♫ Daydream Believer & I Wanna Be Free ♫

Posted on by under music, Tributes

I had a Van Morrison song picked out for tonight until I heard the news that Peter Tork of the Monkees had died today after a 10-year battle with cancer.  Our friend Ellen sometimes gives me a bit of gentle ribbing when I fail to make note of certain important dates such as the anniversary of a favoured artist’s death, birthday, or date they last cut their toenails, so I knew I needed to do a tribute to Mr. Tork tonight.

peter-tork (1)

Peter Tork — Then and Now

According to Wikipedia …

The Monkees were a made-for-TV musical group whose comedic high jinks and misadventures were fashioned after the Beatles’ classic films A Hard Day’s Night and Help!

Their show debuted in 1966 and lasted only two seasons. But it did win an Emmy in 1967 for outstanding comedy series. The Monkees became overnight stars, producing a series of No. 1 hits such as “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Daydream Believer” and “I’m a Believer.” Their record sales in 1967 surpassed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.

I was never a huge Monkees fan, but they had a few songs that appealed to me.  I had a friend in high school, however, that was so enamoured of Mickey Dolenz that she named her first child Mickey, even though it was a girl. Tonight, I am breaking my tradition of playing only a single song, and playing two.  One, Daydream Believer, was/is their signature song, and another, I Wanna Be Free, is one that I especially like and that seemed a fitting tribute, somehow, to the death of one of their members.  Another band member, Davy Jones, died in February 2012 of a heart attack.

*Note:  Both sets of lyrics follow the videos; Daydream Believer has about 20 seconds of dead time at the beginning, but be patient, for it will play.

And so, in honour of Peter Tork …

Daydream Believer
The Monkees

Oh, I could hide ‘neath the wings
Of the bluebird as she sings
The six-o’clock alarm would never ring
But six rings and I rise
Wipe the sleep out of my eyes
The shaving razor’s cold and it stings

Cheer up sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean to a
Daydream believer and a
Homecoming queen?

You once thought of me
As a white knight on his steed
Now you know how happy I can be
Oh, our good time starts and ends
Without all I want to spend
But how much, baby, do we really need?

Cheer up sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean to a
Daydream believer and a
Homecoming queen?

Cheer up sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean to a
Daydream believer and a
Homecoming queen?

Cheer up sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean to a
Daydream believer and a
Homecoming queen?

Cheer up sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean to a
Daydream believer and a
Homecoming queen?

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Songwriters: John Stewart
Daydream Believer lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

I Wanna Be Free
The Monkees

I wanna be free
Like the bluebirds flying by me
Like the waves out on the blue sea
If your love has to tie me
Don’t try me, say good-bye
I wanna be free

Don’t say you love me, say you like me
But when I need you beside me
Stay close enough to guide me
Confide in me, whoa-oh-oh

I wanna hold your hand
Walk along the sand
Laughing in the sun
Always having fun
Doing all those things
Without any strings to tie me down
I wanna be free

Like the warm September wind, babe
Say you’ll always be my friend, babe
We can make it to the end, babe
Again, babe, I’ve gotta say
I wanna be free
I wanna be free
I wanna be free

Songwriters: Bobby Hart / Tommy Boyce
I Wanna Be Free lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

49 thoughts on “♫ Daydream Believer & I Wanna Be Free ♫”

  1. Love the song Daydream Believer and my favorite song is “I’m a Believer!” My 10 year old niece sang it at my wedding, it was so adorable, she has a beautiful voice. So thanks for paying tribute to the Monkees, 🙂

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  2. Jill, I think they resonated as the music they were singing was written by some very good songwriters. While they were not great musicians, they could sing.

    A funny story is Jimi Hendrix once opened for The Monkees. It lasted only one show, as the young kids in the audience were not ready for Hendrix. The world’s finest rock-n-roll guitarist opening for a group that could not play well.

    Keith

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    • 🤣 I say “most favourite-est” all the time!!! I’m glad I picked your most favourite-est! I’m not sure I recall the other two you mention, but who knows … you may see them here one of these days 😉

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  4. I was young enough to like the rather silly Monkees TV show. 😁 I actually learned that Peter Tork played about 6 different instruments, and was not talentless as portrayed by scathing reviews years after the show ended. The Monkees were a manufactured group, but it should be seen as the forerunner of a lot of ‘manufactured bands that followed in their footsteps.
    Rip Peter Tork – a man of multiple talents!

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  5. Pingback: ♫ Daydream Believer & I Wanna Be Free ♫ — Filosofa’s Word – muddled musings of a mangled mind

  7. I have totally been out of touch with the news today and missed this sad news about Peter Tork. Admittedly, I was never a huge Monkees fan, but they did have some memorable songs. I was all prepared to be able to chide you for missing Davy Jones anniversary of death on February 29th, I know you would have done so…for sure! In fairness, I would even have waited until March 1st, instead of pouncing on Feb.28th. Now that you are forewarned, the only possible acceptable tribute to the lad would be to find the old Brady Bunch episode from 1971 when Marcia tries to get Davy to sing at her prom and she goes to his recording session where he sings “Girl” and post it! My eldest daughter would love that. She was too young to watch when The Brady Bunch originally aired, but devoured them in the reruns and loved that episode from one of the early seasons. Thank-you!

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    • Say WHAT??? You … YOU have not heard of this? My jaw has dropped to the floor and I am left speechless! Hmph. You were prepared to chide me a full week before I missed something 🤓 That hardly seems fair, now does it? But … sigh … you are right and I would certainly have missed it. I might still, for my memory bank is not very good at remembering something I knew 5 minutes ago, let alone a week! Getting just a wee bit picky about how I tributize Mr. Jones, aren’t you? Sigh. Okay, I will see what I can do, just for you! 🤗

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    • I was stunned by his age, too! But then, I am stunned by my age when I think about it or when I pass a mirror and wonder who that ol’ hag is and how did she get into my house! Time has flown, hasn’t it? Hugs!

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  9. Excellent song choices to commemorate this unique band. Even better seeing John Stewart getting his songwriting credit where credit is most definitely due. If you haven’t heard his recording of “Daydream Believer,” you should.

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  12. The Monkees made it to Australia and I think my friend was in love with Peter while I was in love with Mike Nesbit, not baby faced Davy, thus showing my more mature taste in men! I do like Daydream Believer.

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  14. I enjoyed the fun of the Monkees as well as some of their really very good music.I liked Peter Tork and hope he is out of pain now and in a nicer place.I also owe him some thanks for having saved me from Van Morrison.
    Cwtch

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