"What Dreams May Come" original demo vs. published version
Original demo vs. Published version
I wrote "What Dreams May Come" while I was a student at Berklee, back in 2000. It was inspired by Robin Williams' movie with the same name.
The original demo was recorded at Berklee on 24-track tape and with a large ensemble. I always liked this song and reworked it for my 2006 solo album "Outside Looking In".
The writing process for this song began in one of my classes at Berklee. I was thinking about the film I had seen the previous night and the first verse and chorus were written in just a few minutes before the professor started the class. I finished the rest of the song that evening at home.
It is structurally simple from a lyric and composition perspective. The verses are fairly similar. The choruses are also the same except that the second chorus has one extra line in it. I chose to write the song is in a minor key due to the topic, death.
The main difference between the demo and released version is the ending. In the original version of the song, the ending has a key change to a major key. This is akin to the movie when Robin Williams finally reconnects with his wife and she recognizes him. It is a beautiful moment. When I recorded the version that ended up on "Outside Looking In", I omitted the original ending because I could not sing that high and I felt that shortening the song would be a good idea.
I've never made the demo version public before. Here is an interesting look at what my original intention for the song was and what I ended up doing with it for myself.
I hope you enjoy the insight to this song.