Daydream (Wallace Collection song)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Daydream" or "Day Dream In Blue" is a song originally composed and recorded in 1968 by the Belgian band Wallace Collection.
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Original Song
The song is a Europop strings and flutes affair that was very popular in mainland Europe at the time, although this popularity didn't make it to English speaking countries, despite the song being in English (it only charted at 41 in the UK Charts). Recently, however, this song has become quite popular (especially for extracts and samples) with trip-hop and electronica bands. It has even been (mistakenly) credited as having created the Bristol Sound, although the sample that Portishead and Tricky used for "Glory Box" and "Hell Is Round the Corner" respectively is in fact from the similar sounding Isaac Hayes track "Ike's Rap II" from his 1971 album Black Moses.
Nevertheless, Daydream has been sampled so many times that it is now extremely well-known, although most people have forgotten The Wallace Collection. Although often sampled by other artists, it takes its melody from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet.
The most notable uses of this song by other bands are listed below in chronological order.
Contemporary Use
Claude François
The French popstar, known for writing the original "My Way," released his cover "Rêveries" in April 1969.
Gunter Kallmann
The song was also covered in 1970 by the Gunter Kallmann Chorus, and this version was used on a popular easy listening record of the time. As such Gunter Kallmann is occasionally mis-credited as the original author of the song. The Gunter Kallmann version is sometimes sampled instead of the original (see below).
Modern Use
The Pharcyde
This track was sampled on a remix of 'She Said' by The Pharcyde released on Go! Discs Records in 1996. The remix was produced by Fuzz Face and tWANK Boy. Fuzz Face is better known as Geoff Barrow from Portishead.
Severin Suveren
Through Norwegian television, this song has in Norway been recognised as the "Easter song". The reason for this is that Daydream was used as background music to an advertisement for the Norwegian Mountain Rules starring Åsleik Engmark as the lost skier, Severin Suveren (Severin Sovereign), in the Norwegian mountains when bad weather came. It was shown on Norwegian television for ages, and has been legendary for its phrase: "Uflaks, sa Severin Suveren" ("Bad luck, said Severin Sovereign").
I Monster
The most famous modern version of the song is by British electronic act I Monster who extensively sampled the music, to make the song "Daydream In Blue". This trip-hop version uses a new vocalist - although from the original version only the chorus line is actually sung, words which are now famous in themselves due to extensive airplay, use in advertisements, and as background music to many TV programmes including the BBC's highly-acclaimed Hustle and Cutting It, as well as the film Layer Cake.
That chorus are as follows:
- Daydream, I fell asleep amid the flowers
- For a couple of hours on a beautiful day
The chorus bassline is replaced with a sample of Portishead's trip-hop classic Glory Box.
The I Monster version does feature other lyrics, but are processed through a vocoder, giving them a synthetic aspect and rendering the words incomprehensible.
This version was originally released in 2001, and can be found on I Monster's album Neveroddoreven. It was also the theme music for the film Steal a.k.a. Riders
The Beta Band
Coincidentally, at almost exactly the same time as I Monster were releasing Daydream in Blue, The Beta Band were just about to release their single Squares from their 2001 album Hot Shots II. Squares also used the same melody as the original throughout and had the original song's chorus line. On realizing the clash with I Monster, The Beta Band were forced to pull the single and released Broke from the same album instead. Squares, however, may be found on the first soundtrack for HBO's Six Feet Under. Also by coincidence, the two vocalists for these two versions sound quite similar, which led to people thinking that Daydream in Blue might well be the work of The Beta Band or that Squares might be the work of I Monster.
Skinny
Also in 2001, British electronica/alternative rock band Skinny released their second and final album Taller. The album's song On a beautiful day relies heavily on a sample from the Gunter Kallman Choir version of "Daydream".
Guru (rapper)
The MC from the hip-hop duo Gang Starr uses the sample on his song Cave In, which is featured on his 2005 solo album Version 7.0: Street Scriptures.
Lord Funk
"Rêverie" is a remix of the french version "Rêveries" by Claude Francois. Lord Funk is a french DJ part of the Kourtrajmé crew.
Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco also samples the Gunter Kallmann Chorus version of "Daydream" featuring Jill Scott on "Daydreamin'" from his 2006 album Food & Liquor, albeit indirectly by taking the sample from a recording of "Daydream in Blue" by I Monster. While a popular AT&T commercial is often said to use the I Monster version, it is actually the Lupe Fiasco/Jill Scott version.
Use by Qwel & Maker
In a live performance of Qwel's song "The Highest Commitment" Qwel uses a beat made by Maker that samples the Gunter Kallmann Choir version of "Daydream".
