♫ Daydream Believer & I Wanna Be Free ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Tributes

This is a redux of a post from February 2019, a day after the death of Peter Tork of the Monkees.  No, he didn’t die again, but I was looking for a Monkees song to play, as I got a subtle hint from Clive a few days ago and you know I aim to please (within reason, that is)!

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

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

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

  2. I had never heard the “I Wanna Be Free” by the Monkees. I always watched them, and I loved Davey. Thanks, Sis! Love you! I know you are in a sad mood because of everything going on. I am always sending my love and hugs over, especially in the hard times.

    Liked by 1 person

      • I remember when the Monkees came on Nickelodeon, and I wish they would have played that back then. I was not a normal child haha! I am always so lucky to have found you and have you in my life Sis! I love you to bits! ❤

        Liked by 1 person

        • Oh, I don’t know about that … I think most normal kids of a certain age avidly watched the Monkees on t.v.! I agree fully … it was a lucky day for me when you wandered onto Filosofa’s Word and I found my dear Sis!!! Love you too, dear Sis!!! ❤

          Liked by 1 person

          • That made my day ❤ How’s the new sense of hearing coming along? Do you have any of that bad weather that went through the Midwest the past couple days? My daughter and my mother have like 6-8 inches of snow in Arkansas.

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            • Mine too!!! The new ability to hear is a mixed bag, but almost mostly all positive! I still laugh every time I hear water running, the kitties scraping the litter box, or kids outside. Sometimes the background noise of the furnace running, television, etc., gets to be a bit annoying, but … overall, I’m pretty happy! We were predicted to get a huge snowfall last night (Tuesday night), so daughter Chris scheduled herself and her staff to work from home, but what we got was less than an inch and it was melted by this afternoon. Arkansas has snow??? Go figure!!

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              • That’s good! I imagine it’s a whole new world for you ❤ I’m glad you guys didn’t get some of that heavy mess that was going through. When it snows in Arkansas, especially northern spots, the world shuts down. I always hated that. It was just not safe to drive because of the curves and hills. I am getting a later start on my day, but I am about to get to it. Have a good day, Sis! Love ya! Many hugs!

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                • Back in the day (1970s) we lived in the mountains of Tennessee and Virginia, and it was the same there … travel was treacherous when there was snow and ice. I drove a school bus for much of that time and have a few hair-raising tales from those days! Okay, Sis … go hit those books!!! Love you bunches!!! ❤

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                  • I grew up with Wisconsin winters. When I took drivers ed, my first behind the wheel lesson was the morning after a nine inch snowfall. The instructor had me drive to the lakefront, and told me to drive down the road locally known as Snake Hill. I couldn’t figure out if he trusted me or wanted to kill me.

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                  • Me and ice/snow…nope…don’t like it. I cannot drive worth a crap on it, and the cold is not for me. However, I can only imagine those stories from the bus days 😝 I was always a good kid, but the bus home from school always felt like a rebellion of those without causes haha! Love you to the moon and back dear Sis! ❤

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                    • With regards to my comment abount learning to drive after a blizzard – when I moved to Connecticut, they panicked over a mere five inch snowfall. I went out to shop and do other errands, because there was no traffic and that small amount of snow was a mere pecadillo to me. People in Connecticut complained when the January temperatures fell to thirty degrees Fahrenheit. At another time I lived in Minnesota, and when we has the first big snowfall of the year, I went to the local shoppoing mall parking lot after hours to practice things like recovering from skids and making turns on slippery pavement. One time the mall cops threatened to have me arrested, but I explained what I was doing, and asked them, “Would you prefer I practiced winter driving in an empty lot or in the middle of traffic?”
                      When the PR people at the mall heard about this, they sponsored winter diving practice before plowing the lots.

                      Liked by 2 people

    • Oh, I don’t know. Each time period has its own horrors, I think. Just think … someday, maybe 100 years from now if humans aren’t yet extinct, people might look back on this time and long for a return of it. We seem to build new complexities into each generation. Sigh. xx

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  5. I have used a quote by Peter Tork a number of times, though I credit him under his given name:

    <

    blockquote>“I do not believe in ‘My country right or wrong’. My country wrong needs my help.”

    — Peter Halsten Thorkelson

    <

    blockquote>In a way, the Monkees were responsible for David Bowie, who changed his stage name from Jones to Bowie to avoid being mistaken for “that other guy”. Michael Nesmith is from an inventive family; he is credited with inventing the music video and his mother made a fortune from her invention of Liquid Paper correcting fluid.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Good choices for me today, Jill, though you made them 4 years ago. I have been on a rant today, because I am a Daydream Believer. I’m not sure the human race is worth saving, but still I believe we have to try! There are enough good people in this world to make up for all the not-so-good-yet people, but yet all we hear about, your Wednesday posts notwithstanding, is about the jerks and the frauds and the neanderthals (apologies) who want our race to devolve, and destroy our world in the process. Definitely a Daydream.
    And I would like to be free — free of all the bullshit in the world. People getting crazy over meaningless things while ignoring the realities of what we are doing to ourselves, to all other species of life, and ultimately to the planet we call home!
    We don’t have to be a cancer, but yet we are! And we are the only ones who can change that!
    It is in our power to save ourselves and our planet and all the good things we have. But we sit back and watch. WE SPECTATE!
    When are we going to get so angry that we finally decide to do something about it? Will it be before it is too late? We will get what we deserve, in the end. If we don’t fight for our future, there won’t be one!

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I was 13 when their tv series began: very much a part of their target audience. I loved it and their songs, and it was required viewing for Saturday teatime, the time it was aired here. These are great reminders of those days 😊

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    • It’s funny you say that, for today on the History Channel there was a documentary that mentioned Johnny Carson and said he died in 2005. I probably did know it at the time and had just forgotten it, but when I read that today, I was surprised, thinking he was still alive! Glad you enjoyed today’s music!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Pingback: ♫ Daydream Believer & I Wanna Be Free ♫ — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

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