Dreamlover (song) - Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

"Dreamlover" is a mid-tempo dance track, with pop and light R&B influences. According to the music sheet published at Musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of F major, and the beat is set in common time which moves at a moderate pace of 104 beats per minute. It has the sequence of F₇–Gm₇–F₇–Gm₇ as its chord progression. The song was written and produced by Carey and Hall, with additional work done by Afanasieff, who added a slightly altered instrumentation. "Dreamlover" samples the hook and a musical loop from "Blind Alley" by R&B group The Emotions. The sampling provides a "backbone" for the instrumentation and production, as well as being interlooped in the bridge. Carey uses a whistle register to introduce the first verse.

In his review, Jozen Cummings from PopMatters described the song as "pure, frothy pop." Cummings felt Afanasieff's usage of the Hammond B3 organ added "an old school vibe" to "Dreamlover", as it harmonizes with the "extremely catchy musical hook." Cummings describes the theme of the lyrics:

"... the lyric is a description of, and a call for, the mythic Dreamlover; someone to take her away, to 'rescue' her. Fluffy-seeming stuff, to be sure (and possibly cringe-inducing for some folk), but very possibly also an expression of the simplest of romantic dreams: to find the 'right' person; someone who makes you feel taken care of, loved, safe."

Cummings called the second verse's first lines "Don't want another pretender / To disillusion me one more time / Whispering words of forever / Playing with my mind" an "interesting mix of innocence and very grown-up cynicism and world-weariness." Wayne Robins from Newsday compared the vocals to "Motown and Philly soul singing," while praising Afansieff's inclusion of the Hammond B-3 for the way the "riffs provide a nice organic contrast to the synthesizers that dominate the record."