"Dreaming" is a song by American new wave band Blondie. Released in 1979, the song was the opening track from their fourth album Eat to the Beat. Written by guitarist Chris Stein and singer Debbie Harry and partially inspired by ABBA's "Dancing Queen," the song also features an active drum performance by drummer Clem Burke, who did not expect the final recording to feature his busy drum track. "Dreaming" was released as the lead single from Eat to the Beat in September 1979, reaching number two on the UK singles chart and number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band saw this as a disappointing performance, though the song remained one of the band's highest charting singles to that point. The song's single release was also accompanied by a music video. The song has since become one of Blondie's most famous tracks, appearing on several compilation albums and becoming a mainstay of the band's live setlist. It has since seen critical acclaim and several music writers have named the song as one of the band's best. Background The lyrics for "Dreaming" originated from the line "dreaming is free", which band member Chris Stein thought of. After hearing the music for the song that Stein wrote, Debbie Harry wrote the rest of the lyrics. Harry explained the process of writing the lyrics in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying "Sometimes Chris will come up with a track or a feel and pass it on to me, and he'll say, 'I was thinking 'Dreaming/Dreaming is free',' and then I'll fill it out with a story line or some more phrases. A lot of times it's the rhythm track that suggests what the lyric is going to be. I like working like that." Musically, "Dreaming" is a fast-paced new wave song. Stein has since claimed that "Dreaming" is "pretty much a cop" of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA; he continued, "I don't know if that was where we started, or if it ended just happening to sound like that." Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock said the song "tak[es] a cue from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound." Billboard Magazine described "Dreaming" as a "driving rocker that moves with rollercoaster intensity" and described Harry's lead vocals as "mesmerizing." According to the band's keyboardist Jimmy Destri, the song, like many from the Eat to the Beat album, was recorded live in the studio. The