"Winter Dreams" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that first appeared in Metropolitan Magazine in December 1922, and was collected in All the Sad Young Men in 1926. It is considered one of Fitzgerald's finest stories and is frequently anthologized. In the Fitzgerald canon, it is considered to be in the "Gatsby-cluster," as many of its themes were later expanded upon in his famous novel The Great Gatsby in 1925.
Writing his editor Max Perkins in June 1925, Fitzgerald described "Winter Dreams" as "A sort of first draft of the Gatsby idea."
Critical response
Fitzgerald scholar Matthew Bruccoli described "Winter Dreams" as "the strongest of the Gatsby-cluster stories." He continues,
"Like the novel, it examines a boy whose ambitions become identified with a selfish rich girl. Indeed, Fitzgerald removed Dexter Green's response to Judy Jones' home from the magazine text and wrote it into the novel as Jay Gatsby's response to Daisy Fay's home."
Tim Randell suggests that “Winter Dreams” should be regarded as “one of modernism’s crowning achievements” because in it Fitzgerald “achieves a dialectical metafiction that grasps the production of capitalist ideology within class relations and print culture, including the forms of literary modernism.” He argues that the story's form demonstrates that modernism's concern with a "‘lack of communal meaning’ and ‘inescapable subjectivity’ are false epistemological problems” because "[Fitzgerald's] metafiction identifies ruling class interests as the collective origin of meaning and ‘reality’ for the entire social body” and "conveys the possibility of counter, collective meanings within the dialectic of class antagonism.”
"Winter Dreams (Brandon's Song)" is a song by American recording artist Kelly Clarkson, from her sixth studio album, Wrapped in Red (2013). Produced by Greg Kurstin, Clarkson co-wrote the song with Ashley Arrison and Aben Eubanks for her husband (then-fiancé) Brandon Blackstock, stepson of American recording artist Reba McEntire. A slow-tempo Christmasneo-jazzpop song, "Winter Dreams" features a 50-piece chamber orchestra conducted and arranged by film composer Joseph Trapanese. Its lyrical theme mainly depicts love and escapism during the holidays, in which Clarkson sings about spending her first holiday with Blackstock, whom the song is also dedicated. Unlike the deep lyrical themes of "Every Christmas", in which she refers to a her life before meeting Blackstock, Clarkson had described "Winter Dreams" with a lighter fare, referring to it as her holiday life after meeting him.
Upon the release of Wrapped in Red, "Winter Dreams" has received a fairly positive response from music critics, who described it as a sweet but not too saccharine Christmas song. Along with other tracks from the album, it entered the Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart as an album cut at number 12 on the week ending November 16, 2013.
Balls to the Wall is the fifth album by Germanheavy metal band Accept. European label Lark Records released the album in December 1983, but its US release was delayed until a month later in January 1984 as to not compete with the band's then-current album Restless and Wild, which had arrived in the US in early 1983. It is Accept's only record to attain Gold certification in America. The album's title track became Accept's signature tune and remains a metal anthem and trademark in the genre.
Album information
Some of the album's success can no doubt be attributed to the publicity generated from the minor "gay metal" controversy that broke out upon its American release, due to the record's title and front cover being deemed by some as homoerotic, as well as the lyrics to "London Leatherboys" and "Love Child" appearing to concern homosexuals. Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was dismissive of the controversy, saying years later that "You Americans are so uptight about this. In Europe it was never a big deal...we just wanted to be controversial and different and touch on these touchy subjects, because it gave us good press and it worked fabulously, you know". Drummer Stefan Kaufmann explained that many of the themes on the album were about oppressed minorities in general. "London Leatherboys" was really about bikers, for example: "They're normal people, they just look different and they behave different. But they're normal people, another minority. And 'Love Child' was about gays, true, but it's basically about people who are suppressed." Concerning the homosexuality issues themselves, Kauffmann said in an interview with French magazine Enfer (n°7, 1983):
Winter dreams - silver shining Shattered scenes - endless night Winter brings changes Life turns into illusion I have to face the loss Snow's falling down on me Endless alone I'm waiting for the summer Cold winds are calling me I want to live again Watching the crystal star tonight Feeling the sorrow in disguise Afraid to speak - I'm fading inside I know it's freezing me When I'm dreaming There's tomorrow in my heart When I dream of you I long for your touch Nothing melts a fozen heart Dreamin' longing for a touch of you I'm bleeding I'm waiting for a sign
The sound of classical piano music ... ADVERTISEMENT ... His hero is film score composer Hans Zimmer. "My dream is to be a film composer," Brachman said. This winter, national film crews for "From the Top" have been in Fargo to interview and record his work ... .
Sun Long, Han Mei and Wu Yu all grabbed golds in the speed skating rink at the ... "We should dream big, and my next goal is to finish on the podium at the 2026 WinterOlympics," Han said.
China's ace athletes in winter sports have started prep work for the 2026 Milano-Cortina WinterOlympics... "We should dream big, and my next goal is to finish on the podium at the 2026 Winter Olympics," Han said.
The 2026 Milan-Cortina WinterOlympics is expected to feature 176 events across eight sports ... "We should dream big, and my next goal is to finish on the podium at the 2026 Winter Olympics," Han said.
Inner Mongolia's speed skater Han Mei, who did not secure a medal at the BeijingWinterOlympics, triumphed with three golds before her home audience. "I have achieved my goal this time, and my biggest target is the 2026 Winter Olympics," Han said.
So does what he listens to while painting, usually atmospheric music performed by the likes of Irish singer Enya, German film score composer Hans Zimmer, Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós and electronic mainstay TangerineDream.
