The American standard “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” follows a string of early 20th-century love songs putting words to an emotion many can’t easily express.
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The Mamas & The Papas’ version is the most well-known, and for Cass Elliot, it became her signature song. She dreamed about performing on Broadway and landed a touring role in The Music Man though she lost a role in I Can Get It for You Wholesale to Barbra Streisand.
“Dream a Little Dream of Me” filled her longing for the style of music she preferred to sing. The Depression-era love song is also a staple for singers and dreamers competing on The Voice.
Don’t Forget About Me
Written in 1930, it’s a simple love song that uses dream imagery and offers a much-needed escape from the Great Depression.
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper, “I love you.”
Birds singin’ in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me
Moreover, the lullaby has a comforting, childlike quality, and it’s perfect for piano crooners and anti-war ’60s hippies alike.
Say “Nighty night” and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me
Case Elliot’s Version
The Mamas & The Papas recorded “Dream a Little Dream of Me” for their 1968 album The Papas & The Mamas.
Michelle Phillips introduced the song to the group; she’d sing it for fun. Her father was a friend of Fabian Andre, who co-wrote the music with Wilbur Schwandt—with lyrics by Gus Kahn.
However, the group, Michelle and John Phillips, Denny Doherty, and Elliot, heard Andre had died in Mexico City, falling down an elevator shaft.
So, they began working through the song at a rehearsal as they discussed Andre’s death, trying to remember the lyrics. Elliot was asked to sing it, and it became her defining song.
Almost 40 years after Andre and Schwandt composed the music on a Midwest tour, The Mamas & The Papas recording indeed became a hit and sold nearly 7 million copies.
Elliot’s debut solo album, Dream a Little Dream, followed The Mamas & The Papas’ breakup. The record label capitalized on her hit single—and the group’s popularity—and credited the album to Mama Cass.
Gus Kahn
Kahn’s lyrics shaped the Great American Songbook in the 20th century. His songs include “Ain’t We Got Fun,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Pretty Baby,” and “Makin’ Whoopee.”
Living in Chicago, Kahn began writing songs with his pianist and composer wife, Grace Laboy. He eventually wrote lyrics for George Gershwin, Isham Jones, Walter Donaldson, and Naceo Herb Brown.
Kahn’s son Donald told NPR, “Johnny Mercer, who was one of the really other great lyric writers, used to call my father the tune hog because my dad wrote with everybody, and ‘Dream a Little Dream’ is a sterling example of it.
“He always tried to keep his lyrics simple,” his son said, “but he also said that young men and women do not know how to say, ‘I love you’ to one another, so we say it for them in 32 bars.”
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams, whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me
Other Notable Versions
Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra recorded “Dream a Little Dream of Me” in New York City in 1931. Nelson’s recording is the first version, released as a 78rpm single on the Brunswick label.
Other notable versions include recordings by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Robbie Williams and Lily Allen, Tony Bennett and k.d. lang, Doris Day, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby, among others.
Stars Shining Bright Above You
Elliot sang “Dream a Little Dream of Me” for six years, beginning with The Mamas & The Papas hit version in 1968. She performed her final concert at the London Palladium on July 27, 1974, and sang it for the final time.
Two days later, she died in her sleep at 32 years old.
Elliot dreamed of Broadway, and “Dream a Little Dream of Me” was a song she longed to sing—the “sunbeam” found her. Furthermore, it’s a fitting song to define Elliot, as timeless as her voice.
The factors that make a version definitive are subjective, but Elliot’s ability to capture the sweetness of the lyrics certainly has something to do with it.
Michelle Phillips explained to NPR what made Elliot’s voice so special. She said, “ … It’s always been more important to capture the meaning of the lyrics and to capture the love in the song. And that’s what Cass could do.”
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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
