Daydreaming (Radiohead song)
{{short description|2016 Radiohead song}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Daydreaming
| cover = Daydreaming (Radiohead) (Front Cover).jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Radiohead
| album = A Moon Shaped Pool
| released = 6 May 2016
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Ambient|orchestral}}
| length = 6:24
| label = XL
| writer = Radiohead
| producer = {{hlist|Nigel Godrich|Radiohead}}
| prev_title = Burn the Witch
| prev_year = 2016
| next_title = I Promise
| next_year = 2017
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|TTAU7lLDZYU|"Daydreaming"}}}}
}}
"Daydreaming" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, produced by Nigel Godrich. It was released as a download on 6 May 2016 as the second single from Radiohead's ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool. The song is a piano ballad with strings arranged by the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The music video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Recording
"Daydreaming" was written around Jonny Greenwood playing piano in a jam without the singer, Thom Yorke, who added the vocals and the lyrics in another session.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2016/08/04/488531531/all-songs-1-a-conversation-with-radioheads-jonny-greenwood|title=All Songs +1: A Conversation With Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=4 August 2016}} The song was finished early in Radiohead's sessions at the La Fabrique studio in France. Yorke described it as a "breakthrough" for the album.{{Cite journal |last=Doherty |first=Niall |date=August 2016 |title=Up and away in Paris and London |journal=Q}}
For the introduction, the band slowed the tape, creating a pitch-warping effect. The strings, recorded at RAK Studios in London,{{Cite web|url=http://www.91x.com/uncategorized/hear-radioheads-new-albuma-moon-shaped-pool-at-11pm-tonight-on-the-ftw-new-music-show/|title=Hear Radiohead's New Album "A Moon Shaped Pool" at 11pm tonight on the FTW New Music Show|date=8 May 2016|website=91X FM|access-date=12 May 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160521171321/http://www.91x.com/uncategorized/hear-radioheads-new-albuma-moon-shaped-pool-at-11pm-tonight-on-the-ftw-new-music-show/|archive-date=21 May 2016|url-status=dead}} were arranged by Greenwood and performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra, conducted by Hugh Brunt. The orchestra had previously worked with Greenwood on his score for the 2012 film The Master.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/06/radiohead-confirm-new-album-daydreaming-released-sunday|title=Radiohead's new album to be released on Sunday|last=Gibsone|first=Harriet|date=7 May 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1140-radioheads-a-moon-shaped-pool-the-5-most-important-things-to-know|title=Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool: The 5 Most Important Things To Know|last=Larson|first=Jeremy D.|website=Pitchfork|date=9 May 2016|access-date=9 May 2016}} Greenwood had the cellists detune their cellos, creating a "growling" sound.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36540679|title=Radiohead interview: 'It's a very happy time' – BBC News|work=BBC News|date=16 June 2016|language=en-GB|access-date=16 June 2016}} The cellist Oliver Coates said: "Nigel, Jonny and Thom all have this awesome relationship, and were so animated during the recording. I remember we were laying down the cello part at the end of 'Daydreaming' and Thom said, 'That's it – that is the sound of the record.'"{{Cite web|url=http://www.factmag.com/2016/05/27/oliver-coates-radiohead-cello-upstepping/|title=Radiohead's secret weapon Oliver Coates brings the spirit of Arthur Russell back to the dancefloor|website=FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music.|date=27 May 2016|access-date=28 May 2016}}
Music and lyrics
"Daydreaming" is a ballad{{Cite news|url=https://www.popmatters.com/post/radiohead-daydreaming-singles-going-steady/|title=Radiohead – Daydreaming (Singles Going Steady)|newspaper=PopMatters|access-date=14 December 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radiohead-search-for-respite-from-lifes-harsh-realities-on-fragile-beautifgul-new-track-daydreaming-8475|title=Radiohead Search For Respite From Life's Harsh Realities On Fragile, Beautiful New Track 'Daydreaming'|date=6 May 2016|newspaper=NME|language=en-US|access-date=14 December 2016}} with a "simple, sad" piano motif and ambient,{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4457826.htm|title=Radiohead release new song. Album to drop tomorrow|date=7 May 2016|publisher=Triple J|access-date=7 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/latest-news/radiohead-announce-new-album-drop-new-single-daydreaming|title=Radiohead announce new album, drop new single "Daydreaming"|date=6 May 2016|publisher=The Line of Best Fit|access-date=7 May 2016|author=Day, Laurence}} electronic and orchestral elements.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/18247-radiohead-daydreaming/|title=Radiohead: "Daydreaming"|last=Sodomsky|first=Sam|date=6 May 2015|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=6 May 2016}} It ends with reversed, manipulated vocals; when reversed, Yorke seems to be singing "Half of my life", "I've found my love", or "Every minute, half of my love".{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2016/05/06/radiohead-daydreaming-backwards/ |title=What's Thom Yorke mumbling about at the end of 'Daydreaming'? |publisher=Mashable |first=Emily |last=Blake |date=6 May 2016 |access-date=6 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/65297-radiohead-announce-new-album-release-date-share-daydreaming-video/ |title=Radiohead Announce New Album Release Date, Share "Daydreaming" Video |publisher=Pitchfork Media |first1=Amy |last1=Phillips |first2=Jazz |last2=Monroe |date=6 May 2016 |access-date=7 May 2016}} Several critics felt the lyrics were coloured by Yorke's separation from his partner of 23 years, Rachel Owen.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/arts/music/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-review.html|title=In Radiohead's 'A Moon Shaped Pool', Patient Perfectionism|last=Pareles|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles|date=8 May 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://observer.com/2016/05/radiohead-swim-in-gorgeous-despondency-on-a-moon-shaped-pool/|title=Radiohead Swims in Gorgeous Despondency on 'A Moon Shaped Pool'|last=Joffe|first=Justin|date=9 May 2016|work=The New York Observer|access-date=9 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2879149/radiohead-moon-shaped-pool-review/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512164643/http://www.mtv.com/news/2879149/radiohead-moon-shaped-pool-review/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 May 2016|title=Dancing in the Moonlight with Radiohead|last=Vozick-Levinson|first=Simon|date=10 May 2016|publisher=MTV|access-date=10 May 2016}} Pitchfork noted that 23 years was also approximately the same length of time that Radiohead had been releasing music, and saw the song as a "reckoning with those years, and, in one way or another, an elegy to them".{{Cite web |title=The 100 Best Songs of 2016 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9981-the-100-best-songs-of-2016/?page=8 |access-date=12 December 2016 |website=Pitchfork}}
Music video
The "Daydreaming" music video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Greenwood had previously created scores for several Anderson films.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/05/radiohead-drops-video-from-paul-thomas-anderson-announces-release-date-for-new-album|title=Radiohead Drops Video from Paul Thomas Anderson, Announces Release Date for New Album|last=Bradley|first=Laura|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=6 May 2016|access-date=8 May 2016}} In the video, Yorke walks through a series of doors and passageways leading to locations including a hotel, a hospital, a laundry, and a convenience store. He eventually climbs a snowy hill, enters a cave, and mouths the closing words as he lies down next to a fire.{{cite magazine | url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/05/radiohead-to-release-new-album-on-sunday-premiere-daydreaming-video/ | title=Radiohead to release new album on Sunday, premiere "Daydreaming" video | magazine=Consequence of Sound | date=6 May 2016 | access-date=7 May 2016 | author=Young, Alex / Geslani, Michelle}}{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-release-stunning-daydreaming-video-ahead-of-new-album-20160506 | title=Radiohead Release Stunning 'Daydreaming' Video Ahead of New Album | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=6 May 2016 | access-date=7 May 2016 | author=Kreps, Daniel / Reed, Ryan}}
Release
"Daydreaming" was released as a download on 6 May 2016 on Radiohead's site and on streaming and digital media services.{{cite web | url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/daydreaming-single/1111495817 | title=Daydreaming – Single by Radiohead | date=6 May 2016 | publisher=iTunes US | access-date=6 May 2016}}{{cite web | url=https://bleep.com/release/73011-radiohead-daydreaming | title=Radiohead – Daydreaming – XL | publisher=Bleep | access-date=6 May 2016}} Anderson and the band sent 35 mm prints of the music video to select theatres, inviting them to screen it.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/65330-radioheads-daydreaming-video-is-being-played-in-select-movie-theaters/|title=Radiohead's "Daydreaming" Video is Being Played in Select Movie Theaters|first=Noah|date=7 May 2016|website=Pitchfork|access-date=7 May 2016|last1=Yoo}} On 16 July 2016, Radiohead announced a fan competition to create a music video vignette for an alternative version of "Daydreaming" with additional strings.{{Cite web|url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/07/radiohead-reveal-alternate-take-on-daydreaming-for-vignette-contest/|title=Radiohead reveal alternate version of "Daydreaming" for vignette contest|date=15 July 2016|language=en-US|access-date=16 July 2016}}
Reception
Pitchfork ranked "Daydreaming" the 24th-best song of 2016, behind another Moon Shaped Pool track, "True Love Waits", at ninth. In 2020, the Guardian named "Daydreaming" the 12th-greatest Radiohead song, writing: "Beneath the tiptoeing pianos, 'Daydreaming' is a gut-wrencher."{{cite news |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=23 January 2020 |title=Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked! |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/23/radioheads-40-greatest-songs-ranked |access-date=24 January 2020 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}
Charts
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Radiohead}}
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Category:Music videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Category:Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich
Category:Songs written by Thom Yorke
Category:Songs written by Jonny Greenwood
Category:Songs written by Colin Greenwood
Category:Songs written by Ed O'Brien
Category:Songs written by Philip Selway