Songfacts®:

• Beyoncé wrote and produced this song along with Jim Jonsin, Wayne Wilkins and Rico Love. The latter two are both members of the songwriting/production group The Runaways, which was co-founded by Sam Watters, previously of the group Color Me Badd. Among their credits are Keri Hilson's debut single "Energy." Jonsin is a Grammy Award winning American producer whose credits include "Kiss Me Thru The Phone," "Lollipop" and "Whatever You Like."
  
  Beyoncé says the song is about "a relationship that seems too good to be true. You don't know if it's a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare."
• This song was the sixth single from I Am…Sasha Fierce. Originally "Broken-Hearted Girl" was earmarked for the sixth release but Beyoncé made a last minute decision to replace it with this track.
• This song was used in a commercial that Beyoncé did for Crystal Geyser mineral water.
• This song was leaked before the release of I Am…Sasha Fierce. Back then, it was called "Beautiful Nightmare." It is the first song Beyoncé has ever had that leaked before its official release on the album. It appeared on the internet the day after the song was recorded. A leak that far in advance of an album release often puts the song in serious jeopardy of being excluded from the final track list. "I was more concerned that she would feel that we did it," Rico said to MTV News of the leak. "A lot of times producers or songwriters leak records because they feel if you put the song out there it would go. But it was frustrating. I felt like you work hard to get in the studio to work with Beyoncé. I was blessed and fortunate to have four songs on that album... I wasn't that distraught. I have faith in God. The first song we did together was a song I did called 'Save the Hero.' I wrote 'Radio' and I co-wrote 'Scared and Lonely.'"
• The high-fashion music video was directed by Adria Petty (Duffy, Regina Spektor) and shot in Brooklyn, New York. The gold robot suit Beyoncé wears in the clip was designed by French fashion designer Thierry Mugler.
• This is the third such-titled song to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100, following hits by Air Supply in 1982 and Eurythmics in 1983.
• Rico Love recalled to MTV News working on this song: "Aw man, that was the experience of a lifetime working with one of the greatest vocalists of all time. She came in and cut the song in a hour. She had to go. Jay-Z was opening up the tour with Mary J. Blige and B came in. She wasn't prepared to record, but heard the song and said, 'Let's do it.' It's actually my background vocals in the hook. She liked the way it sounded so we kept it."
• Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, and Wayne Wilkins wrote "Sweet Dreams" while waiting for Beyoncé at a Miami recording studio, a delay that stretched to nearly seven hours after severe weather in South Florida forced her flight to circle before landing. During the long wait, Jonsin played a backing track for Love, who started penning lyrics under the title "Beautiful Nightmare" (later changed to "Sweet Dreams").
  
  When Beyoncé finally arrived, she was on a tight schedule, rushing to catch a local concert date on Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige's Heart of the City tour. Love initially pitched her a different track he had been working on, but she wasn't interested. However, when he put on "Sweet Dreams," her eyes lit up, and she decided to record it on the spot.
  
  Beyoncé knocked out her lead vocals in roughly 15 to 30 minutes. Rushing to leave, she didn't have time to layer her own background harmonies, so Love's original demo vocals were left in the final mix. She loved the way their voices blended, turning a quick time-saving shortcut into a permanent feature of the hit.
• Love was productive during the seven-hour wait. He also co-wrote "Save the Hero," a fan-favorite ballad that ended up on the bonus edition of I Am... Sasha Fierce.