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Some of them definitely want to abuse you...

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something.
— "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

Eurythmics was a New Wave Music duo based in the London, England, area, popular in the 1980s. The duo consisted of Aberdeen native Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, who was born and raised in the northern England city of Sunderland. They were both formerly in a band called The Tourists in the late 1970s, and were also romantically involved with each other for a few years, but that relationship ended around the same time The Tourists broke up. Lennox sang lead vocals on Eurythmics' songs, while Stewart played several instruments, including guitar and keyboards. On all of their albums and in live shows, the pair used guest musicians to fill out the sound. Eurythmics are often considered to be one of the greatest musical acts of the '80s. They are most famous for their 1983 song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" from their album of the same name, which was their commercial breakthrough.

Eurythmics recorded eight studio albums during their original run, which lasted from 1980 until 1990. In 1999, the duo reunited and released a ninth studio album, Peace. In 2005, Eurythmics released a compilation album, a box set and reissues of seven of their first eight albums, but they have been inactive again since then barring a single appearance for one song at a Beatles tribute concert in early 2014. Lennox and Stewart both also have solo careers.


Famous Songs:

  • "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983)
  • "Who's That Girl?" (1983)
  • "Here Comes the Rain Again" (1984)
  • "Would I Lie to You?" (1985)
  • "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" (1985)
  • "Sisters are Doing It for Themselves" (with Aretha Franklin) (1985)
  • "Missionary Man" (1986)
  • "I Need a Man" (1988)
  • "Don't Ask Me Why" (1989)

Discography:

  • In the Garden (1981)
  • Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983)
  • Touch (1983)
  • 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) - Soundtrack album for the 1984 film version of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
  • Be Yourself Tonight (1985)
  • Revenge (1986)
  • Savage (1987)
  • We Too Are One (1989)
  • Peace (1999)

Their work provides examples of the following tropes:

  • Album Closure: Savage ends with the song "Brand New Day," about renewal and the future.
  • Album Title Drop: "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" and the video for "Would I Lie To You?" drop Be Yourself Tonight.
  • Animated Music Video: "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)"
  • Beautiful Dreamer: The subject of "When Tomorrow Comes".
  • Bifauxnen: Annie Lennox, especially in the early '80s. U.S. customs officials wanted proof that she was actually a woman when first entering the country. Some people would also insinuate that her habit of stripping off her shirt during concerts was to prove her gender.
  • Boyish Short Hair: Part of Annie Lennox's trademark androgynous look.
    • The teenage protagonist in the video for "Wide Eyed Girl" also dons this look as well.
  • Concept Album:
    • 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) is half soundtrack and half this. And it's just as creepy as you'd think.
    • Savage has a video album, using an interpretation of the Madonna-Whore Complex as the theme.
  • Creepy Doll/Perverse Puppet: Pops up in the "Love is a Stranger" video.
  • Freak Out: Happens to the dowdy protagonist housewife in the video for "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)", who undergoes a nervous breakdown to become a more overtly sexual vixen.
  • Hell-Bent for Leather: Appears in "Love Is A Stranger", as well as all their Revenge-era videos.
  • Lady in Red: Annie's dress in "Never Gonna Cry Again".
  • Love Is Like Religion: Lennox's "Take Me to the River" (Medusa) combines the imagery of a baptism with subtle innuendo.
    • Love is also compared to religion in "Love Is A Stranger", but not in a positive light.
  • Lyrical Dissonance: Their work has this in spades.
  • Mad Scientist: Dave in "Missionary Man"
  • Motif: Angels.
  • Myspeld Rökband: Named after the Eurhythmics musical teaching method.
  • New Sound Album: Eurythmics have a few of these. Their first two albums, In the Garden and Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), are both mostly New Wave sounding, but In the Garden is more guitar-based New Wave and post-punk, while Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) is more synthesizer-based, especially the title track. Their fifth album, Be Yourself Tonight, marked a change to a punk-influenced pop rock sound. Savage, the duo's seventh album, was more or less a blend of their synthpop and pop rock styles, while their next album after that, We Too Are One, contains blues and folk influences. Finally, their 1999 reunion album Peace has some orchestral arrangements.
  • Our Angels Are Different: "There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)".
  • Performance Video: "Right By Your Side", "Thorn in My Side" and arguably "Would I Lie To You?"
  • Perishing Alt-Rock Voice: Annie Lennox's vocals are very much this in In The Garden.
  • Rearrange the Song: They would frequently change the arrangements of songs in live performances in an attempt to dispel the notion that Eurythmics were just a synthesizer act.
  • Record Producer: Dave Stewart produced all their albums, and this has been his career since their breakup.
  • Revenge Ballad:
    • "Thin Line Between Love and Hate", about a woman taking revenge on her useless husband via an arranged accident to make him take her seriously.
      The sweetest woman in the world
      Can be the meanest woman in the world
      If you make her be that way
    • "Revenge", about a woman who specializes in the matter.
    She said revenge can be so sweet
    I like to take it when I can
    I need to play with the ones I hate
    I like to see them suffer
  • Scatting:
    • "There Must Be an Angel" opens and closes this way.
    • "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)".
  • Revolving Door Band: Eurythmics was one by design, with the only permanent members being Stewart and Lennox. The pair would use session musicians in the studio and on stage.
  • Single Stanza Song: "Sweet Dreams" is made up of one verse and chorus repeated several times plus a middle eight refrain.
  • Spoken Word in Music: "Thorn In My Side", "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)"
  • Stop Motion/Undercrank: The video for "Missionary Man." It's...disturbing.
  • Title Drop: In the clip to "Would I Lie To You", the advice Dave gives Annie just before they go on stage is the title of the album the song is from, "Be Yourself Tonight". Annie does.
  • Title-Only Chorus: All the singles released from Savage save for "Shame".
  • Twist Ending: "Love Is A Stranger"'s video depicts Annie as a High-Class Call Girl and Dave her chauffeur cruising the streets. Turns out she's a Ridiculously Human Robot and the chauffeur is her creator.

Alternative Title(s): Annie Lennox

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