Dreams by Gabrielle: Lyrics, meaning, Fast Car origins and more – as told by Gabrielle

2 April 2025, 16:08

‘Dreams’ was the ‘Out of Reach’ singer’s debut single.

When Gabrielle penned ‘Dreams’ in her early 20s, she never could have imagined that she’d still be singing it to adoring crowds over 30 years later.

But 'Dreams’ was destined to prove to the ‘Rise’ and ‘Out of Reach’ singer that dreams really could come true, as it steered her on her path to fame and remains one of her fans’ favourite songs to this day.

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Ahead of setting off on her latest UK tour, the singer-songwriter sat down with Smooth to reminisce about her debut single.

Watch Gabrielle tell the story of 'Dreams' here:

The Story of 'Dreams', told by Gabrielle

Keep reading to find out all there is to know about the 1993 hit...

Who wrote ‘Dreams’?

‘Dreams’ was penned originally as a poem by Gabrielle, when she was a young artist still trying to break into the recording industry.

When music producer Tim Laws invited her to record a demo at his studio, ‘Dreams’ was born when Gabrielle sang her lyrics to a backing track that he provided.

What was ‘Dreams’ by Gabrielle’s release date?

‘Dreams’ was released by Gabrielle on June 7, 1993.

Gabrielle - Dreams

The song was the singer’s debut single, and later featured on her debut album Find Your Way when it was released in October 1993.

Why did Gabrielle write ‘Dreams’?

‘Dreams’ was written by Gabrielle to express her hope that her dream of achieving a successful career as a musician could come true.

“At the time I was going through quite a hard time. I was singing in nightclubs, I was having people make promises that they had no intentions of fulfilling, and I remember feeling just so disillusioned,” the singer told Smooth.

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Written originally “in the form of a poem” Gabrielle explained: “I wrote it because every time I felt I was taking a step closer to my dreams, they were moving like 20 paces back, and that was quite frustrating.”

The song “wasn’t initially a love song,” but in order to make it appeal to the largest audience, the singer “embellished” her original lyrics to link them more to themes of love.

What’s the meaning of ‘Dreams’ by Gabrielle?

Dreams is a love song about how the dream of having a wonderful relationship “can come true,” despite how it may feel impossible at times.

“I can’t believe you’re here / But I know that you’re real,” Gabrielle sings in the pre-chorus, before the chorus celebrates: “Dreams can come true / Look at me, babe, I’m with you.”

Dreams

“You know you got to have hope / You know you got to be strong,” the chorus inspiringly continues.

Although the lyrics to ‘Dreams’ make it seem like it was always written about a relationship, in Gabrielle’s first drafts of the lyrics the dream in focus was her singing career and not a significant other.

How was ‘Dreams’ linked to Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’?

When ‘Dreams’ was originally recorded by Gabrielle, the song’s backing track was sampled from Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’.

Gabrielle was told to write something to the backing track, and chose to fit her poem ‘Dreams’ to the tune when she was invited back to record a demo.

After this demo track proved popular with nightclubs, Gabrielle was signed to the Go! Beat label, who wanted her to release ‘Dreams’ as her debut single.

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car (Official Music Video)

However, as Gabrielle explained to Smooth: “Tracy Chapman didn’t grant us sample clearance,” so the song which we know today had to be created instead.

Even though Gabrielle admits she was “a bit gutted at the time,” she’s come to be thankful that Tracy – whose music she’s always “adored” – didn’t grant them permission.

“It’s meant that nobody could just say: ‘'Dreams' is only a good song or a hit song because of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’.’ It was a song which still stood up without [the sample],” she explained.

“And also, it worked out in my favour, because it’s meant I got to keep the royalties!”

How did ‘Dreams’ perform when it was released?

‘Dreams’ broke records when it was released in 1993, as it became the highest-ranking debut song in history when it entered the charts at number two on the week of its release.

‘Dreams’ later took the number one spot for three weeks, and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gabrielle’s stand-out memory of ‘Dreams’ is not its chart success, however, but instead a very special performance she got to give of the hit song.

In 2000, Gabrielle was invited to sing at the Labour Party conference in Brighton, where South African anti-apartheid activist and politician Nelson Mandela would be present.

After her performance, the South African politician came up to tell her he’d “loved” her performance and had wanted to dance to her track.

“What can I say... if I didn’t have ‘Dreams’ that wouldn’t have happened,” she reflected, still in awe of the amazing moment.

What does Gabrielle think about ‘Dreams’ being her ‘signature song’?

Gabrielle is delighted that people still see ‘Dreams’ as being her signature song.

“I’m never mad at that [idea], because ‘Dreams’ was the song that launched me, it’s the song that allowed me to break the record as being the highest-ever debut song from a debut artist,” she told Smooth.

“Unlike a lot of artists who – when they’ve launched using ‘the signature song’ – years later they no longer want to sing it, I’ve never had that problem because I love the response, I still love ‘Dreams’, and I’ll be singing it ‘til I can’t,” she added.

Is there a ‘Dreams’ music video?

Yes, a music video for ‘Dreams’ by Gabrielle was released along with the single in June 1993.

The video was filmed and directed by artist, photographer and singer Kate Garner, who has also worked with celebrities including David Bowie, Yoko Ono and Sinéad O’Connor.