Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire song)


"Fantasy" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire which was issued as a single in 1978 by Columbia Records.

Overview

"Fantasy" was produced by Maurice White, who also composed the song with Eddie Del Barrio and Verdine White. The song took three months to be composed, and was only finally finished after Maurice White saw and was inspired by the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The US b-side of the single was a song called Be Ever Wonderful, while the UK b-side was a song called Runnin'. Fantasy, Be Ever Wonderful, and Runnin' were all featured on EWF's 1977 studio album All 'n All.

Critical reception

also declared that "Play it loud and it'll fill any dance floor". Joe McEwen of Rolling Stone wrote "The lyrics of “Fantasy” may be hard to swallow, but the music is as close to elegance as any funk song has come. Voices and a light touch of strings suddenly appear over a choppy, propulsive track, swell and swoop, only to disappear at the snap of a finger and pop up moments later for an exciting, powerful finale. White also utilizes an odd instrumental mix that gives equal emphasis to percussion, bass, rhythm guitars and stabbing, staccato horn bursts. The result is light but substantial, and it’s become a model for many other bands." Barry Cain of Record Mirror placed Fantasy as one of his four Records of the Week saying "Decontaminated warp factor three faar out felony with a smack of glossy metallic reverence, EW&F transcend the oft restricted peaks of disco into the realms of elaborate, effortless slices of electromania fused into chocolate box acceptance. They sure soar these boys, soaring on the soprano solitude of Maurice White, Mastermind, Mother and Despot." Alex Henderson of AllMusic also called Fantasy "dreamy".
As well "Fantasy" was Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Song.

Appearances in other media

Fantasy appeared on the soundtrack of the 1997 feature film The Sixth Man, the 2005 feature film Be Cool and the 2006 video game.

Chart performance

The single reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 14 on the UK Singles chart.
Chart Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report25
Canada RPM Top Singles37
France 13
-
Netherlands Dutch Single Top 1007
Belgium Singles Ultratop13
New Zealand 14
South Africa 7
Swedish Singles Chart8
UK Singles Chart14
US Billboard Hot 10032
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs12

After its release in Japan as a digital single to cellphones in 2009, it was certified gold for 100,000 downloads in May 2011.

Black Box version

Background

recorded a cover of "Fantasy" for the group's debut studio album Dreamland in 1990. Their version featured Martha Wash on lead vocals, but their music producers initially failed to credit her. Black Box's version of the song charted at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, number 16 in Germany, and number 3 in Australia. In 2013, Australian music channel Max placed Black Box' version of the song at number 191 in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Critical reception

Matthew Hocter from Albumism stated that the song is "sung to perfection by Wash", adding that it "put the band into a different lane. Doing the original version immense justice". Larry Flick from Billboard described the cover version as a "sleaze-speed house rendition" and an "ethereal remix emphasizing plush strings and Martha Wash's unmistakable voice." Chris Heath from Smash Hits wrote that it's a "fairly faithful version" of Earth, Wind & Fire's disco classic. The Daily Vault's Michael R. Smith said in his review of Dreamland that it "sounds like a television theme song that you can't get out of your head."

Music video

The music video for "Fantasy" was directed by Neil Thompson.

Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "Fantasy" – 7:20
  2. "Get Down" – 6:43
  3. "Get Down" Black Box featuring "Stepz" – 3:00
7" single
  1. "Fantasy" – 3:44
  2. "Get Down" Black Box featuring "Stepz" – 3:00
12" maxi
  1. "Fantasy" – 5:48
  2. "Get Down" – 3:55
  3. "Get Down" – 4:15

    Official versions

Chart performance

Peak positions

Year-end charts