Just a Dream (Donna de Lory song)
1992 song performed by Donna De Lory
"Just a Dream" is a song recorded by American singer Donna de Lory for her eponymous debut studio album (1992). It was released as the album's second single on March 9, 1993, by MCA Records. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard while composing the former's fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989). Since Madonna felt "Just a Dream" would not suit her discography, she gave it to de Lory for recording. After release, the song received mixed review from critics. "Just a Dream" debuted and peaked at number 71 on the UK Singles Chart and reached number ten on the US Dance Club Songs and number 17 on the Dance Singles Sales charts, respectively.
Background and release
Donna de Lory worked as a background vocalist for American singer Madonna from the time when she was hired by the latter for her 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour. She continued working with Madonna for subsequent tours like Blond Ambition World Tour (1990), The Girlie Show World Tour (1993), Drowned World Tour (2001) and Confessions Tour (2006). When de Lory was preparing her eponymous debut studio album, Madonna offered her a song called "Just a Dream", which she had co-written with record producer Patrick Leonard for her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer (1989), but did not use it. As explained in Lucy O'Brien's biography, Madonna: Like an Icon, the singer felt that "Just a Dream" was too "rockier" for her discography and asked de Lory to contact Leonard and record it instead.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Just a Dream (Donna de Lory song)” is 1992 song performed by Donna De Lory. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Just, Dream and Donna, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1992 song performed by Donna De Lory” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48802479. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992, 1993, 1989 and 1987.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Just a Dream (Donna de Lory song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.