4 Classic Rock Songs From the 1970s Written in Actual Dreams

Sometimes an artist gets stuck. Sometimes the prospect of writing a new song seems so daunting that all they want to do is climb into bed and go to sleep. Well, occasionally, that is actually a viable way of writing music, too!

Here below, we wanted to dive into four songs from back in the day that came to the various songwriters in their sleep. Indeed, these are four classic rock songs from the 1970s written in actual dreams.

“Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac from ‘Rumours’ (1977)

The 1977 LP, Rumors, from Fleetwood Mac has to be one of the most storied records of all time. Not only did the writing of the album include affairs, breakups, and infighting, but one of the songs on the LP came to one of the band members in an actual dream. Will wonders never cease? Indeed, the complete melody, chords, and lyrics came to Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie in her sleep. When she woke up in the middle of the night with it all in her head, she penned the song in about 30 minutes.

“Number 9 Dream” by John Lennon from ‘Walls And Bridges’ (1974)

While this song came out in 1974, John Lennon provided some clarity regarding its writing about six years later. Said the former Beatle of the tune, “I just sat down and wrote it, you know, with no real inspiration, based on a dream I’d had.” Well, that clears things up! Apparently a lot of this song came to Lennon during slumber, inducing the strange lyric, “Ah bowakawa, posse, posse“.

“The Prophet’s Song” by Queen from ‘A Night At The Opera’ (1975)

Queen guitarist Brian May is responsible for this song—well, his vivid subconscious is, anyway. While the six-string player was recovering from an illness one night, he was in bed asleep. And that’s when this song came to him in an epic fever dream about a big flood. If you pick up any religious references in the tune, that’s because it was also inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark.

“La Villa Strangiato” by Rush from ‘Hemispheres’ (1978)

This 1978 instrumental track from the Canadian-born band Rush came to the group’s guitarist Alex Lifeson both in dreams and nightmares. The nearly 10-minute track feels like a long meandering through a person’s psyche. Perhaps it’s no surprise that this came to the musician while his brain was working overtime. But that’s the beauty of art. You never know where inspiration will come from next.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns