Song Review: I Never Dreamed

The Cookies
One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found
1964

In the liner notes to One Kiss Can Lead to Another, Cookies lead singer Margaret Ross describes the production direction she received while recording; “Gerry [Goffin] asked for me to sing not too loud, just natural. I think it was just two takes.” Lyrically little more than a repetitive litany of love’s unexpected merits, “I Never Dreamed” clocks in at just over two and a half minutes, but the gentle simplicity works to hypnotic effect. Lyrics that might seem trite and uninspired on paper become passionate and sincere in the context of the song. Tight three-part harmonies intertwine with a sweetly persistent guitar hook, and in the bridge Ross’s voice takes on a new hint of urgency as she sings the almost defiantly simple lines, “He tells me I’m pretty / And then I feel pretty / He says I make him happy / And then I feel happy.” Love is the consistent preoccupation of the girl group genre but here all of the pretense, drama, and utopian yearning is eschewed in favor of affirmation and acceptance, begging the question ‘what should a love song really be about?’