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Laura Price

Mrs. Barnes

ENG 1201

27 Sept. 2020

“Sweet Dreams” vs. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”

The original “Sweet Dreams” music video by Eurythmics was made in 1983 and the

cover video, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by Marilyn Manson, was made in 1995. The

songs are similar because overall the song’s lyrics do not change, but the videos are drastically

different. The way each artist portrayed themselves in the music videos made the two versions of

the song have very different musical styles. The videos reflect each artist's chosen genre. From

afar these songs may seem the exact same, but if you take a closer look, you can spot several

differences.

This song’s main claim was that there are many types of dreams and many people chase

their dreams all over the world to satisfy those dreams. Even though the song doesn’t back up

this claim with any reasons or evidence, one can tell this is the claim because of the lyrics.

Overall “Sweet Dreams” doesn’t seem to have a clear type of appeal. The closest type would be

pathos just because it appeals to the public since everyone has dreams and aspirations. The target

audience could be anyone, in any age of life, race, socio-economic stance, or religion, who is

chasing their dreams.

One of the differences among the songs is the way the songs were produced. The lyrics in

both of the videos are identical, but each artist put their own twist on the way they sung the song.

The original artist, Eurythmics, made the song into a pop/rock genre, but the cover artist,

Marilyn Manson, changed the song's tone into an alternative/rock musical style. The way
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Manson sang the song majorly played into the category of music it fell under. He used the

traditional hard rock sound, the raspy voice and controlled screaming, while singing. Eurythmics,

trying to stick with the pop genre, sang very bright and preppy like.

Another difference between the two songs is the beat going on behind the lyrics. In

“Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, the sound consists of an upbeat rhythm made by different

instruments such as electric keyboard and synth. One can easily tell the difference in sound in

Marilyn Mason’s version, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” His remake had much more of a

hard rock vibe using distorted electric guitars, bass guitars, and drums. Though both songs have

their differences, each is executed nicely and well-liked by their fans.

The differences between the music videos themselves cannot be overlooked. The

Eurythmics video was set in a train car with the two band members sitting across from each

other. They began to sing their original version of the song, “Sweet Dreams,” while tapping the

seat to the beat. As the song progressed various scenery passed through the outside window of

the train car. Occasionally a close up video of the main singer's mouth could be seen in the

window as well. Overall this music video was very calm and didn’t have a lot going on. There

were no props that could be seen in the video and it only had one camera angle and background

the whole duration of the song.

The cover video by Marilyn Manson was set in an abandoned looking warehouse. There

were several people in view of the camera, all dressed in strange clothes and dramatized makeup.

Several camera angles and scenes from the warehouse could be seen during the song as the

people were running rampant through the halls. There were a few main props used in the video.

Two of the most notable being a pig that the main singer rode through the warehouse halls and a

light that he carried around and sung into like a microphone. Altogether this music video was
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wild and confusing. The artist made it into an experience that kept you wondering what was

happening and what was going to happen next.

Although both versions of the song “Sweet Dreams” and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of

This)” have the same lyrics, you can see each artist's creative freedom shine through in the

production of the song and music video. Each singer brought their own flavor of musical style to

the song making each version special and different to the listeners. At a glance, one might

believe that these songs seem to resemble each other closely. However, upon further inspection,

the listener can see that both singers produced a unique version of a song with identical lyrics.

Generally speaking, no matter which song you listen to, you will be able to hear and enjoy the

music created by these extremely talented people.

Works Cited

“Sweet Dreams.” Performance by The Eurythmics, YouTube, 7 Apr. 2018,

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNJeKXr1I2w. Accessed 27 Sept. 2020.

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Performance by Marilyn Manson, YouTube, 8 Oct. 2009,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUvVdTlA23w. Accessed 27 Sept. 2020.