| "Daydream" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Daydream_-_The_Lovin%27_Spoonful.jpg) U.S. picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by the Lovin' Spoonful | ||||
| from the album Daydream | ||||
| B-side | "Night Owl Blues" | |||
| Released | February 1966 | |||
| Recorded | December 1965 | |||
| Studio | Bell Sound, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:18 | |||
| Label | Kama Sutra | |||
| Songwriter(s) | John Sebastian | |||
| Producer(s) | Erik Jacobsen | |||
| The Lovin' Spoonful U.S. singles chronology | ||||
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| The Lovin' Spoonful U.K. singles chronology | ||||
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| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Daydream" on YouTube | ||||
"Daydream" is a song by the American folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sebastian, it was issued as a single in February 1966 and was the title track of the band's second album, Daydream, released the following month. The song was the Spoonful's third consecutive single to enter the top ten in the United States, and it was their best performing to that point, reaching number two. The single's European release coincided with a British and Swedish promotional tour, leading the song to be the band's first major hit outside North America. It topped sales charts in Canada and Sweden, and it was ultimately the band's most successful record in the United Kingdom, where it reached number two.
Sebastian composed "Daydream" in November 1965 in an effort to lift his spirits amid a grueling three-week tour of the American South. He was initially inspired by the music of the Supremes, with whom the Spoonful were then touring, and the final composition relates to his earliest influences in jug band music. The following month, during a break from their busy touring schedule, the Spoonful recorded the song at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. Among the instruments on the finished recording are a honky-tonk piano and four differently textured guitars, one of which uses a volume-control pedal. "Daydream" proved influential, especially among British musicians, directly inspiring the 1966 compositions "Good Day Sunshine" by the Beatles and "Sunny Afternoon" by the Kinks.