I Have A Dream by ABBA

Album: Thank You For The Music (1979)

Charted: 2

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song of hope features a large children's choir, making it the only ABBA song that has additional vocalists to the four members of the band. ABBA often performed this on stage with choirs from local schools.
Bjorn Ulvaeus said: "I have a dream was an attempt to modern folklore with that kid's choir. We have doubted long whether we would use that choir or not, and we were aware that critics would pick on us for that with the trends of the time. We didn't care and we did it. The choir goes well with the Italian-like melody and the lyrics sound positive." (from Abba Annual)
This reached #1 in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. It was not commercially released in the United States. ABBA were foiled from having a Christmas #1 in the UK by Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)."
Country-gospel singer Cristy Lane covered this in 1981 taking it to #17 on the US Country chart.
In December 1999 Westlife topped the UK charts with their cover of this, as a double-A-side with "Seasons In The Sun." This was the Irish boy band's fourth UK chart topper of the year making them the first act since Elvis Presley in 1962 to have four #1s in the same year. Westlife used The Bodywork School Choir for their version.

Comments: 12

Mark Peasley from Perth, Western AustraliaThe melody is identical to "Cuando Sali de Cuba" by Luis Aguile recorded in the 1960"s. That song was also recorded by the Sandpipers.
Reuben from AmsterdamA few years ago I commented that I have a dream had a 'high annoyance level' to me. Years later I indeed surrender to ABBA and admit: it is a sweet song bringing back memories of when I was nine years old.
Siahara Shyne Carter from United StatesNo bias but I think Weslife did it best! with Compliment to the Original singer too I also like the Orginal but WESTLIFE is already stuck in my head that they sing this I never heard any of the names below, Thats all I know
Larry from Coral Springs, FlNo,Cyberpope. Only Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson did. But Nana Mouskouri sang it well.
Larry from Coral Springs, FlThis is one of their great songs that even reaches out to kids..I love it.
Doria from Dania Beach, Fli have a great big dream a dream that i know will surely come true ! i can not telll you what it is but i know it will surely come true on april 7th 2010 this year! thank you abba for singing such a great song a very ture song! it gives me hope and it makes me very happy! and if everyone in this whole wide world that we have listen to this song all of their dreams will surely come true includeing mine thanks abba! singed your great big fan ! doria meyer.
Philip from Manchester, United KingdomThe choir backing Abba at the Bingley Hall (Stafford, England) Concerts in 1979 were from St. Winifreds School in Stockport, England. This choir went on to record "There's no one quite like Grandma" which reached number 1 in the UK. The choir also featured actress Sally Lindsay who played Pub Landlady Shelley in Coronation Street, the world's longest continuing TV drama series (or "Soap")
Philip from Manchester, United KingdomThe choir backing Abba at the Bingley Hall (Stafford, England) Concerts in 1979 were from St. Winifreds School in Stockport, England. This choir went on to record "There's no one quite like Grandma" which reached number 1 in the UK. The choir also featured actress Sally Lindsay who played Pub Landlady Shelley in Coronation Street, the world's longest continuing TV drama series (or "Soap")
Jane from Austin, Txreuben, i secretly think you like this song. LOL

i think this is one of their best songs.
Reuben from Amsterdam, NetherlandsI like a lot of Abba songs, but this has a high annoyance level to me, caused by the melody that refuses to leave my head and the moralistic lyrics.
Alefiyah from Muscat, Othersuch a sweet and nice song, just love it!
Cyberpope from Richmond, CanadaDidn't Nana Mouskouri write this one?
How come songfacts.com has no facts or songs for Nana Mouskouri?

see more comments

More Songfacts:

StanEminem

Thanks to Eminem's song, the word "stan" was added to the Oxford American Dictionary in 2017. It means an obsessive fan.

Street Fighting ManThe Rolling Stones

Keith Richards did some studio alchemy on "Street Fighting Man," which is all acoustic except the bass.

Hey Ya!OutKast

Thanks to the line "shake it like a Polaroid picture," Outkast's "Hey Ya!" made Polaroid cameras cool again. Many other artists have since mentioned Polaroid in their lyrics, including Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Keith Urban, Gorillaz and Tim McGraw.

Girl, You'll Be A Woman SoonNeil Diamond

Neil Diamond got a big boost in 1994 when Urge Overkill's cover of his song 'Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" was used in the movie Pulp Fiction. His catalog sales ramped up, and suddenly he was cool.

I Go To ExtremesBilly Joel

Lindsay Lohan has some lyrics from Billy Joel's "I Go To Extremes" tattooed on her ribcage: "Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife I feel like I'm in the prime of my life."

Soul ManSam & Dave

The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.