After Santo & Johnny's exquisite, dreamy melody, a song from the man Elvis Presley described has being the world's greatest singer, her with lovesickness that filters into the subconscious. Orbison had more than his fair share of personal tragedy in his life, losing two sons in a house fire, as well his wife, Claudette in a road accident. But even before those events, the passion and pathos in his delivery is unmistakable. Continuing with our min-sleep/dream theme, in a song from the 1965 compilation album There Is Only One Roy Orbison, in this number written by the team of Buddy Buie, John Rainey Adkins and William Gilmore, his soaring voice captures that feeling of being utterly taken over by love, in sleep or when awake. The irony here is that the lyrics could be about dreaming about a lost love who has died, and the only way to see them and be with them forever is to join them in an endless dream, and this was recorded before Claudette's death a year later. Either that, or it's just a pop song. Mind you, Orbison could sing a shopping list and it would still sound majestic.
The night is still
The wind is chilled
I hear the rain falling
On my window pane
Can't close my eyes
Afraid to sleep
'Cause when I do
I would only dream of you
I'm trying to forget
That we ever met
But how can I forget
And dream of you?
Afraid to sleep
Because I'll dream of you
Afraid to sleep
Because I'll wake up feeling blue
If I stay awake forever
We'll never be together
So I'll close my eyes
And go ahead and dream
Sweet dreams
Sweet dreams
Sweet dreams
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