Yesterday

On the relationship between dreams and creativity

One of the greatest songs ever written came through a dream.

Last month, I wrote a post about how Bad Bunny dreamed the song LO QUE PASO A HAWAII, receiving the song in its entirety as a download that would not let him go back to sleep. Recently, I heard a similar story about Paul McCartney and the song “Yesterday,” which is one of the greatest songs of all time (according to numerous such lists) and one of the songs most covered by other artists. I have known the song since childhood, but had never heard its creation story, and it stunned me as another case of a creative masterpiece arriving through a dream.

First, let’s listen to the song - it’s only two minutes long:

The story of how the song was dreamed was featured in the Telepathy Tapes podcast’s recent episode on creativity, which referenced another podcast episode where he originally shared this story: McCartney, A Life in Lyrics. Telepathy Tapes host Ky Dickens tells the story (from the podcast transcript):

"Throughout the music world, there are incredible ideas of this type of inspiration. Paul McCartney has talked about how the song “Yesterday” came to him all at once in a dream.

‘I just thought of it as I dreamed it.’

Here’s Sir Paul McCartney himself on an episode of McCartney, A Life in Lyrics, trying to determine the origins of the song. Though he dreamed it, was it truly original, or might it have entered his mind from somewhere else? So he first asked John Lennon if he’d heard it before.

‘He said, “Well, I, I dunno, I never heard it.” So then I went to George Martin, he’ll know, cause he’s got a much wider knowledge. I said, “What’s this da-da-da-da?” He said, “Well, I dunno” I dreamed it.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks of this, it became clear that no one knew it, and it didn’t exist except in my head, and so I claimed it. It’s like finding it on the street.’”

The episode goes on to talk about creativity with a few of my favorite inspiring creatives who have influenced my own practice through their books: Elizabeth Gilbert (Big Magic) and Rick Rubin (The Creative Act). In the episode talk about how artists are like idea receptors, antennae, and through their diligent practice and showing up, are able to tune into these kinds of downloads.

It made me curious about the relationship between dreams and creativity, and what other songs and creative acts might have been inspired by dreams. I found this list of 15 songs. Fascinating! Mary Shelley was also inspired by a dream to write Frankenstein.

It makes me wonder:
What are we missing when we don’t tune into our dreams?
What creativity could be lost?
What gifts might we miss?
What great songs - and novels and works of art and liberation movements - would be lost to the annals of history if great artists, writers, and activists hadn’t listened to their dreams?
What is the relationship between dreams and creativity? Clearly, there is a strong one, connected to mysterious, unseen realms.

My own dreamwork practice has been immensely nourishing to my creativity - not in a direct way (like receiving ideas for books or essays), but in more of a creative ecosystemic way. As I play with ways to engage with my dreams, like calligraphy, it feeds the rest of my creative practice, like writing, and just living a more creative life (which is ultimately, in my humble opinion, the point).

Dream wisdom is calling us. We only need to pay attention and keep showing up for it.

This is a call to listen to our dreams, and to keep showing up to our creative practice. I doubt Yesterday would have shown up to someone who wasn’t writing songs daily, but McCartney was, sleeping there with a piano next to his bed, ready to receive. So it’s both/and: showing up for our dreams, and showing up for our creativity in whatever form it springs, antennae open.

Wishing you sweet dreams and diligent practice,

Stephanie