Daydreaming is a common theme in music. It can be a way to get our minds off of everyday life, and it provides us with a momentary escape from reality.
The topic of the songs about daydreaming also provides a musician with lots of room for creativity. It opens the artist up to talk about just about anything. Topics range from daydreaming about the love that got away to fantastic events that aren’t possible in real life.
The songs listed below are the best of the best. The subject of daydreaming allows artists to be themselves and express exactly what they’re feeling. Below are the 20 best songs about daydreaming.
Top Songs About Daydreaming
“Day Dreamin'” – Anthony Hamilton
Anthony Hamilton has one of the greatest voices in R&B, and it’s on full display in this track. Hamilton keeps the song simple as he sings about how he uses daydreaming to escape from the stress he undergoes every day. He also talks about how daydreaming allows him to let his creativity shine through.
“Day Dreaming” – Aretha Franklin
“Daydreaming and I’m thinking of you” are the lyrics that begin this song. It promptly tells the listener exactly what the song is about and begins to go into further detail.
Aretha Franklin uses her beautiful voice to tell the story of a guy who is head over heels with a woman who doesn’t even know he exists. It’s a feeling that most of us have gone through, and that makes this song relatable to just about everyone.
“Daydreamin'” – Lupe Fiasco
“Daydreamin” allows Lupe Fiasco to express himself, no matter how weird people may think he is. He tells a story about riding inside a giant robot while maneuvering through the city.
The entire song is a metaphor for social classes in America. The robot itself is a metaphorical project building as Lupe raps about the different types of people that call the building their home.
Jill Scott beautifully provides the chorus while Lupe Fiasco raps about the cliches found in rap music, overthrowing the government, and other controversial topics.
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
“Blank Space” covers a lot of topics that are frequently found in Swift’s music. Taylor Swift, who is most known for her abundance of breakup songs, fantasizes about finding the perfect man.
She expresses her dislikes of past relationships and goes on to tell listeners what her ideal partner would be like. It’s a great song for people who often daydream about finding their Mr. or Mrs. Right.
“Daydreaming” – Dave East
The music behind Dave East’s lyrics provides the perfect backdrop to help someone relax and drift to sleep.
East covers a lot of topics in his four minutes on this track. He begins the song by fantasizing about a woman. He talks about qualities she possesses that he loves and finishes the first verse by saying he can’t wait until he is alone with her.
The song’s chorus is provided by talented R&B singer Floyd Miles
“A Dreamy Day of Daydreaming of You” – of Montreal
of Montreal makes it clear what this song is about from the very start. “You’re my Muse” begins the song, and the song only gets more and more mushy.
The music in the song gets more and more frantic as the song progresses too. It really takes on the topic of daydreaming with a unique approach as of Montreal goes into a manic display of passion. of Montreal shows that daydreaming can be a wonderful experience, but it can also create a feeling of anxiousness.
“DayDreams” – Midi Matilda
One of the most obscure songs found here, “DayDreams” by Midi Matilda is a complex blend of emotions. The song works because it perfectly captures what daydreaming is all about. It’s not all about thinking about one topic. It’s about letting our minds wander and explore parts of ourselves that we often neglect.
“Day dreaming” – Between Friends
An homage to the previously mentioned Aretha Franklin song, Between Friends modernizes Franklin’s take on daydreaming. While the song is a cover of Franklin’s original song, Between Friends provides their own music and their own interpretation of the original lyrics.
It’s fun to compare this version with Franklin’s version, and it’s easily the best-modernized version of Franklin’s classic song. It may even be better than the original.
“DayDream Believer” – The Monkees
This song perfectly captures the feeling of a daydream as soon as it begins. The singer provides the listener with excellent imagery by describing what is around him during a daydream. For example, the song begins with lyrics about a bluebird. The song was created after the singer of the band realized he had wasted an entire day daydreaming. He decided to make it into a song.
“Daydreaming” – Radiohead
“Daydreaming” is quite different than almost all of Radiohead’s other musical efforts. The song was released somewhat late into the band’s career, but it still caught the attention of early fans.
More of a poem than a true song, “Daydreaming” view imagination and fantasy as a negative. The song is short on vocals, but it allows the listener to interpret the song in a number of different ways.
Despite its less-wordy nature, “Daydreaming” is one of Radiohead’s most revered and beloved songs.
“My World” – Avril Lavigne
Lavigne sings about daydreaming her way through her teenage years in this track from her debut album, Let Go. Stuck in a small town, she spends her time braiding her hair, cutting grass to make money, and fantasizing about future relationships.
The track was originally written and released when Lavigne was seventeen, so it’s very much a look at what her life was like in the present rather than a reflection on her childhood. Let Go recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and Lavigne celebrated by re-releasing the album, including “My World”.
“Daydreams” – Maisie Peters
This mournful piano ballad sees Peters move in and out of brief relationships, always to return to her daydreams. She uses daydreaming as a way to escape from the cold truth of the matter, which she sadly repeats: “He doesn’t want me”. However, she remains a hopeless romantic, and is falling in love with another stranger by the end of the song.
Peters leans into the dreamy sound with this song, employing a delicate melody and a soft piano instrumental to get the message across. She opens with a pretty piano cadence that almost feels as if we’re entering a dream sequence in a TV show.
“IDK You Yet” – Alexander 23
Alexander lives so deeply in his daydreams that he finds himself missing the person he’s fantasising about – even though he doesn’t even know who they are. Daydreaming to himself about finding his soulmate, he becomes sad that he hasn’t met them yet. It’s an interesting look at how escaping into your head can sometimes leave you worse off.
This track helped to find Alexander a larger audience after going viral on TikTok. It was mostly used for POV, or ‘point of view’, videos in which content creators acted out a story to the audience.
“Dream A Little Dream Of Me” – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Fitzgerald urges her lover to think of her often, whether that’s in his daydreams or the dreams he has whilst he’s sleeping. When Armstrong chimes in, he echoes her sentiments.
The two of them paint a pretty mental picture, discussing a starry sky, birds singing and gentle breezes – all very conducive to daydreaming.
The song was originally written in 1931 by Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt and Gus Kahn. Since then, the track has been covered many times, with Fitzgerald & Armstrong releasing their version in 1950. More recently, the track was covered by Robbie Williams and Lily Allen in 2010.
“Daydream” – The Aces
Girl group The Aces sing about an intense love affair in which both parties can’t stop thinking about each other when they’re apart. Lead singer Cristal Ramirez tells her lover that even though they both hate being apart, she’s always coming back to them – they just have to keep daydreaming about her until then. It’s a lot more upbeat than most songs about daydreaming, focusing on the rush of adrenaline that comes with thinking about a new lover rather than taking on a dreamy sound.
“Daydreaming” – Harry Styles
Styles urges his new lover to give him all of their love, so that when the two are apart he has plenty to daydream about. When the two do separate, he finds himself “living in a daydream” thinking about what they get up to when they’re together.
Styles collaborated with lots of musicians to create the funky instrumental for “Daydreaming”, but one of the most exciting for him must have been John Mayer. Mayer, who was one of Styles’ heroes growing up, plays guitar on the track.
“Day Dreamer” – Donovan Frankenreiter
This upbeat country track from Frankenreiter reminds the listener that when it comes to having dreams, it’s best to not let other people’s opinions tear you down. He encourages everyone to keep daydreaming about where they want to get to in life, and move towards their goals at their own pace. It’s a sweet track that lets the listener know it’s okay to have their head in the clouds.
“Daydreamin’” – Ariana Grande
Grande is struck by a handsome stranger in this smooth track and can’t help daydreaming extensively about him. She describes sitting around “with my chin in the palm of my hands” and fixating about holding him in her arms. She’s attracted to every part of him – the way he walks, talks, smiles, and even just the way he looks at her.
“Daydreamin’” originally had a ’50s ‘Doo-Wop-inspired’ sound, along with most of the Yours Truly album. However, Grande changed direction, leading most of the album to be scrapped. “Daydreamin’” was kept and instead reworked to have more of a ‘90s pop sound.
“Day Dreamin’ Fazes” – Kottonmount Kings
Unlike most of the artists on this list, Kottonmouth Kings don’t just naturally slip off into a daydreaming daze. They have a little… herbal assistance.
The band describes the good time they have sat in the back of someone’s van or the floor of someone’s bedroom, able to tune out the noise of the outside world and ignore what’s going on in the news. They enjoy the feeling of having a cloudy head when the world around them is greedy and untrustworthy.
“Bad Liar” – Selena Gomez
Gomez can’t distract herself from a new crush in this stripped back pop song. Trying to go about her everyday life, she finds herself constantly side-tracked by daydreams about the object of her affections, no matter how hard she tries not to think about them. The bigger problem is that she’s such a hard liar it’s difficult to hide what she’s thinking about.
“Bad Liar” samples another popular track, taking its bassline from the song “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads. The song received much praise from critics upon release, with many considering it Gomez’s best song.
Caitlin Devlin is a music, entertainment and lifestyle writer based in London. When she’s not creating playlists for Repeat Replay, she’s reviewing gigs and interviewing artists for Ticketmaster UK and thinking about what her Spotify Wrapped will look like this year.