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In Dreams

Only the other day I watched a YouTube clip of David Lynch explaining how he'd come to use Roy Orbison's song 'In Dreams' in Blue Velvet. Lynch's framing of it helped cement my own affection for 'the big O'. The Travelling Wilburys; the glorious Black and White Night concert video; and his posthumous Mystery Girl album all further contributed to that. My Dad, moreover, had been a long-standing fan of Roy's, and, also in the later '80s, had acquired a 'Greatest Hits' compilation cassette, a record he'd sometimes put on in the background when we'd have a few drinks together.

Now I have an Orbison compilation album of my own (The Legendary Roy Orbison: always a good choice on a really bad day) and I've also picked up a few 7" singles of his, including an Australian pressing of 'In Dreams'. The B-side, 'Shahdaroba', the handiwork of prolific songwriter Cindy Walker, is well-done, and beautifully-sung, but it's also a rather ropey piece of exotica. 'In Dreams' itself, on the other hand, is an exquisite & singular thing - one of the best of Orbison's three-minute epics

I was startled ro realise I'm older now than Orbison was when he died. My own dreams tend not to be the beautifully sad kind he sings about here, but I know what he means, & deeply appreciate the way he articulates it.

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