Any Dream Will Do

Album: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1991)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was used in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It had never been released as a single before in the UK, but when Jason Donovan played the lead role in a 1991 West End production, they decided to release this track as a single. When it topped the UK charts, it became the only #1 for an artist from a show in which he appeared.
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice originally wrote Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for an Easter concert at their school in 1967. They extended the show, and its first London production opened at the Albery Theatre in 1973.
  • The song references Joseph's abilities as a dream interpreter ("any dream will do") and the loss of his coat of many colors ("My golden cloak flew out of sight, The colors faded into darkness"), a gift his father bestowed upon him in Genesis 37:3 for being his favorite son. We learn more about these plot points in the songs "Joseph's Dreams" and "Joseph's Coat."
  • This song was in the show right from the beginning, but Tim Rice didn't realize its potential. He said in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, "It was #1 in Ireland and #1 in Australia quite soon after the show was written. It wasn't until the Jason Donovan production in 1991 that it became a big bona fide hit single. Initially, we thought of it as a show song and put it on the studio album. Sometime later, about the middle of 1969, we recorded this choirboy called Christopher singing Any Dream Will Do for a single and I changed the lyrics, not completely but I took out the references to 'Colored Coats' and anything to do with Joseph. This was silly because that was the appeal of the song."
  • The tune for this song was originally, before being used in Joseph, written for a song called "I Fancy You." Tim Rice was working with EMI at the time and he hoped to somehow get Herman's Hermits to sing it. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Gavy - Singapore, Singapore
  • A popular version of "Any Dream Will Do" is by Donny Osmond, who played Joseph in a touring production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from 1992-1997. Osmond landed a hard-fought comeback hit in 1989 with "Soldier Of Love," but instead of staying on that path, he zagged into the role of Joseph, which was supposed to be just a six-month engagement. "I thought, I'm taking a calculated risk here," Osmond told Songfacts. "I'm changing everything about my career. And that six-month engagement just kept getting bigger and bigger."

Comments: 2

  • John from Barrow-in-furness, United KingdomAm I the only person who thinks the verses and the instrumental after the second chorus sound like a slow version of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire"?
  • Reza from Shiraz, Irani remember jason donovan from 80"s. he had a duet with kylie minogue ( especially 4 u) i think he was more popular in his hometown australia. i also saw him in a movie
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Tanita Tikaram

Tanita TikaramSongwriter Interviews

When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.