| I Have a Dream | |
| Cover: | I_Have_A_Dream.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | ABBA |
| Album: | Voulez-Vous |
| B-Side: |
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| Released: | December 1979 |
| Recorded: | March 1979 |
| Studio: | Polar, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genre: | Pop Music |
| Label: | Polar Music |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | As Good as New |
| Prev Year: | 1979 |
| Next Title: | The Winner Takes It All |
| Next Year: | 1980 |
"I Have a Dream" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in December 1979 as the sixth and final single from the group's sixth studio album, Voulez-Vous. Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang lead vocals. It was a major hit, topping the charts in many countries and peaking at No. 2 in the UK over the Christmas week of 1979. Twenty years later, Irish pop group Westlife released a version that reached No. 1 in the UK over the Christmas week of 1999.
"I Have a Dream" is included on the album as well as in the Mamma Mia! musical.
The song was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus circa March 1979 and was taken from the group's 1979 album, Voulez-Vous. Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang the lead vocals. It was released as a single in December 1979 with a live version of "Take a Chance on Me" as the B-side.
The recording includes a final chorus by 28 children from Stockholm International School. The song is the only that has additional vocalists to the four members of ABBA. Also is notable for the extensive use of a electric sitar (played by Janne Schaffer), an unusual instrument in their recordings.
In the UK, "I Have a Dream" was held off the No. 1 spot by Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", which also features a children's choir. In this country, the single was issued in a lavish gatefold sleeve, intended as a souvenir for UK fans who had attended the Wembley concerts (the live recording of "Take a Chance on Me" being from one of them).
The inner gatefold made use of the pyramid/mountain/iceberg designs similar to those used in the inner sleeve of Greatest Hits Vol. 2. The inner gatefold was effectively an advert for ABBA's existing albums released in the UK, but the back cover featured a message from ABBA themselves regarding the Wembley concerts, together with their signatures. The front cover used the same live photo of ABBA as the worldwide release, but artwork and fonts were different. This was only Epic's second picture sleeve for an ABBA single.
As of September 2021, it is ABBA's 12th-biggest song in the UK, including both pure sales and digital streams.[1]
The live version of "Take a Chance on Me" on the B-side was one of three mixes of the same recording to be issued. Released soon after the concerts, this version is thought to be the genuine recording. A very slightly extended version, featuring spoken introductions from the group, was used as the B-side in Australia. This extended version has been released internationally on the deluxe edition of . Finally, a third mix was included on ABBA Live issued in 1986.
| Chart (1979–80) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentina[2] | 1 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] | 64 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[4] | 1 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[5] | 2 |
| South Africa (Springbok)[6] | 3 |
| Chart (1980) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] | 3 | |
| Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[8] | 17 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] | 33 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] | 23 | |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] | 15 |
| I Have a Dream | |
| Cover: | Cristy Lane--I Have a Dream.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Cristy Lane |
| Album: | I Have a Dream |
| B-Side: | "Rio Grande" |
| Studio: | LSI Studio |
| Prev Title: | Sweet Sexy Eyes |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| Next Title: | Love to Love You |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
American country and Christian artist Cristy Lane notably covered "I Have a Dream" in 1980. Lane had several years of commercial success in the country music market with songs like "Let Me Down Easy", "Penny Arcade" and "Simple Little Words". In 1980, she recorded the religious-themed "One Day at a Time", which became a number one hit and brought Lane to the attention of Christian music listeners.[12] With a similar theme, Lane recorded "I Have a Dream" in October 1980, shortly after the success of "One Day at a Time". The track was cut at LSI Studios and was produced by Jerry Gillespie, with assistance from executive producer Don Grierson. In the same recording session, the songs "Rio Grande" and "You Make It Easy" were also cut.[13]
Lane's cover was released as a single in December 1980 via Liberty Records and LS Records. It was backed by the B-side, "Rio Grande", and was released as a 7" vinyl record.[13] "I Have a Dream" spent multiple weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart between December 1980 and early 1981 before peaking at number 17. It was Lane's final top 20 hit single on the chart in her music career.[14] It also became her second single to chart in New Zealand, where it reached number 34 in 1981.[15] The song was later released on her 1981 studio album of the same name. The album included the original single's B-side as well. Lane's cover received a positive review from Billboard magazine in their December 1980 issue. Reviewers described the track as having "a rich south of the border undercurrent" while praising its production, calling it "crystalline."[16]
7" vinyl single[13]
| Chart (1980–81) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 34 |
| US Hot Country Singles (Billboard) | 17 |
| I Have a Dream | |
| Cover: | I Have A Dream Westlife.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Westlife |
| Album: | Coast to Coast ABBAmania |
| A-Side: |
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| Released: | [17] |
| Studio: | PWL Studios (London) |
| Label: |
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| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Flying Without Wings |
| Prev Year: | 1999 |
| I Have a Dream | |
| Title2: | Seasons in the Sun |
| Next Title: | Fool Again |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
Irish boy band Westlife released a cover of "I Have a Dream" in December 1999, 20 years after ABBA's original release. The song became the group's fourth UK number-one single. The release was a double A-side with "Seasons in the Sun" in the UK and Ireland and "Flying Without Wings" in the Netherlands, and a triple A-side in Australia with both "Seasons in the Sun" and "Flying Without Wings" included.[18] The release became the UK's Christmas number-one single of 1999, beating Cliff Richard's charity single "The Millennium Prayer" into the No. 2 spot. Westlife's remix version of "I Have a Dream" was later included on their second studio album Coast to Coast in 2000. It then extended its peak into January 2000, spending a total of 17 weeks on the UK chart. The song was the 26th best-selling single of 1999 in the UK and it was also the final number one single of the 1990s.
In 2001, as part of a UNICEF fund-raising campaign, the song was re-recorded with additional vocals by Indonesian child singer, Sinna Sherina Munaf. The song has received a platinum sales certification in the UK for over 707,000 copies (as of 30 November 2021) sold across physical, digital, and streaming equivalent sales. It is the band's second-best-selling single for both paid-for and combined sales.[19]
The music video for the Westlife version of "I Have a Dream" features the band exiting out of a car and into a dark street where a group of children are. The children start singing with the band members and play with toys lying nearby before the band head back to the car and drive away.
| Chart (1999–2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[20] | 7 |
| Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[21] | 11 |
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[22] | 13 |
| Chart (2000) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[24] | 71 | |
| Ireland (IRMA)[25] | 45 |