Songfacts®:

• This song evolved from a conversation that took place between band member Kenny Loggins and a longtime friend of his from the business side of music. During a live performance of the song, Loggins explains his desire to bring a female singer songwriter into the musical trio he was forming. As Loggins tells it, he flew to Nashville and met Georgia Middleman. Within one hour, they wrote a song together. The vibe was magical, and he was excited for what Blue Sky Riders might become. Upon returning to his home in Santa Barbara, he called his friend and told him, "I think I found something amazing. I might be on to something." The friend replied, "Forget it, you are too old. You can't start over at your age." That night Loggins would text Middleman the words "too old to dream." She then turned those words into what would become the chorus for this song.
• Kenny Loggins wants the message in the song to reach people. On stage, he dedicates the song to "Everyone who thinks it's over and you have to get out of the way. Forget about it."
• In our interview with Georgia Middleman, she explains: "I love 'Dream' because it says so much and really hits home to me, because any time anyone tells me I can't do something, that's the first thing I do. And, when somebody said to Kenny, 'You're too old to do this band,' he came to us and he went, 'uh, uh, we're doing this, we're going to do this anyway, We're not too old.' Our listeners and our fans, a lot of them are middle age, and they are reinventing their careers, they're finding a new career. Even in Nashville when I write with 20-year-old girls, they think that if they don't get their record deal now, they'll never get it, they feel too old. And it's like, God, that's just not true. That's why I love that song."
• The song opens with a beautiful arpeggio picked on a 12-string guitar. The beat is simple and steady. It is an approach often used in songwriting when the artist wants to make certain the lyrics are not lost in the instrumentation.
• Many have been hit with tough times. Encouragement and confidence are sometimes lost. In music's finest moments, it will provides inspiration. This song is an example of a real life occurrence with a negative implication, and talent from this gifted songwriting trio to spin this circumstance into a positive message of hope and belief.