Daydream (Wallace Collection song)

"Daydream" is a song recorded in 1969 by the Belgian band Wallace Collection. It was composed by band members Sylvain Vanholme and Raymond Vincent, with David MacKay^[1] who also produced the single.^[2] The song is in the symphonic pop/rock genre, and uses strings and flutes. The song was a hit in mainland Europe, though popularity didn't make it to English speaking countries, despite its use of English lyrics. The song was covered several times, most notably by the Gunter Kallmann Orchestra in 1970.

The song takes its melody from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet.^[3] It also uses the second theme from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1.

Cover versions

The French pop star Claude François, known for writing the original "My Way," released his cover "Rêveries" in April 1969.

The song was covered in 1970 by the German vocal group the Günter Kallmann Choir, and this version was used on a popular easy listening record of the time. As such Kallmann is occasionally mis-credited as the original author of the song. In 2001, English electronic group I Monster had a UK chart hit with "Daydream in Blue", a remix of the Günter Kallmann Choir's version of the song: the track peaked at #20 in the UK Singles Chart.^[4] The song has also been covered live by the Beta Band as part of their song "Squares".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Samples

"Daydream" has been sampled on the following songs:

• "Gangsta Rap" by Hamburg rap group Fettes Brot, on their 1995 album Auf Einem Auge Blöd.
• A remix of "She Said" by The Pharcyde released on Go! Discs Records in 1996. The remix was produced by Fuzz Face (i.e. Geoff Barrow) and tWANK Boy.
• Cut Killer's mixtape, Cut Killer Show Présente: Operation Freestyle of 1998.
• "On a Beautiful Day", by British electronica/alternative rock band Skinny, from their 2001 album Taller (samples the Gunter Kallman Choir version).
• The Beta Band sampled the song for their 2001 song "Squares".
• "Hood Dreamin" by Guru (with a sped-up version of the song), from his 2005 solo album Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures.
• "The Highest Commitment" by Qwel and Maker, in some live versions (samples the Gunter Kallmann Choir version)
• "Daydreamin'" by Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott, on his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor.
• "Put Me On (featuring Everlast and Moka Only)" by Swollen Members features a piano background with chords similar in sound to the vocals of the original "Daydream" track.

Soundtrack appearances

In Norway, this song has become widely known through its use as background music in a series of televised information snippets regarding mountain safety. The snippets were produced by the Norwegian Red Cross and broadcast annually through the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, chiefly around the Easter holidays.^[9] The original series was broadcast from 1969, but the theme tune was not introduced until 1972. From 1989 the broadcasts featured Åsleik Engmark as the lost skier, Severin Suveren (Severin Sovereign), who would disregard the guide lines and thus find himself in difficult situations.

The Belgian film Mr. Nobody in 2009 also used this song several times in the movie.

In 2016, the song was sampled and featured in the second season of the US television show Mr. Robot starring Rami Malek and Christian Slater.

References