4 All-Time Classic Rock Songs From the 1960s That Were Written in Dreams

You never know when a song might hit you. Sure, lyrics or a few chords might leap up in your mind when you’re in the studio, making a concerted effort to be creative. But other times they may just come to you while you’re sleeping. And that’s just what we wanted to dive into here below. We wanted to showcase four tracks from back in the day that arrived during dreaming. Indeed, these are four all-time classic rock songs from the 1960s that were written in dreams.

“In Dreams” by Roy Orbison from ‘In Dreams’ (1963)

In case you needed any proof of how this song arrived at singer Roy Orbison, you can just check the track name or the name of the album it was released on. When you have such a musical mind like Orbison’s, songs can’t help but find you. Indeed, the artist dreamed this song up. Half-asleep, he said to himself, thinking it was an Elvis song, “Boy, that’s good.” When he woke up, Orbison said he penned the track in some 20 minutes.

“Yesterday” by The Beatles from ‘Help!’ (1965)

Not only did this song come to Paul McCartney in his sleep, but he was worried that it already belonged to some other artist. The song arrived in a dream, and when he woke up, Sir Paul played it on the piano so as not to forget it. But he kept the song under his hat for a few weeks, almost like he’d turned a diamond necklace into the police. If no one claimed it, then it really was his. Turns out his mind really did come up with it!

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones (Single, 1965)

Sometimes an all-time classic rock guitar riff just comes to you in your slumber. That’s just what happened to The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Asleep, the main lick for this track leapt to his brain. He woke up, played it into a tape recorder, and passed back out asleep. Thank goodness for tape recorders. Because when he woke back up, he didn’t remember doing it. Yet, Richards had the beginnings of an all-time tune.

“Purple Haze” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Single, 1967)

Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitar player ever. He was also a vivid dreamer. The songwriter would have these vivid images in his sleep. And then he’d wake up and write songs based on them. Such was the origin story for perhaps his most famous tune, the visually appealing classic rock song, “Purple Haze”. Hendrix wrote colorful songs, and we can thank his subconscious for that.

Photo by David Farrell/Redferns