Suicide - Dream Baby Dream

First performance: 11/05/2005


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song 72 times and used it 28 times as a snippet:
 
During the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour, Springsteen played his modified version of Suicide's Dream Baby Dream on the pump organ with synthesizer in the background played by his keyboard technician Alan "Fitz" Fitzgerald. At the end of the song, he just stands up, focuses the mantra directly at the crowd before him, "I just wanna see you smile", and then walks off the stage while singing the last line, with the synthesizer still playing and the lights dimming. Springsteen recorded Dream baby dream in studio in 2013 and included it on his 2014 album High Hopes. The album version is very similar to the 2005 live version but features additional instruments (including Tom Morello on guitar) and choral voices towards the end. In a December 2013 interview for Rolling Stone, Ron Aniello told Andy Greene that Springsteen played him Dream baby dream and said it was an experience more than anything at the end of his Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour shows. "It took a lot to get that experience on a record for him. We had to do that song probably 10 times – different versions of it – until he was satisfied it was the right version." The album version was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen. 
 

On 10 Oct 2013, Springsteen posted a personal thank you note to his fans on his official website. A video was simultaneously posted on his website and his YouTube channel commemorating the 18-month/133-date long Wrecking Ball Tour which concluded the previous month. The video features highlights from the tour edited by Thom Zimny and is set to the new 2013 studio recording of Dream baby dream mixed by Bob Clearmountain. According to Zimny, work on the video began before the Wrecking Ball Tour ended. He initially cut footage for the video using the live 28 Oct 2005 version of Dream baby dream but shortly thereafter he received a copy of the new studio version which, as he later explained, took the editing of the video to another place. Seasick Steve appears in the video; he was watching Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's 28 May 2012 show in Landgraaf, The Netherlands, during Pinkpop Festival. The American blues musician was on that day's bill which was headlined by Springsteen and the band. Springsteenlyrics 

2016-07-20 CASA Arena, Horsens, Denmark
2014-05-18 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
2014-04-22 Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA
2014-04-19 Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
2014-04-15 Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
2014-04-08 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
2014-02-19 AllPhones Arena, Sydney, Australia

2013-11-06 Theater At Madison Square Garden (The), New York City
Stand Up For Heroes is an annual benefit organized by the Bob Woodruff Foundation to raise money for injured U.S. servicemen, veterans, and their families. Robert "Bob" Warren Woodruff is an American television journalist. He was the newly appointed co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight when on 29 Jan 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces in Iraq, he was critically injured by a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent 36 days in a medically induced coma. He was not expected to survive, but he recovered and started the Bob Woodruff Foundation, a non-profit helping other Americans who were similarly wounded in war. Bruce Springsteen has been appearing on all the annual benefits since they started in 2007, playing a handful of songs each time and offering for auction one of his guitars or motorcycles to benefit the foundation. 
 

2005-11-22 Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ
2005-11-21 Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ
2005-11-19 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, FL
2005-11-17 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford
2005-11-16 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford
2005-11-13 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City
2005-11-11 Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA
2005-11-09 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia
2005-11-08 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia
2005-11-04 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
2005-10-30 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
2005-10-28 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
2005-10-24 Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA
2005-10-21 Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI
2005-10-20 DCU Center, Worcester, MA
2005-10-15 Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Madison, WI
2005-10-13 United Center, Chicago, IL
2005-10-12 Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
2005-10-09 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
2005-10-07 Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT
2005-10-06 Blue Cross Arena At The War Memorial, Rochester, NY
2005-10-04 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
2005-08-13 Pontiac Theatre, Vancouver, BC
2005-08-11 KeyArena At Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
2005-08-10 Theater Of The Clouds, Portland, OR
2005-08-07 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
2005-08-06 Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
2005-08-03 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
2005-08-01 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
2005-07-31 Value City Theatre, Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
2005-07-28 Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
2005-07-26 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
2005-07-24 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
2005-07-23 Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
2005-07-20 Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT
2005-07-18 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
2005-07-16 Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
2005-07-14 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
2005-07-13 Corel Centre, Ottawa, ON
2005-06-28 ICC Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2005-06-27 Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany
2005-06-25 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
2005-06-23 Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
2005-06-22 Forum København, Copenhagen, Denmark
2005-06-20 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
2005-06-19 Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2005-06-16 Philipshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
2005-06-15 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
2005-06-13 Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
2005-06-07 DatchForum, Milan, Italy
2005-06-06 PalaLottomatica, Rome, Italy
2005-06-04 PalaMalaguti, Bologna, Italy
2005-06-02 Palacio De Deportes De Comunidad De Madrid, Madrid, Spain
2005-06-01 Pavelló Olímpic De Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
2005-05-30 Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
2005-05-28 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
2005-05-27 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
2005-05-24 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2005-05-20 Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA
2005-05-19 Theater At The Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
2005-05-17 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA
2005-05-15 Wolstein Center, Cleveland, OH
2005-05-14 Patriot Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2005-05-11 Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, IL
 
  •  Snippets
during BACKSTREETS
 
2012-08-15 Fenway Park, Boston, MA 
2012-08-29 Vernon Downs Raceway, Vernon, NY
 
during DRIVE ALL NIGHT
 
2016-03-13 Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
2016-03-15 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, LA 
2016-03-17 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, LA
2016-03-22 Moda Center, Portland, OR 
2016-03-24 KeyArena At Seattle Center, Seattle, WA 
2016-03-28 Madison Square Garden, New York City
2016-03-31 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
2016-04-03 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
2016-04-05 American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX 
2016-04-07 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO 
2016-04-12 Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH
2016-04-14 Palace Of Auburn Hills (The), Auburn Hills, MI
2016-04-18 Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA 
2016-04-20 Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, MD
2016-04-23 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
2016-04-25 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY 
2016-05-17 Estadio Anoeta, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
2016-06-03 Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England
2016-06-25 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
2016-07-03 Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
2016-07-11 AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France 
2016-07-13 AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France 
2016-07-23 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
2016-07-28 Frognerparken, Oslo, Norway
 

Songinfo

Dream baby dream is a song by Suicide, a duo who came out of New York City's Lower East Side in the 1970's. The song was composed by both band members, Alan Vega and Martin Rev, and produced by Ric Ocasek. It has repetitive lyrics that just goes "Dream baby dream" over and over like a mantra. They also add some "Keep those dreams burning, baby" but basically it's monotonous. The song was recorded at Right Track Studios in New York City, NY, during the sessions of the band's 1980 album Suicide (their second self-titled album, also know as The Second Album), but didn't make the album's cut. Instead, it was released as a single in 1979 in the UK (7-inch and 12-inch formats) and France (12-inch format), with 'Radiation' on the B-side. The track, along with its B-side, was later included on the 1999 reissue of their 1980 album, titled Suicide: The Second Album + The First Rehearsal Tapes.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

2020-06-17 SiriusXM Studio, New York City
Bruce's plays his 6th DJ gig, slightly retitled as 'Bruce Springsteen: From My Home, To Yours… Part 6' on Sirius XM's E Street Radio. This episode is titled "Down To The River To Pray".
" He dedicates the song to the memory of Alan Vega, and to his great band Suicide. "
 
 
Springsteen told Mojo: 
"It's a mantra and it works because the night is filled with so much narrative and detail and then at the end there's just those few phrases repeated and they are the essence of everything else I'm saying and doing in the course of the evening. The night opens and opens and then, at the end, when you think it can't open any more it does and it's completely embracing. It's yeah, I guess... I have an eye for a lot of detail and this is a lesson in, uh, 'What is a song?' It's so purely musical, that's what's beautiful about it, it's so simple and so purely musical."
 
Alan Vega's Comments:
Alan Vega attended Springsteen's 20 Jul 2005 show in Bridgeport, CT. "I'm still high from that show. Now I can die. Not only he's playing 'Dream Baby Dream,' but it's the big encore song, the last song of the show," Alan Vega told Backstreets magazine in an interview. "A lot of bands have done my stuff, Suicide stuff [...] Thank god, finally somebody did their version of it. He interpreted my song, he did it his way, and such a great way that I'm going to have to sing it that way, or not sing it at all anymore!" In the interview, Vega talked about Springsteen's version of Dream baby dream , the Bridgeport show, how he first met Springsteen, the Nebraska album, and much more... At the end of the interview, when asked what's his favorite Springsteen song, Vega answered "'Dream Baby Dream.' On my death bed, that's the last thing I'm going to listen to. I'll play it at my funeral." The full interview can be found in the Winter 2005/2006 (#83/84) issue of Backstreets magazine. 
 
Springsteen And Suicide:
"I've liked Suicide for a long time," Springsteen told Mojo in an October 2005 interview. "I met the guys late in the '70s in New York City, when we were in the studio at the same time. You know, if Elvis came back from the dead I think he would sound like Alan Vaga. He gets a lot of emotional purity. I came across 'Dream Baby Dream' again because Michael Stipe included it on a compilation and I thought maybe I could do it." In a December 1984 interview for Rolling Stone, Springsteen told Kurt Loder that Suicide was among the bands he was listening to lately. "They had that two-piece synthesizer-voice thing. They had one of the most amazing songs I ever heard." He added that "Frankie Teardrop" was one of the most amazing records he ever heard. In a December 2013 interview for Rolling Stone, Springsteen told Andy Greene: "They are underground masters, to me. Just one of the greatest. Alan Vega, one of the greatest. They should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in my opinion. They are just amazing. I loved them, and they had an influence on Nebraska in a roundabout way."
 

Lyrics

Dream baby dream
Dream baby dream
Dream baby dream
Come on and dream baby dream
Come on and dream baby dream

We gotta keep the light burning
Come on, we gotta keep the light burning
Come on, we gotta keep the light burning
Come on, we gotta keep the light burning
Come on and dream baby dream

We gotta keep the fire burning
Come on, we gotta keep the fire burning
Come on, we gotta keep the fire burning
Come on and dream baby dream

Come open up your heart
Come on and open up your heart
Come on and open up your heart
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on and open up your heart
Come on and open up your hearts
Come on and open up your hearts
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on, we gotta keep on dreaming
Come on, we gotta keep on dreaming
Come on, we gotta keep on dreaming
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on darling and dry your eyes
Come on baby and dry your eyes
Come on baby and dry your eyes
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Now I just wanna see you smile
Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on and open up your hearts
Come on and open up your hearts
Come on and open up your hearts
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Yeah I just wanna see you smile
And I just wanna see you smile
Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Yeah I just wanna see you smile
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on and open up your heart
Come on and open up your heart
Come on and open up your heart
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Come on dream on, dream on baby
Come on dream on, dream on baby
Come on dream on, dream on baby
Come on dream on, dream baby dream

Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah