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{{short description|1967 single by the Monkees}}{{about|the song}}









Hit No 2 in UK, on both New Musical Express and Melody Maker charts week dated 13 January 1968.!Chart (1967–1968)!Peakposition|Australia (Go-Set)|Austrian Singles Chart|Canada RPM Top Singles|German Singles Chart|Irish Singles Chart|Japanese Oricon Singles Chart|Swiss Singles Chart|UK Singles Chart|U.S. Billboard Hot 100|U.S. Cash Box Top 100

factoids
name	Daydream Believer| cover = The_Monkees_single_05_Daydream_Believer.jpg| alt =| caption = US single cover| type = single| artist = the Monkees| album = The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees Goin' Down (The Monkees song)>Goin' Down| released = October 25, 1967| recorded = June 14, 1967August 9, 1967 RCA Records>RCA Victor StudiosHollywood| venue =| genre = baroque popWEB, Tom, Breihan, The Number Ones: The Monkees' "Daydream Believer", Stereogum, October 24, 2018,weblink ...Douglas effortlessly pulls in the strings and horns of that first baroque pop period...adapting the Monkees’ starry-eyed pop to the psychedelic moment., November 17, 2022, | length = 3:00	Colgems Records>Colgems #1012	John Stewart (musician)>John Stewart| producer = Chip Douglas| prev_title = Pleasant Valley Sunday| prev_year = 1967| next_title = Valleri| next_year = 1968| misc = {hide}Extra chronology | artist = | type = single | prev_title = That Was Then, This Is Now | prev_year = 1986 | title = Daydream Believer (remix) | year = 1986 | next_title = Heart and Soul | next_year = 1987 {edih}{hide}Audio sample | type = single | file = {edih}{{external music video|type=single|{{youtube|xvqeSJlgaNk|"Daydream Believer"}}}}}}"Daydream Believer" is a song composed by American songwriter John Stewart shortly before he left The Kingston Trio. It was originally recorded by the Monkees, with Davy Jones singing the lead. The single reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1967, remaining there for four weeks, and peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. It was the Monkees' third and last No. 1 hit in the U.S.In 1979, "Daydream Believer" was recorded by Canadian singer Anne Murray, whose version reached No. 3 on the U.S. country singles chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been recorded by others, including a 1971 version by Stewart.The song title was featured in the name of the 2000 biopic about the band, (Daydream Believers: The Monkees' Story).WEB,weblink Television Review; Fakers Who Realize That They're the Real Thing, Dewitt, David, June 28, 2000, The New York Times, October 11, 2020, WEB,weblink Hey, Hey These Are the Monkees?, Boedeker, Hal, June 28, 2000, Orlando Sentinel, October 11, 2020, The 2022 American drama Women Talking and The Quarry features this song.WEB,weblink Women Talking Soundtrack, IMDb.com, An Amazon Company, February 24, 2023, IMDb.com, February 24, 2023, Background {{More citations needed section|date=October 2019}}John Stewart wrote "Daydream Believer" as the third in a trilogy of songs about suburban life,WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-19, live, John Stewart interview on writing "Daydream Believer", 2007, Archives of Music Preservation, December 22, 2016, {{cbignore}} recalling: "I remember going to bed thinking, 'What a wasted day — all I’ve done is daydream.' And from there I wrote the whole song. I never thought it was one of my best songs. Not at all".WEB, Zollo, Paul, The Story Behind The Monkees' "Daydream Believer",weblink American Songwriter, 13 January 2020, 15 September 2020, The song was turned down by We Five and Spanky and Our Gang. While attending a party at Hoyt Axton's home in Hollywood's Laurel Canyon, producer Chip Douglas told Stewart that he was now producing the Monkees and asked if Stewart had any songs that might work for the group. Stewart offered "Daydream Believer." The song was recorded during the sessions for the Monkees' 1967 album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., but was ultimately included on their 1968 album The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees. All four Monkees appear on the track; in addition to the lead vocals by Jones, Michael Nesmith plays lead guitar, Peter Tork plays piano and Micky Dolenz sings backing vocals. Tork created the piano introduction, and the orchestral arrangement was created by jazz trumpeter and composer Shorty Rogers, who included the same seven-note phrase preceding the chorus that can be heard on the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda."{{Citation needed|reason=The two phrases bear only a passing resemblance. We need a source for this claim.|date=February 2020}}Jones claimed he had been "pissed off" recording the song, with his lead vocal showing a hint of annoyance at the ongoing takes."You can tell from the vocal that I was pissed off!" Davy Jones, The Monkees Tale, Last Gasp Press, 1986According to Billboard Hot 100 chart historian Joel Whitburn's mid-1980s book The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, the recording was originally scheduled to be the B-side of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song "Love Is Only Sleeping" (from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.), featuring lead vocals by Michael Nesmith. However, a week before release, it was discovered that the European single masters for "Love Is Only Sleeping" were not ready, but the masters for "Daydream Believer" were. A last-minute switch meant that "Daydream Believer" now became the A-side and "Goin' Down," a song written by all four Monkees with Diane Hildebrand in the style of Mose Allison, became the flip side. Nesmith would not be given a lead vocal on a Monkees single A-side until 1969's "Listen to the Band." Allegedly, Colgems Records did not like Nesmith's voice, preferring the voices of both Dolenz and Jones, and was further aggrieved when Nesmith insisted on the inclusion of at least two of his songs per album.{{Citation needed|reason=The assertion that Colgems would block the release of a Nesmith-vocal single because they disliked his voice appears to be speculative and needs some attribution.|date=February 2020}} Previously, Nesmith's lead vocal version of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" was replaced with Dolenz on lead vocals for the B-side of the single "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You".Billboard described the single as a "well written easy beat rhythm ballad" with a "clever opening."NEWS, Billboard, 2021-02-24, November 4, 1967, 12, Spotlight Singles,weblink Cash Box said that it has "fascinating arrangements that develop from a simple piano opening to a compelling ork ensemble and the hypnotic repetition of a very catchy refrain."MAGAZINE, CashBox Record Reviews, November 4, 1967, 22, 2022-01-12,weblink Cash Box, Record World said "it has a magnetic melody and lyrics."MAGAZINE, Single Picks of the Week, Record World, November 4, 1967, 1, 2023-06-09,weblink According to Variety, the song's lyrics focus on the endgame of a comfy but increasingly distant relationship, with the narrator "caught in mid-gaze before the bathroom mirror, reflecting on the quiet dissolution of his materialistic marriage – a union between 'a daydream believer and a homecoming queen,' now curdled, driven more by money than by romance."WEB, Morris, Chris, 23 October 2017, Before There Was Bieber, the Monkees' 'Daydream Believer' Took the Teen World by Storm,weblink 15 September 2020, Variety, RCA Records did not like the song as written by Stewart, and insisted on changing a critical word. Stewart originally wrote: "Now you know how funky I can be," but RCA wanted to change it to "Now you know how happy I can be," as one meaning of "funky" is "smelly." Stewart initially objected because the change would completely reverse the meaning of the line and would not make sense in the context of the song. He relented because RCA was adamant and Stewart realized that the song could be a hit. In 2006, Stewart said that the proceeds from "Daydream Believer" "...kept me alive for all these years."In 1986, three of the four Monkees (Dolenz, Jones and Tork) mounted a successful reunion tour and had a major hit with the newly recorded "That Was Then, This Is Now." Arista Records, which owned the Monkees' masters at the time, rereleased "Daydream Believer" as a followup single, remixed with a new and heavier percussion track by Michael Lloyd, who had produced "That Was Then, This Is Now." Personnel The Monkees Davy Jones – lead and backing vocals Micky Dolenz – harmony vocals Michael Nesmith – electric guitar Peter Tork – piano Additional personnel Chip Douglas – bass, percussion, producer Bill Martin – bell Eddie Hoh – drums Nathan Kaproff, George Kast, Alex Murray, Erno Neufeld – violin Pete Candoli, Al Porcino, Manuel Stevens – trumpet Manuel Stevens – piccolo trumpet Richard Noel – trombone Richard Leith, Philip Teele – bass trombone Shorty Rogers – arrangement Charts {{col-begin}}{{col-2}} Weekly charts{|class"wikitable sortable"
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Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)HTTPS://WWW.ULTRATOP.BE/NL/SONG/F/THE-MONKEES-DAYDREAM-BELIEVER	PUBLISHER=ULTRATOP.BE, 2013-03-05,	8
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The Official Finnish Charts>Suomen Virallinen)NYMAN >FIRST=JAKE	PUBLISHER=TAMMI	ISBN=951-31-2503-3	LOCATION=HELSINKI	LANGUAGE=FI,	15
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New Zealand Listener>Listener)HTTP://WWW.FLAVOUROFNZ.CO.NZ/INDEX.PHP?QPAGEID=SEARCH%20LISTENER&QARTISTID=601#N_VIEW_LOCATION >TITLE=FLAVOUR OF NEW ZEALAND, 1 MARCH 1968	ARCHIVE-DATE=1 JUNE 2016	URL-STATUS=DEAD,	1
VG-lista Singles ChartHTTPS://NORWEGIANCHARTS.COM/SHOWITEM.ASP?INTERPRET=THE+MONKEES&TITEL=DAYDREAM+BELIEVER&CAT=S	WEBSITE=NORWEGIANCHARTS.COM, 23 October 2023,	2
Springbok Radio>Springbok)SA CHARTS 1965–MARCH 1989>URL=HTTP://WWW.ROCK.CO.ZA/FILES/SPRINGBOK_TOP_20_(M).HTML, 5 September 2018,	1
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{|class="wikitable"!Chart (1986)!Peakposition|U.S. Billboard Hot 10079{{col-2}}">

Year-end charts{|class"wikitable"

!Chart (1967)! style="text-align:center;"|RankURL-STATUS=DEADRPM TOP 100 SINGLES OF 1967>ARCHIVE-DATE=12 AUGUST 2016, 23 October 2023, 7Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1967>US Billboard Hot 100HTTPS://WWW.MUSICOUTFITTERS.COM/TOPSONGS/1967.HTM>TITLE=TOP 100 HITS OF 1967/TOP 100 SONGS OF 1967 ACCESS-DATE=23 OCTOBER 2023, 94{| class="wikitable"!Chart (1968)! style="text-align:center;"|RankAUTHOR= WEBSITE=WWW.POPARCHIVES.COM.AU ACCESS-DATE=13 JULY 2017 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20150327103947/HTTP://WWW.POPARCHIVES.COM.AU/GOSETCHARTS/1968/TOP1968.HTML, dead, 28ACCESS-DATE=2 DECEMBER 2018, 17">

All-time charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders"

! Chart (1958-2018)! PositionBillboard Hot 100HTTPS://WWW.BILLBOARD.COM/CHARTS/HOT-100-60TH-ANNIVERSARYMAGAZINE=BILLBOARD, 10 December 2018, 312{{col-end}}

Certifications and sales

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|artist=Monkees|title=Daydream Believer|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2004|certyear=2014|certmonth=1|digital=true|access-date=May 20, 2021}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Monkees|title=Daydream Believer|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=2005|certyear=2021|id=1702-970-1|access-date=December 15, 2021}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=The Monkees|title=Daydream Believer|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=1967|certyear=1967|access-date=December 15, 2021}}{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

John Stewart version

factoids

In 1971, songwriter John Stewart recorded his own version and included it as the ninth track on his fourth studio album, The Lonesome Picker Rides Again. His version was released on Warner Bros. Records and was produced by his brother Michael Stewart.

Anne Murray version

factoids

Capitol Records>CapitolJohn Stewart (musician)>John Stewart| producer = Jim Ed Norman| prev_title = Broken Hearted Me| prev_year = 1979Lucky Me (Anne Murray song)>Lucky Me| next_year = 1980}}

Background

Canadian singer Anne Murray recorded a cover version of "Daydream Believer" for her platinum-certified 1979 studio album I'll Always Love You. Produced by Jim Ed Norman and issued on Capitol Records the following year, Murray's single became her eighth No. 1 hit on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.BOOK, Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001, Whitburn, Joel, Record Research, 2002, 176, Joel Whitburn, It reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on Billboard's country chart.BOOK, The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition, Whitburn, Joel, Record Research, 2004, 242, Joel Whitburn, For her 2007 album (Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends), Murray rerecorded the song as a duet with Nelly Furtado.WEB,weblink Anne Murray - Duets: Friends & Legends, Discogs, en, 2020-02-16, Cover Versionin 1989, Hong Kong singer Bowie Lam covered this song in Cantonese.

Chart performance

Weekly charts{|class"wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1979-1980)!Peakposition|Canadian RPM Country Tracks1|Canadian RPM Top Singles17|Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary1{{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|3|artist=Anne Murray}}{{singlechart|Billboardhot100|12|artist=Anne Murray}}{{singlechart|Billboardadultcontemporary|1|artist=Anne Murray}}{| class="wikitable sortable"! Year-end chart (1980) !! RankBillboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1980>US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)DECEMBER 20, 1980 >TITLE=1980 TALENT IN ACTION – YEAR END CHARTS : POP SINGLES PAGE=TIA-10 VOLUME=92 ACCESS-DATE=5 APRIL 2020, 61

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1967 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles of 1968 (Ireland)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1980 (U.S.)

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Official Video

{{The Monkees}}{{Anne Murray}}{{Shorty Rogers}}{{John Stewart (musician)}}{{Authority control}}