Daydream Believer

(from 2013)

When Davy Jones of the Monkees died, there was quite a moving tribute concert. They tried to keep it upbeat and a celebration, but Micky Dolenz noticeably got all choked up when singing Davy’s song Daydream Believer.

A similar event preserved on YouTube was the funeral of Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers. The family and friends all sang The Parting Glass at the graveside. This is a traditional song about death and goodbyes. Occasional once tried to sing it, but sort of welled up a bit, and wished he hadn’t. Sung properly it is a beautiful song. Back in the 60s, Bob Dylan ripped it off with adapted lyrics, and renamed it Restless Farewell.

But returning to Daydream Believer and the Monkees. I have a special interest because it was written by John Stewart, and anyone who has ever actually completed one of my posts will know I have a lasting interest in this late singer-songwriter, ex of the folk group The Kingston Trio.

It is a strange song – bouncy, really upbeat, and yet – if you actually listen to the words – it is a song all about disillusionment.

Susan Boyle (of the British X-Factor) sang it on her first album and it is one of the few versions to preserve the bitter-sweet intention of the song. OK – they don’t have her singing about the shaving razor being old, and they also keep the Monkees significant change of “now you know how funky I can be” to “now you know how happy I can be.” But the mood is melancholy, and that is how the song was designed.

In one interview Stewart said that, on hearing the Monkees change “funky” to “happy”, he phoned up the record’s producer, Chip Douglas – “Chip, the song doesn’t make any sense now!” Douglas replied it was all about image – for his 12 year old audience demographic Davy Jones couldn’t be allowed to sing “funky”. Three weeks later it was a worldwide hit. Stewart phoned Douglas again – “Happy’s doing real fine now!!”

The song helped Stewart pay his bills – he used to introduce his version on stage at times by laconically thanking the Monkees and Anne Murray for singing this song – “It enabled me to buy this coat...”

But how easy it is for a song to change, and hardly anybody to notice.

As noted above, the original song is all about disillusionment. The “Daydream Believer” marries the “Homecoming Queen”. The girl could have had anyone, but for better or worse, she’s chosen this dreamer. And now it is the morning after – “our good times start and end without dollar one to spend” (the then cost of a marriage licence). They look at each other across the sheets – is this it? What on earth have we done? Where are we going? The romanticism of the dreamer is dented by the harsh realities of life as he tries to reassure the girl.

It was written as part of a trilogy – but the rest was never recorded, and so far has never surfaced anywhere.

When Stewart first knocked it out, he thought – well, that’s a waste of twenty minutes, and put it away. It was only serendipity that it ended up being sent to the Monkees’ producer along with other stuff. Yet today, even though Stewart wrote over six hundred songs, and could be viewed a “one hit wonder” in his own right with the atypical song Gold in 1981, this probably remains his lasting legacy.

Even if people persist in believing it was written by Neil Diamond (who wrote The Monkees I’m a Believer – a totally different song!)