See You in My Nightmares

"See You in My Nightmares" is a song from Kanye West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak. Produced by West and his former mentor No I.D., the song features a duet between West and rap artist Lil Wayne.[1] It was to be sent to mainstream radio stations on March 10, 2009, while to Rhythm/Crossover radio on February 28, 2009, but was canceled in favor of fellow album track "Amazing".[2] Though not released as a single, the song charted at number 22 and 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 respectively in 2009. The song was included in the Spike Jonze-directed film We Were Once a Fairytale.

"See You in My Nightmares"
The planned cover art for the single release
Song by Kanye West featuring Lil Wayne
from the album 808s & Heartbreak
ReleasedNovember 24, 2008
Recorded2008
Genre
Length4:18
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

Commercial performance

Along with "Amazing", "See You in My Nightmares" charted in North America without actually being released as a single following the release of 808s & Heartbreak, though the former was later released as a single. In the U.S, the song was certified as a "Hot Shot Debut", as it managed to debut at number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of December 4, 2008.[3] That same week, it also stood as a "Hot Shot Debut" on the Pop 100, peaking at number twenty-seven on the chart.[4] The song was a "Hot Shot Debut" once more in Canada, where it debuted at number twenty-two on the Canadian Hot 100.[5]

Critical reception

Music critics have responded favorably to the song. Colin McGuire writing for PopMatters spoke positively of the song, calling it "a compelling piece of art."[6] Rose Lilah of Hot New Hip Hop called the song a "choice" cut from the album in a Throwback Thursday review.[7]

We Were Once a Fairytale
Main article: We Were Once a Fairytale

West worked with Spike Jonze in 2009 to direct a short film titled We Were Once a Fairytale that includes "See You in My Nightmares" being played as well as "When I Said Goodbye" by Mayer Hawthorne and Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, which marked the second collaboration between West and Jonze, following on from the music video for the song "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West.[8][9][10][11] According to Jonze's producing partner, Vincent Landay, the project was done mostly for fun and is "not necessarily a video for 'See You in My Nightmares', but the song is featured in it." Set to run between ten and fifteen minutes, the short film was shot near the end of January within two days in Los Angeles and had received editing over the course of several weekends. Its plot is based on an idea developed by Jonze, who then reached out to Kanye under the belief that he'd be great for it.[12] The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 24, 2009, was intended for public release through iTunes on September 8, 2009, but didn't premiere online until October 18, 2009 through West's blog. On October 18, We Were Once a Fairytale was leaked to the Internet and posted on West's official Web site, kanyeuniversecity.com. Jonze said the film was accidentally leaked from the postproduction studio of a friend, and that West did not realize that it was not meant to be circulated yet. “I think he was like: ‘Oh, it’s out. I’ll link to it,’ ” Jonze said. On October 19th the video was removed from the blog site, with only a message left from West saying "SORRY I HAD TO TAKE IT DOWN : (". The video, however, can still be found on various video sharing websites and is now available through iTunes.[13]

Charts
Chart performance for "See You in My Nightmares"
Chart (2008) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[5] 22
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 111
US Billboard Hot 100[3] 21
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[15] 27

Certifications
Certifications for "See You in My Nightmares"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16] Gold 500,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes.[1]

  • Songwriters: Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Dwayne Carter
  • Producers: Kanye West, No I.D.
  • Recorders: Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer
  • Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker
  • Strings arrangements: Larry Gold.
  • Violins: Emma Kummrow, Igor Szwec, Luigi Mazzochi, Gregory Teperman, Olga Konopelsky, Charles Parker
  • Viola: Davis Barnett, Alexandra Leem.
  • Cello: James J. Cooper, III, Jennie Lorenzo.
  • Bass: Miles Davis
  • Mixer: Manny Marroquin
  • Engineer: Jeff Chestek
  • Assistant engineers: Montez Roberts, Rick Friedrich, John Stahl

References
  1. 808s & Heartbreak (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2008. 0-06025-1791919-8.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Available For Airplay". FMQB. Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Inc. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  3. "The Billboard Hot 100 – See You In My Nightmares". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-12-13. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  4. "Pop 100 – See You In My Nightmares". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-12-13. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  5. "Canada Hot 100 – See You In My Nightmares". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-12-13. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  6. McGuire, Colin. "Hip-Hop's Heartbreak: Kanye West; "See You in My Nightmares"". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  7. Lilah, Rose. "Kanye West - See You In My Nightmares Feat. Lil Wayne". Hot New Hip Hop. Urbanlinx Media. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  8. Paine, Jake (2010-09-16). "Mazda Sponsors Mayer Hawthorne & The Country Tour, Dates Announced". HipHopDX. DX Newsletter. Archived from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  9. Carter, Lauren (2009-10-27). "Kanye's 'Fairytale' film exorcises his demons". Boston Herald. Boston Herald Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  10. "Kanye West-Spike Jonze 'We Were Once a Fairytale' short film hits the web". The Independent. Relax News. 2009-10-20. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  11. Dombal, Ryan (March 30, 2009). "Kanye West and Spike Jonze Team Up for "See You in My Nightmares" Film". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  12. Montgomery, James (2009-03-30). "Kanye West/ Spike Jonze Collaborate On 'Short Film'". MTV. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  13. We Were Once a Fairytale#Release
  14. Zywietz, Tobias (2008). "Chart Log UK – 2008". Zobbel.de. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  15. "Pop 100 Singles – December 13, 2008". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  16. "American single certifications – Kanye West – See You in My Nightmares". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 2, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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