How a £5,000 Loan and a Reversed Bassline Created Eurythmics' Biggest Hit

British duo Eurythmics' 1983 single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" has now been streamed more than 2 billion times and remains one of pop music's most recognizable tracks. According to a retrospective by Far Out Magazine, the song's origin story involves a £5,000 bank loan, three pieces of then-cutting-edge electronic gear, and what amounted to a happy accident.

A £5,000 loan and three machines

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart formed Eurythmics after leaving their previous band. The two had also been a couple, and their breakup came just before the project's breakthrough — making the shared debt between them especially awkward.

With the loan, they bought two synthesizers — a Roland SH-101 and an Oberheim OB-X — along with a prototype drum machine, the Movement Systems Drum Computer. The gear was in place, but Stewart reportedly had little idea how to actually operate it at the time.

The reversed bassline

Per Far Out Magazine's account, one night Lennox sat crying on the floor, questioning her life choices — her career wasn't taking off, and she was now in debt alongside her ex. Meanwhile, Stewart kept fiddling with beats, riffs and synth tones nearby.

Then he reversed a bassline he'd recorded, and the whole track suddenly clicked into place. Lennox got up, added a melodic layer on the second synthesizer, and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" came together from there.

The song went on to become Eurythmics' signature single — and paid off that £5,000 loan in short order.