Dreams – Jenny & Tyler – For Freedom
– Read about the rest of the project here
– Download the album (Mastered for iTunes) here: http://bit.ly/4freed
(Jenny) When I started thinking over covers to record, Dreams by The Cranberries was one of the first that popped up. We thought to put it after The Scientist by Coldplay because it offers contrast, both thematically and harmonically. Thematically, Dreams differs from The Scientist in that it’s a song about falling in love, a pure sort of love, whereas in The Scientist, love already exists, though it’s been blemished. In a sense, the line in The Scientist “O take me back to the start” is thus fulfilled in this song, where the writer’s dreams will “…come true, impossible not to do.”
I remember hearing this song play over and over on the radio when I was in fourth or fifth grade. Just before being introduced to this song, when I was about ten years old, I realized that I could hear harmonies and successfully sing them with most songs. I remember standing next to my mom in church around Christmas time singing “Joy to the World.” She was singing the alto part and I chimed in. I know it sounds crazy, but from that point on I could always hear harmonies. I think that’s why I am so drawn to Dreams. The majority of the song is sung in harmony and the harmony throughout is just splendid.
When we recorded this song, we decided that because it’s about new love we wanted to bring a much happier sound to the track than the original. Our friend JJ Heller, whose voice carries a sweetness such that one can almost picture her smiling while singing, assisted us with this. Not only does she has a beautiful voice, she’s someone with whom I’ve wanted to sing for a long time. Of course we still wanted Tyler’s voice to be very present on the track, so we filled certain parts with three part harmony – one of my favorite things in life. Tyler even convinced me to play clarinet!
We hope this song brings a freshness to the way you think of love. Read more about the song on Wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_(The_Cranberries_song)