Dream On

This one has been coming up quite a bit lately.

I think it’s a simple message that we either refuse to pay attention to, or just dismiss because we think we aren’t worthy.

More on that in a moment, but first a little on the song, which I think carried plenty of significance for this blog.

“Dream On” was the second single released by Aerosmith (“Mama Kin” was the first).  Both came from their debut album, back in 1973.  “Dream On” was the only one that hit the charts, and just barely at that.  It did well locally, in their hometown of Boston, but wasn’t doing much on the national scene.

They kept at it.  And two albums later, on the heels of their first top 40 hit (“Sweet Emotion”), their label re-released “Dream On”.

In 1976, it climbed all the way to #6!

The same thing happened about a year later, when they re-issued the single “Walk This Way”, which became their second top ten hit.

The re-release of “Walk This Way” was their 15th single.

So after fifteen tries, they had two giant hits.  Smooth sailing from there on out, right?

Hardly.

It would take another ten years, along with personnel changes, battles with drugs and alcohol, and plenty of other problems, before they really launched into the stratosphere.

That next big hit was 1987’s “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”.  Their 29th.

This isn’t to say that the only measure of their success was commercial single sales.  They did very well on rock radio, sold plenty of albums over the years.  Their 1987 album, “Permanent Vacation”, was their 7th platinum LP.  Platinum is a million copies sold, and six of those seven were multi-platinum (and that’s just in the U.S.).

The point isn’t that Aerosmith has done very well for themselves.

The point is about holding onto your dreams.

For some reason, some people seem to enjoy putting others down, mocking their dreams.  They may tell you that you can’t do it, you aren’t good enough, or that your dream is just dumb.

Don’t fall for that.

You matter, and so do your dreams.  Want to write?  Want to paint?  Want to be a rock star?  Want to be President?  Want to visit every Denny’s in America?

You may not be able to reach them today, or tomorrow.  Or next week, next month or even next year.

But you should always hang onto them.  Keep that hope alive.  And never listen to anyone that tries to get you to give up on them.

Dream until your dreams come true.