‘Dreaming’: The Blondie song copied from ABBA
It’s hard to think of an album opener with quite as much power and pizzazz as ‘Dreaming’, the first track to appear on Blondie’s 1979 album Eat To The Beat. But the inspiration for the piece was bitten by an entirely different band: ABBA.
Listening back to the feel-good energy of ‘Dreaming’, the connection between Blondie and ABBA suddenly makes so much sense. They’re not two names immediately related, given that Blondie were the ultimate cool group of the 1970s New York scene, while ABBA got their start on Eurovision. Debbie Harry was the heartthrob of the alternative charts, and ABBA were busy getting married and divorced to one another. But musically, the high-octane fun of ‘Dreaming’ seems to wade into pop waters.
The song began like most other Blondie songs did. Guitarist Chris Stein wrote the music, plugging in the throwaway line “dreaming is free” for pacing. Most Blondie tracks started with Stein coming up with what Harry called “a track or a feel”.
Harry then came in to write the lyrics. Deciding to keep Stein’s original words, the track evolved into a love story of fleeting glances and mind-consuming crushes. Becoming one of the group’s most beloved songs, ‘Dreaming’ is the band’s pop anthem.
That pop feel comes directly from a clear source of inspiration: ABBA. Stein said ‘Dreaming’ is “pretty much a cop of ‘Dancing Queen’.” Whether they were listening to the band and it accidentally seeped into their music, or if the connection was an accident, the guitarist can’t quite remember. He told Entertainment Weekly, “I don’t know if that was where we started or if it ended just happening to sound like that.”
Realistically, there isn’t much connection between the songs. ‘Dreaming’ maintains Blondie’s own brand of alternative cool, as Stein’s guitar riffs are rich and frantic. Drummer Clem Burke let loose on the track, recording his thunderous line in one take. “We were just running through the song, and that’s why I was playing so over-the-top on it,” he told Mojo. “Then, after the take, Mike said that was it. It was quite surprising because it was the antithesis of his approach on Parallel Lines.“
Perhaps it’s that over-the-top, exaggerated style that makes Stein draw a likeness to ABBA. With ‘Dancing Queen’ standing as maybe the ultimate pop song, complete with disco details and maximalist instrumentation, Blondie seemed to briefly adopt their more is more approach.
Opening up a hit album that includes anthems like ‘Atomic’ and ‘Union City Blues’, ‘Dreaming’ comes in like a statement of intention. Continuing the band’s movement in a more radio-friendly, pop direction, it was a further step toward their global domination.
While the song might not sound much like ‘Dancing Queen’, the connection is there as both endure as totally timeless, feel-good earworms.
