In 1970, Gary Wright had just broken up with his band Spooky Tooth — alongside future Foreigner mastermind Mick Jones — for the first time when George Harrison also invited him to play on his third solo album, All Things Must Pass. Wright ended up playing piano and organ on the former Beatle’s entire album and remained lifelong friends with Harrison, who turned the pop singer on to more Eastern philosophies.
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Ignited by the works of Hindu monk and guru Paramahansa Yogananda by Harrison, Wright was drawn to one of his poems in particular. God! God! God! explored the idea of a higher consciousness, of weaving one’s dreams.
When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
Then on that magic cloth will I emboss:
God! God! God!
Meaning Behind “Dream Weaver”
The poem inspired Wright to pen a motivational song about how the mind could carry one through the night, out of worries or hardship, and into the morning light.
I’ve just closed my eyes again
Climbed aboard the dream weaver train
Driver take away my worries of today
And leave tomorrow behind
Ooh, dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooh, dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light
Fly me high through the starry skies
Maybe to an astral plane
Cross the highways of fantasy
Help me to forget today’s pain
Set to blue monochrome lighting in the music video, which featured Wright performing on stage at the piano, “Dream Weaver” was featured on Wright’s third solo album, The Dream Weaver, in 1975, and shot to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow-up single, “Love Is Alive,” also peaked at No. 2 on the chart.
George Harrison’s Influence on “Dream Weaver”
Wright explained in detail how the philosophies that Harrison shared with him inspired his pop hit:
“In 1972, my friend George Harrison invited me to accompany him on a trip to India. A few days before we left, he gave me a copy of the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Needless to say, the book inspired me deeply, and I became totally fascinated with Indian culture and philosophy. My trip was an experience I will never forget. During the early [1970s] while reading more of the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, I came across a poem called God! God! God!. One of the lines in the poem referred to the idea of the mind weaving dreams and the thought immediately occurred to me, weaver of dreams… Dream Weaver. I wrote it down in my journal of song titles and forgot about it. Several months passed, and one weekend, while in the English countryside, I picked up my journal and came across the title ‘Dream Weaver.’ Feeling inspired, I picked up my acoustic guitar and began writing. The song was finished in an hour. The lyrics and music seemed to have flowed out of me as if written by an unseen source. After the record was released and became successful many people asked me what the song meant. I really wasn’t sure myself and would answer ‘It was about a kind of fantasy experience… a Dream Weaver train taking you through the cosmos.’ But I was never satisfied with that explanation, and as years went by I began to reflect on what the song actually meant and then it came to me: ‘Dream Weaver, I believe you can get me through the night…’ was a song about someone with infinite compassion and love carrying us through the night of our trials and suffering. None other than God Himself.”‘
[RELATED: Gary Wright, Singer and Songwriter of “Dream Weaver” Dies at 80]
‘Wayne’s World’ and the Bigger Screen
By the early ’80s, Wright continued releasing music as a solo artist, while working more on film soundtracks. He scored the 1982 Alan Rudolph’s thriller Endangered Species and contributed the song “Hold on to Your Vision” to the soundtrack of Sylvester Stallone’s 1986 film, Cobra, along with other projects.
“Dream Weaver” also resurfaced in film throughout the decades, and Wright re-recorded the song for the 1992 comedy, Wayne’s World. The song also appeared in the films The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and Toy Story 3 (2010), among others.
Ooh, dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooh, dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light
Though the dawn may be coming soon
There still may be some time
Fly me away to the bright side of the moon
Meet me on the other side
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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