Daydreaming
by Dusty Springfield
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1990
Original album - Reputation (Dusty Springfield)
Producer - Julian Mendelsohn, Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
Simply enough, an attempt to nudge someone from laziness, complacency, and self-satisfaction, urging him or her to get up, get out, and do something—especially something enjoyable—rather than just lie around "daydreaming." The narrator is tired of waiting for this other person (her lover, no doubt), who refuses to make commitments of any sort. She feels that the parade of life is passing her by, and, as in the previous song "In Private," you get the distinct impression that she's not going to tolerate this situation much longer.
The music, languid in tempo and arrangement, very nicely reflects the mood from which the Boys (through Dusty) are trying to shake the person they're addressing. The late Ms. Springfield, despite her still-wonderful singing voice, was not as effective a "rapper" as Neil, so the spoken portions of the track aren't particularly effective. Regardless, Dusty enjoyed her brief stint as a rapper and was apparently thrilled with the results.
Speaking of results, the Boys originally wrote this song with a view to having Liza Minnelli record it for her Results album, but then decided they didn't care for it. But by the time rolled around for them to work with Dusty on what became Reputation, they had changed their minds about it, coming to the conclusion that they liked the song after all.
Annotations
- "I want to feel the sun shining on my face" – One of my site visitors has suggested that this line from "Daydreaming" may have been inspired—consciously or otherwise—by a very similar line ("I want to feel sunlight on my face") from U2's hit "Where the Streets Have No Name," which was released about three years earlier. Considering that Chris and Neil would very soon (in 1991, the year following the release of Reputation) release their own cover of the U2 song, it's quite possible. But given tremendous familiarity of that particular concept—the pleasure of feeling the warmth of the sun on one's face—it's by no means definite. It may be sheer coincidence.
Mixes/Versions
Officially released
- Mixer: unknown
- Album version (4:56)
- Mixer: Dave Dorrell
- Edited 12" Master (8:18)
List cross-references
- This song doesn't appear in any of my lists.
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