Dreams are random firings of the brain while it goes into REM sleep. The thinking part of the brain attempts to interpret these impulses as images and sounds - hence the mixed up nature of dreams. It is not the "royal road to the unconscious" as Freud pontificated. Sleep is necessary for mammals to rest the body and the brain.
Actually, I will say something about me and dreaming..firstly I pretty much only dream if I fall asleep with my ipod on, (even though if I do that, I won't hear my alarm, thus be late for college - I don't do it on purpose!), but compared to when I used to not even listen to music, the dreams are much more vivid.. is that even possible? the music influencing the dream? I tend to remember most/a lot of the dreams I do have..another thing I find, is if i'm thinking about something a lot while i'm going to sleep, I tend to dream about something like that..
I will share one of my 'on going dreams'Its nothing all that spectacular, but it get the same one every time i get really stressed out. The best I can describe is that I absolutely HAVE to count to say .... 100,000,000 - before i can carry on with what i was doing before. But its not just that, its a really paralyzing feeling like i weigh 1,000 pounds and cant move at all.I don't really like this dream all that much. It has a tendency to stick with me for a few hours afterwards.BtW, I like this thread - good idea quest