The Monkees – Daydream Believer

Every month on Ukulele Cosmos, a song is selected for all comers to interpret and post their version. This month it’s Daydream Believer. The chords on Alligator Boogaloo are, as always, passable rather than definitive. So I’ve taken it on myself to add a few bits and pieces.

Daydream Believer was written by John Stewart who was a member of the folk band The Kingston Trio (one of the inspirations behind the film A Mighty Wind). The song is a shameless Beatles rip-off; it has the same chord sequence in the verse as Here, There and Everywhere (released a year earlier).

The piano intro fits surprisingly well on the uke (thanks to the G note pivot).

daydream believer ukulele tab intro ukelele

You could even play the whole verse in a similar fashion. If you’re just sticking to the chords, using an Am9 chord in place of the Am7 in the Boogaloo version is very effective.

Another couple of bits you might want to include are the little guitar lick after “…never rings” (with a little added harmony):

ukulele daydream believer

And the trumpets before the chorus:

monkees ukulele tab prechorus daydream believer

Buy The Monkees – Greatest Hits US UK

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3 Comments

  1. amber September 3rd, 2007 8:39 am

    I was just working this out myself, and I came up with something very similar to your piano intro. I feel like a clever noob now, instead of a clueless noob.

  2. Woodshed September 3rd, 2007 9:05 pm

    Nice one, amber. You’ll have to start your own uke blog now.

  3. bill December 21st, 2011 11:19 pm

    John Stewart’s classic is not a rip-off of HTE. Even if the slower, quieter melody of HTE gave inspiration to Stewart, there is so much more that goes into a song. You probably know this.

    Besides, release dates have little to do with production timelines and more importantly concept dates.

    Give Stewart credit, Tork credit for his piano arrangement and Jones for his classic vocal. Gotta love those horns.

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