Review
Genre and Mood
Eurythmics’ classic Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) gets a modern deep house makeover in this Ibiza Deep Summer Remix, an uncredited rework that circulated in DJ sets in the summer of 2015. It keeps Annie Lennox’s unmistakable vocal and the song’s haunting melody, but trades the original’s cold, mechanical tension for a relaxed beach-at-sunset groove.
Song Summary
The 1983 original is a landmark of synth-pop: Dave Stewart programmed a drum computer that also triggered the synth bass, Lennox added string-like chords on a borrowed synthesizer, and the whole thing was recorded in the duo’s attic studio in a North London warehouse. This remix keeps the voice and the melodic identity and replaces the frame with electronic house beats, mellow bass and a laid-back pace, so the song’s darkness becomes something closer to wistfulness.
Musical Breakdown
Intro: A New Vibe
The remix begins with ambient sounds and a soft, deep house beat that gradually builds, introducing elements of the original melody in a more relaxed, summery setting.
Verse 1: Familiar Yet Fresh
Annie Lennox’s vocals take centre stage, keeping their haunting quality but now accompanied by a light, pulsating bassline and shimmering synths, a more chilled mood than the original.
Chorus: The Classic Hook, Reinvented
The title hook is highlighted with reverb and set on deeper house beats, made for dancing and lounging alike.
Breakdown: Atmospheric and Breezy
A mid-track breakdown eases things down, bringing ambient sounds and distant echoing vocals before the groove returns.
Outro: Fading into the Horizon
The remix winds down with a return to the mellow beat and fading echoes of the chorus, slowly disappearing like the end of a long summer night.
Concepts in Focus
A remix rebuilds a recording from its parts. This one is a useful example precisely because it is anonymous: it was made from the finished Eurythmics record, not from new performances, so everything distinctive about it lies in what the remixer added (the house beat, the reverb, the ambient breakdown) and what they chose to leave in place (Lennox’s voice).
What makes Sweet Dreams instantly recognisable in any version is its bassline. In the original it is not played by a bassist at all: it is a synth line on a Roland SH-101, repeating with machine regularity, and it carries the hook as much as the vocal does. Dance producers keep returning to the song because that bassline already behaves like a dance-music riff. The same is true of another January 1983 release, Michael Jackson – Billie Jean.
That machine regularity comes from the sequencer. Stewart programmed a Movement Systems drum computer that not only played the drums but also triggered the SH-101, so the bass part repeats exactly, bar after bar. A track built on programmed, repeating parts is easy to lift into a house groove, which is why the song has been remixed so often.
Lyrical Themes
The remix does not alter the lyrics, which carry the themes Lennox described:
- Hopelessness and a nihilistic view of people using and being used
- Desire and the search for something more
- A deliberately uplifting turn, added by Stewart, to balance the bleakness
The new context gives them a more laid-back feel, softening their bite.
Cultural Impact
Originally released on 24 January 1983 on RCA, “Sweet Dreams” reached number 2 in the UK and number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and its video, with Lennox in a man’s suit and cropped orange hair, was hailed for breaking the mould for female pop stars. This 2015 remix belongs to the long line of reworkings that keep bringing the song to new dance floors.
Legacy
Few songs of the 1980s have been reworked as often: Giorgio Moroder remixed it in 1991, Marilyn Manson turned it into an industrial rock hit in 1995, Swing featuring Dr. Alban made it Eurodance the same year, and JX Riders took a version to number 1 on the US dance club chart in 2016. The Ibiza Deep Summer Remix is a small, uncredited entry in that history, uploaded to YouTube by a fan channel, but it shows the same thing they all show: the bassline and the voice are strong enough to survive any frame.
