The Believer

Album: The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The penultimate track of Common's ninth album finds him rapping, "We are the sons of gangsters and stone rangers" over No I.D.'s drum heavy beat. "That rap was intricate," said the Southside Chicago native at a NYC listening session. "The chorus and the beat is something that anybody in any part of the world can feel. I was able to stay myself and keep that hip-hop edge."
  • This was originally going to be the sole title track until Common and No I.D. came up with "The Dreamer." The Chicago rapper thought 'the Dreamer,' would be a great album name too, so he decided to title it after both songs. Common recalled to The Boombox: "The initial thought was to make it an A side and a B side, you know, how you used to have both sides on tapes. But we just ended up making it just one piece of work that just really accentuates the idea: If you have dreams, you have to believe in them. You have to believe in yourself to reach those dreams, to achieve those dreams."
  • The song features the vocals of R&B singer-songwriter John Legend. This presumably was payback for Common's feature on Legend's 2010 collaborative track with The Roots, "Wake up Everybody."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.