“Dreamlover” was released as the lead single from Mariah's Music Box album on July 23, 1993. “I was working with Dave ‘Jam’ Hall, who was working with mainly hip-hop artists,” Mariah wrote on the #1 To Infinity liner notes in 2015. “We were ‘digging in the crates’ and decided to use the loop from ‘Blind Alley,’ which was sampled by several big hip-hop artists. I loved the freedom of writing on top of that beat and bringing it into what most people consider a pop record.”
“My experience working with Mariah was a good one, she's a perfectionist,” Dave Hall said. “She knew exactly what she wanted to do when we got into the studio. We would lay down some ideas in the morning and she would go home with it that evening, until the next evening. We would get the hook down that night. She's pretty quick on that.”
In the United States, “Dreamlover” became Mariah's seventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, spending eight weeks at the top of the chart — her longest stay at the time — and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on September 22, 1993. “Dreamlover” became Mariah's third Top 10 single in Australia, where it peaked at number seven and was certified 6x Platinum by the ARIA on September 16, 2019. In the UK, the song peaked at number nine and spent four weeks inside the Top 10.
Mariah worked with David Morales for the first time on “Dreamlover,” taking the song to number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart. “There are very few people that Mariah will go into the studio with as far as producers go, because we always reconstruct everything for the most part,” Morales told Billboard. “We were producing a new song. The way she sang it was different, the background was different. We changed the game of remixing at that point. Mariah opened up a whole other door, and not many people at that time were capable of that. When other big artists saw what I did with Mariah, they wanted that. She's how I got into the studio with Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin, Seal and Donna Summer.”
| Song | Remix | Run time |
|---|---|---|
| Dreamlover | Def Club Mix
Produced by David Morales. |
10:43 |
| Dreamlover | Def Club Mix — Edit
Produced by David Morales. |
4:02 |
| Dreamlover | Def Club Mix — Edit 2005
Produced by David Morales. |
4:23 |
| Dreamlover | Def Instrumental
Produced by David Morales. |
6:20 |
| Dreamlover | Def Tribal Mix
Produced by David Morales. |
6:41 |
| Dreamlover | USA Love Dub
Produced by David Morales. |
7:10 |
| Dreamlover | Eclipse Dub
Produced by David Morales. |
4:52 |
| Dreamlover | Bam Jam Soul
Produced by Brian Morgan. |
4:20 |
| Dreamlover | Theo's Club Joint
Produced by Brian Morgan. |
4:39 |
The “Dreamlover” music video was directed by Diane Martel and filmed in upstate New York in June 1993. “I had a really great time making the ‘Dreamlover’ video because a friend of mine, Diane Martel, directed it and she really tried to get the real fun side of me across,” Mariah told VH1. “Most of the people in the video were my friends at the time. I was up by the farm where we used to go on the weekends and I was doing a lot of things I like, like swimming, I had my dogs in the video… so it was a good time.”
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Music Box album, a new mini-documentary titled was released on September 12, 2023, including never-before-seen behind the scenes footage of the making of the “Dreamlover,” music video, with commentary by Mariah herself, choreographer Budda Stretch and stylist Basia Zamorska.
The “Dreamlover” Single was released on CD and cassette, including the previously-unreleased B-side “Do You Think Of Me.” The Maxi Single, which features the Album Version of the song and five remixes produced by David Morales, was also released on CD — with two different covers — and Cassette. “Dreamlover” was also released on 12" Vinyl, including five Morales remixes of the song.
The European “Dreamlover” Single, including “Do You Think Of Me” as the B-side, was available on CD, Cassette and 7" Vinyl. There were two “Dreamlover” Maxi Singles, the first one featuring the two songs from the Single as well as the live version of “Someday” from Mariah's MTV Unplugged. The second “Dreamlover” Maxi Single was available on CD and 12" Vinyl and includes the Album Version of the song plus the Def Club Mix and Eclipse Dub remixes, as well as “Do You Think Of Me.”
In The United Kingdom, “Dreamlover” was released on August 14, 1993. The Single, including “Do You Think Of Me” as the B-side, was available on Cassette, while the Maxi Single also includes the live version of “Someday” from MTV Unplugged. A second “Dreamlover” Maxi Single was released a week later, including three versions of the song: Album Version, Def Club Mix and Eclipse Dub.
In Australia, the “Dreamlover” Single includes “Do You Think Of Me” as the B-side, and the Maxi Single includes two rare remixes of the song produced by Brian Morgan (Theo's Club Joint and Bam Jam Soul) as well as an exclusive edit of the Def Club Mix. Both releases were available on CD and Cassette.
In Japan, the “Dreamlover” Single was released on September 9, 1993. It was available on 3" CD, featuring “Do You Think Of Me” as the B-side.
I need a lover to give me
The kind of love
That will last always
I need somebody uplifting
To take me away
I want a lover who knows me
Who understands how I feel inside
Someone to comfort and hold me
Through the long lonely nights
Till the dawn
Why don't you take me away
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
I don't want another pretender
To disillusion me one more time
Whispering words of forever
Playing with my mind
I need someone to hold on to
The kind of love that won't fly away
I just want someone to belong to
Everyday
Of my live
Always
So come and take me away
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
Lyrics: Mariah Carey. Music: Mariah Carey, Dave Hall.
Produced by Mariah Carey, Dave Hall and Walter Afanasieff.
I need a lover to give me
The kind of love that will last always
I need somebody uplifting
To take me away
I need a lover who knows me
Who understands how I feel inside
Someone to comfort and hold me
Through the long lonely nights
Till the dawn
Why don't you take me away
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
With you baby
Baby baby baby baby
Ooh, with you baby
With you baby
Baby baby baby now
I don't want another pretender
To disillusion me one more time
Whispering words of forever
Playing with my mind
I need someone to hold on to
The kind of love that won't fly away
I just want someone to belong to
Everyday of my live
Always
So come and take me away
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
Ooh
Take me up, take me up, take me up
Oh…
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Won't you come and take me away
Ooh somebody come and take me away
Won't you take me, take me
Take me, take
Come and take me, take me
Away, away
Come and take me, take me
Baby come and take me
Baby won't you take me away
I need your love
I need you baby
I need you now
Oh…
Why don't you take me, take me
Baby, take me
Baby won't you take me away, away
Come on and take me, take me
Ooh just come and take me
Baby won't you take me away
Ooh
Come on now
Come on babe
Won't you come on now
Won't you come on baby
Won't you come on now
Won't you come on baby…
Oh, baby
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
Dreamlover come rescue me
Take me up take me down
Take me anywhere you want to baby now
I need you so desperately
Won't you please come around
'Cause I wanna share forever with you baby
Come on babe
Ooh…
Yeah yeah
Oh yeah…
Won't you come on baby
Ooh, come and take me away
Oh yeah, come on
Baby come and take me away
Baby come and take me away
Baby come and take me away
Baby come and take me away
Dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover, dreamlover
Written by Mariah Carey, Dave Hall.
Produced by David Morales.
