I wanted to open this section up with a big lecture about vocals, but then I remembered I don’t know how to sing.

When I review songs as a result, I always put music, instrumentation, and lyrical content first before moving on to the vocals. But I do have an idea of how I want vocals on songs to sound. My main objective when listening to vocals is how they sound when stacked with the music. Sometimes, a technically good performance by a great singer may sound terrible to my ears, because I hate how overdramatic the vocal performance is against the overwrought instrumentation. In this case, I can’t wait for the song to be over. In other cases, an untrained vocal can sound perfect in some cases, particularly if the song is supposed to sound unpolished.

With all that said, I’ll just leave the intro as thus:  When I’m considering the greatest pop music singers of all time, this guy is the first man who comes to mind.

“In Dreams” – Roy Orbison

#7 peak
#59 year-end

In the world of early rock and roll legends, Roy Orbison was a God amongst men.  His vocal skills on a technical level generally left standard rock and roll legends in the dust, and his compositions threatened the very nature of the verse-chorus structure that was becoming the norm in the world of music.  Orbison scored two hits in 1963, the first of which was his cover of Elvis Presley’s “Mean Woman Blues.”  That song was an effective cover.  But between that song and “In Dreams,” I know which one deserves to be on this list.

Let’s start off with the musical composition.  Unlike each previous song we’ve done with lyrics, “In Dreams” follows a highly unconventional format where no verse repeats, and there is no chorus.  This song generally follows a C-Dm-G-C chord progression, but notice as the song continues to build that Orbison plays around with the formula.  After repeating the basic chord progression for the first two verses (excluding the “A candy colored clown they call the sandman…” intro), Orbison switches to C-G-F-G-C for the third, C-Dm-C-G-F-G-C for the fourth verse, and C-F-C for the fifth verse before switching back to the standard chord progression for the sixth verse.  It all adds to the song’s unpredictability, as “In Dreams” is slowly building steam as it heads towards the finale.

And then there’s the subject matter.  “In Dreams” is a crushing song about how the perfect woman for Orbison only exists in his dreams.  When he’s in his dreams, he gets to live his romantic fantasy, only for her to disappear when he wakes up.

But just before the dawn
I awake and find you gone
I can’t help it!  I can’t help it if I cry
I remember that you said goodbye

Jesus, this song is heartbreaking.  This song, with its crescendoing violins in the background, doesn’t just represent the woman disappearing when Orbison wakes up.  She’s probably getting blown away by the vicious wind, getting thrown further and further away as Orbison realizes he’s having a horrible nightmare.  It just adds to the brutal reality of the song, and how his life can never be perfect.  This song is a tragedy of the highest order.

Now for Orbison’s vocals.  My God, his vocals on this song absolutely kill me.  Wikipedia states in the introduction to the song that Orbison’s vocals go between two octaves, “beyond the range of most rock and roll singers.”  Wikipedia was wrong again: Orbison is singing through three octaves, with his highest note over two octaves above his lowest.  I kept tract. Much like on “Little Town Flirt,” “In Dreams” slowly rises higher and higher to its falsetto climax.  The difference is that on “Little Town Flirt,” that build goes on for a single verse.  Orbison’s crescendo goes on for the entire song. And that brings us to the spectacular finale.

It’s too bad that all these things
Can only happen in my dreams…
OOOONNNNLLLLYYYY IN DREAMS!

Ever had that feeling when you listen to a song, that you’ve been hit with a nuclear bomb?  That’s how I feel whenever I hear this part.  Orbison’s penultimate line of “only in dreams” is so visceral, so catastrophic, that we’re left to just sit there in awe.  And that explains why “In Dreams” is just an amazing work of art.

So with all that I’ve been gushing about in this song, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t put this song higher on the list.  Well… while “In Dreams” is an incredible song in terms of songwriting and especially in terms of vocal quality, it is a very intense experience, possibly the most intense three minutes of the pop music year.  The best songs are not only the ones that are absolutely perfect, but also the ones you can listen to at any time.  While I love this song, “In Dreams” generally takes a lot out of me with every listen, to the point that I can’t listen to it every single day.  I have to be ready to hear the song, to take in Orbison’s cinematic execution.  That being said, “In Dreams” is the greatest vocal performance you will hear from 1963, and everyone reading this list who hasn’t heard needs to go out and listen to it now.  Roy Orbison finally did receive his second wind of popularity in the eighties just before he died, and yet I still think he didn’t receive the credit he deserved.  In the age of simple songs under three minutes, “In Dreams” stood as a monumental achievement.

UP NEXT: The best instrumental of the year, with the best rock riffs of the year, at #3.

IMAGE SOURCES

Album cover from Discogs

Photo of Roy Orbison from Biography

Photo of mushroom-shaped cloud from Atomic Archive