Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina into a poor working-class family, he dropped out of school in the second grade.
Gibson's first band was called Sons of the Soil, with whom he made his first recording in 1948. Among his greatest hits were "Oh Lonesome Me" (later recorded by both Ray Charles and Neil Young) and "Blue Blue Day" (both No. 1 hits in 1958); "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (1959); "Sea of Heartbreak" (1961); "Lonesome No. 1" and "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart" (1962); and "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" (a No. 1 hit in 1972).
Gibson recorded a series of successful duets with Dottie West in the late 1960s, the most successful of which were the No. 2 country hit "Rings of Gold" (1969) and the top 10 hit "There's a Story Goin' Round" (1970). In 1957, Gibson travelled back to Nashville to record "Oh Lonesome Me" for RCA. He and producer Chet Atkins decided to abandon the traditional steel guitar and fiddle and use a new sound featuring only guitars, a piano, a drummer, upright bass, and background singers. It became one of the first examples of what would be called the Nashville Sound and won Gibson a #1 hit; it also set the pattern for a long series of other RCA hits, including “Blue Blue Day” (1958).
A talented songwriter, Gibson was nicknamed "the sad poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. He wrote and sang "I Can't Stop Loving You", a song that would be recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles with a pop version in 1962. He also wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams" that would become a major 1963 crossover hit for Patsy Cline. A great fan, in 1967 Roy Orbison recorded an album of his songs simply titled: Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson.
Don Gibson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and in 2001 into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
On his passing in 2003, he was interred in the Sunset Cemetery, in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina.
Sweet Dreams
Don Gibson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every night I go through
Why can't I forget you and start my life a new
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
You don't love me, it's plain
I should know you'll never wear your ring
I should hate you the whole night through
Sweet dreams of you
Every night I go through
Why can't I forget you and start my life a new
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
The lyrics to Don Gibson's song "Sweet Dreams" express the sentiment of a person who is haunted by memories of someone they love. The singer laments that they cannot forget the person who has left them, and wishes they could move on and start their life anew. However, every night they are tormented by sweet dreams of this person, making it impossible for them to move on.
The singer acknowledges that the person they love does not love them in return. They know that they will never see the person wear their ring, and the reality of the situation should make them hate the person. But despite this, they cannot help but dream sweetly about them every night.
The song captures the emotional turmoil of unrequited love, and the difficulty of letting go of someone who has left an indelible mark on your heart. The singer's yearning for the person who has left them is palpable, and the audience can feel the depth of their pain.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweet dreams of you
I dream about you every night
Every night I go through
Every night, I experience the same dream
Why can't I forget you and start my life a new
I wish I could move on from you and start anew
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
But instead, I am constantly dreaming about you
You don't love me, it's plain
I understand that you do not love me
I should know you'll never wear your ring
I am aware that you will never commit to me
I should hate you the whole night through
I should be filled with anger towards you every night
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
But instead, I am filled with longing and desire for you in my dreams
Sweet dreams of you
I still dream about you every night
Every night I go through
I cannot escape the reality of my dreams
Why can't I forget you and start my life a new
I wish I could let you go and move on with my life
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
But it seems that my heart is not ready to let you go
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Don Gibson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind