Gary Wright’s “Dream Weaver” Lyrics Meaning

As has been noted in this website before, the 1960s-70s era was one in which a number of prominent musicians dabbled in Eastern mysticism. Amongst them of course was George Harrison of The Beatles and by extension Gary Wright. And it was via his association with Harrison that Wright ended up penning “Dream Weaver”, being most notably inspired by a famous Hindu monk named Paramahansa Yogananda.

In this song, the “Dream Weaver” is the addressee. And most simply explained, he is presented as someone who is able to take away the “worries”, “pains” and anxieties of the vocalist. So what we’re dealing with here basically is Gary entreating the titular entity to intervene in his life and bring about such an effect.

And going back to this song’s origin at first, not knowing where it came from so to speak, Wright may have attributed it this work primarily to his experiences with India. But as time progressed and people kept pressuring him for a definitive explanation of it, he came to the conclusion that the “Dream Weaver” is “none other than God Himself”.

Gary Wright talks about the Creation of this Classic

According to Gary, the song started after he and George Harrison traveled together to India. Few days prior to the journey, Harrison gifted him an autobiographical book written by Paramahansa Yogananda. The book, which was titled “Autobiography of a Yogi“, greatly fascinated and inspired Gary. Gary went on to state that his fascination with India and its culture started with the book in question.

After the said trip, he went on to read more works from Yogananda. It was while reading one of this famous monk’s poems that he stumbled across the concept of dreams being woven by our minds. At that moment, the phrase “weaver of dreams”/”dream weaver” instantly popped into his mind. He instantaneously wrote it down in a journal.

For several months, he had forgotten about it. Then one day, he stumbled upon the phrase again as he was going through the journal. Being inspired to compose a song, he instantly reached for his acoustic guitar. It was at this moment, the song was birthed. According to him, he composed the entire song (“Dream Weaver”) within just an hour.

When was “Dream Weaver” released?

“Dream Weaver” was released on July 15 of 1975 by American singer, Gary Wright. It is the 6th track on the singer’s 9-tracked album, with the title “The Dream Weaver”.

“Dream Weaver” meets with Success

The song put up an astonishing performance in the US as well as Canada. In the process, it topped the RPM in Canada. And in the United States, it reached a peak position of No. 2 on none other than the Billboard Hot 100!

In April of 1976, “Dream Weaver” received a gold certification from the RIAA in the United States.

Credits

The writing and production of “Dream Weaver” is credited to Wright only.

Famous Cover

Winner of season 15 of American music reality show “American Idol”, Trent Harmon recorded and performed a remake of “Dream Weaver” in 2016.