jr. chose EMI Latin's offer because of the potential for a crossover, and he wanted his children to be the first musicians to sign with the company.

Before Selena signed her contract with EMI Latin in 1989, Behar and Stephen Finfer requested Selena for an English-language debut album. She was asked to make three demo recordings for Charles Koppelman, chairman of EMI Records. After reviewing them, Koppelman declined a crossover attempt, believing that Selena should first strengthen her fan base. Later, after releasing five Spanish-language albums that all achieved unprecedented milestones in the Latin music industry, Koppelman believed that Selena had peaked in the Spanish music market, and began preparations for a crossover album.

Recording and release

Starting in 1989, Selena's brother A.B. Quintanilla became the singer's principal music producer and songwriter for her career. He was asked to meet with several producers in New York and choose one who would best "fit with Selena's style". He was unable to produce the crossover album since he was working on Selena's follow-up Spanish-language recording to Amor Prohibido (1994), slated to be released several months after her English-language attempt. Because EMI Records wanted the album to be successful, they only allowed the singer to choose one song she wanted to record for her album. Selena chose "Dreaming of You", a number written by American songwriters Franne Golde and Tom Snow in 1989. Originally, the song had been written for American R&B group The Jets, who turned down the recording. According to Snow, Golde "never gave up on the tune and eventually got it to Selena". When Quintanilla III heard the demonstration recording, he informed her that he did not like the track. Selena told him that she was going to record the song because she favored its lyrical content and message. In a 2002 interview, Quintanilla III believed he was "more judgmental" on his first impression of the demonstration recording than the song itself, citing its melody, content, and song structure for changing his mind about the track. He then called the recording "one of, if not, best song off the album".

After Selena finished recording her cover of the 1961 West Side Story song "A Boy Like That" for RCA Victor on March 3, 1995, she began recording for "Dreaming of You" on March 5 at Quintanilla, Jr.'s recording label Q-Productions in Corpus Christi, Texas. During the recording session, Selena was battling bronchitis. Her father asked her to "just try" and sing the song because several producers had arrived from Los Angeles to watch her record the track. After the recording session wrapped, the producers liked the singer's vocal range in the song and decided to use her first take. American producer Guy Roche produced and arranged the piece along with "Captive Heart". After the arrangement to "Dreaming of You", she wanted her husband Chris Pérez to hear the finished product. He was unable to attend because Quintanilla Jr. wanted him to work with a band he was interested in managing. In 2012, Pérez wrote in his book To Selena, with Love that he regretted not showing up to the recording session for the song. On March 31, 1995, Selena was murdered in Corpus Christi, by her friend and former employee Yolanda Saldívar. Golde provided the backing vocals on the song after Selena's death. "Dreaming of You" was released as the third single for the album Dreaming of You on August 14, 1995, while the album's remix version and radio edit of "Techno Cumbia" was released as the B-side track.

Composition and lyrics

"Dreaming of You" is a mid-tempo pop ballad. It is played in the key of A♭ major at a moderate 84 beats per minute, with the key changing to B♭ major. Selena's vocal range in the song spans from Eb3 to Eb5. John Lannert, a Latin music contributor for Billboard magazine, wrote in the Dreaming of You booklet that Selena "wrapped her creamy seductive mezzo sound around slow confessionals such as "I Could Fall in Love", "Missing My Baby", and the title track". BuzzFeed contributor Brian Galindo, called the song an "ethereal ballad". "Dreaming of You" is similar to "I Could Fall in Love" in its lyrics. Many media outlets, including the Milwaukee Journal and Billboard magazine, called them "confessional ballads",Citations:

• with an emotionally vulnerable narrator who wants true love but finds it unattainable.

"Dreaming of You" begins with a moderately slow beat. Selena sings that she is up at night thinking of her lover, "wish[ing] on a star" that he is thinking of her too. The song then plays at a moderate tempo, when Selena sings the chorus that she is dreaming of her lover and telling him that she plans on holding him the next day. She then asks her love interest "if you looked in my eyes, would you see what's inside, would you even care?". She then sings of wanting to wait until he can reciprocate her feelings for him, before having "the courage to say how much I love you". Selena switches to Spanish and sings of how much she is dreaming of her lover. Deborah Walker of the Sun Sentinel called the Spanish-language verse "gentle nothings over her own vocals", saying that "such musings appear to have come from the heart". Selena sings the chorus once more before learning her lover reciprocates her feelings, and she says she will endlessly dream of her lover in her room, citing that "there's nowhere in the world where I'd rather be, than here in my room dreaming with you, endlessly" and the song concludes. J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun called the lyrics "a delightfully literal approach to the phrase 'sleeping together' as Selena's protagonist visits her love only in her dreams", which is an "endearingly innocent expression of love and longing". Flick said of the ending that it "blissfully fades" and that "all one can do is wonder what the future might have held if things were different".

Reception

Critical reception

Upon its release, "Dreaming of You" was acclaimed by critics. Robert Johnson of Planet Music, a record chain in Houston, told The New York Times that people in Houston were buying copies of the album Dreaming of You because of the single "Dreaming of You". Conversely, Peter Watrous of The New York Times felt that the songwriters who worked with Selena for her English-language debut album "didn't step up to the bar with their best material" and dismissed her English offerings as "faceless commerce". Watrous believed that because of the singer's vocals on the songs, it suggested "that she had a good chance of success, working lush ballads in an anonymous pop style that Disney has mastered." A San Jose Mercury News reporter wrote that "Dreaming of You" and "I Could Fall in Love" had turned Selena into "the new Gloria Estefan", Peter Harrington of The Washington Post called the sales and radio airplay of the song "extraordinary", saying the song was "eliciting strong radio reaction from both English- and Spanish-language stations, particularly in the Southwest [of the United States]." Bryan Lark, film critic of The Michigan Daily, called the song a "smash". Mario Tarradell of the Beaver County Times, called the song a "cross-over staple".

Ilan Stavans called the song a "Top 40 hit". Ed Morales of Vibe magazine believed "Dreaming of You" echoed a "Madonna-like mid-tempo anthem" and that it "[coaxed] Selena's spirit"; Morales wrote he "can't seem to get [the song] out of [his] mind." Considine stated that the song "exactly [sounds] like the sort of thing Madonna was doing [in the 1980s] -- right down to the dramatic, throaty vibrato she uses to flesh out the low notes in the chorus." KOTV-DT stated that the song's "breathy, spoken Spanish aside" "elevates the song from schmaltzy to sexy". Ashley Velez of Neon Tommy called the song "one of the most innocent and most beautiful love songs, maybe ever". in 2014. Josh Cantu of the San Antonio Current said in April 2015, that the track is a "heartfelt song", after Heartfire Media released a tribute video featuring the recording. KUSA TV called it a "breakout song". Emmanuel Hapsis of KQED stated that "pop culture moves at breakneck speed, yet two decades later, Selena's impact is still deeply felt. Just visit any karaoke bar and chances are someone will sing "Dreaming of You" or "Amor Prohibido."

Recognition and accolades

"Dreaming of You" and "I Could Fall in Love" were EMI Records' top selling digital downloads from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2005. "Dreaming of You" became one of Selena's most widely recognized recordings. The song won a BMI Pop Music Award for having two million airplay impressions in the United States. "Dreaming of You" was featured on Bruce Pollock's book The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era in 2014. The Ellensburg Daily Record named "Dreaming of You" among their list of "The World's Greatest First Dance Songs" for a wedding.

The Los Angeles Times placed "Dreaming of You" at number five out of its top ten singles of 1995. The song was named one of the "Top 500 Love Songs" list compiled by AOL Radio. BuzzFeed placed "Dreaming of You" at number seven on its list of the "15 Greatest Selena Songs Ever" in 2014. Latina magazine placed "Dreaming of You" at number eight on their "Remembering Selena: Her Top Ten Songs" list. Velez of Neon Tommy ranked the recording number three on her list of the "Top 5 Selena Songs".

Chart and sales performance

The song was played in San Antonio every hour, after its release on radios. "Dreaming of You" sold 25,000 units in its first week of release. According to other sources, it sold between 330,000 and 700,000 copies in its first week. It debuted at number 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales on the week of October 28, 1995, and the following week reached number 24. The song peaked at number 16 on the week of November 11, 1995. On the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 28, 1995, the song debuted at number 38 and a week later on November 4, 1995, reached number 26 which represented the greatest gainer in sales for that week. It later peaked at number 22 on the Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks, starting on the week of November 25, 1995. On October 7, 1995, the song debuted at number 25 on the US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. "Dreaming of You" debuted at number 36 on the US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart on the week of December 30, 1995, it fell to number 37 the following week and rose to number 31 a week later. It peaked at number 9 on its eleventh week on the chart on week of March 9, 1996. On the US Hot Latin Songs chart, "Dreaming of You" debuted at number 27 on the week of November 18, 1995. On its third week on the Hot Latin Songs chart, "Dreaming of You" reached number 16 and represented a spike in airplay impressions. The song peaked at number 11 on its sixth week on the Hot Latin Songs chart on the week of December 23, 1995. That same week, the song peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Tropical Songs chart. On January 13, 1996, "Dreaming of You" peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart. Music stores across the United States were "eager for a followup" after the commercial success of "Dreaming of You".

In Canada, the track debuted at number 57 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart on the week of December 11, 1995. The following week, the song reached its peak at number 36. The single debuted and peaked at number 93 for two consecutive weeks on the Canadian Top 100 Singles chart, starting on the week of December 11, 1995. In 1996, "Dreaming of You" performed better in Canada on the RPM Adult Contemporary and the Top 100 Singles chart, peaking at numbers seven and 30, respectively. As of 2010, "Dreaming of You" has sold over 254,000 digital copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In April 2015, Billboard reported an increase of 133% of streaming data compiled for Selena during her twentieth death anniversary, "Dreaming of You" was the most streamed recording of the singer with 788,000 streams that week.

Music video

The music video for "Dreaming of You", filmed posthumously and released to music channels in 1995, was described by CBS News as being "about a young woman who sneaks away from her home to run off with the man she loves". The video opens up to a girl who overhears a radio announcer (voiced by Charlie Huero of Power 106, who was chosen by EMI Records producer Sean Lynch) relay the premiere of Selena's new single. She then kisses her sleeping father on the head before packing; her mother is seen in the kitchen cleaning and then leaves to the back looking up to the sky. At the end of the video, the girl and her love interest are seen embracing each other before driving away. The radio announcer concludes the video saying, "All right. I know that special someone that's close to your heart, that you've been dreaming about all night, is right next to you right now." The music video reached number 49 on the Billboard Video Monitor VH1 Top Music Videos list on April 18, 1998.

Notable cover versions

Many singers have covered the song. Filipino pop singer Juris Fernandez covered the song and used its name for her album Dreaming of You in 2013.

Another Filipino pop acoustic artist Nyoy Volante also did his cover version in 2009.

Live covers

• Soraya and American boy band the Barrio Boyzz performed and recorded the song for the April 7, 2005, televised live concert Selena ¡VIVE!.
• In 2013, Carlito Olivero performed the song during his solo performance on the third season of the American music competition show The X Factor.
• In the eighth season of the American music competition show The Voice, Lexi Dávila performed the song. Her rendition received generally negative reviews.
• In 2023, American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter performed the song as a tribute, and was a part of her opening setlist for Taylor Swift on the Mexico City dates of The Eras Tour

Formats and track listings

• US and UK CD and cassette single

1. "Dreaming of You" (radio edit) – 4:15
2. "Dreaming of You" (album version) – 5:15

• Japan maxi single

1. "I Could Fall in Love" – 4:41
2. "Dreaming of You" – 5:14
3. "Sukiyaki" – 3:11

• Mexico CD single

1. "Dreaming of You" (radio edit) – 4:41
2. "Dreaming of You" (album version) – 5:15
3. "Techno Cumbia" (radio edit) – 4:42
4. "Techno Cumbia" (Brazilian nut remix) – 5:58

• Spain CD single

1. "Dreaming of You" (radio edit) – 4:41
2. "Dreaming of You" (album version) – 5:15
3. "Amor Prohibido" – 2:50

• 4:41 (Radio Edit) is the "Album Edit"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the Dreaming of You album liner notes.

• Franne Golde – songwriter, backing vocals

• Tom Snow – songwriter

• Selena – lead vocals, backing vocals

• Delphine – backing vocals

• Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. – production coordinator

• Guy Roche – drum programming, keyboards, synthesizers, producer

• Marc Antonie – acoustic and electric guitars

• Jimmy Haslip – bass guitar

• Art Meza – percussion

• Mick Guzauski – mixed posthumously at Conway Recording Studios

• Moana Suchard – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Sources

References

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