Before you make the choice to hide
Drop the weapons from your side
And if you choose to split and run
Wipe the solace from your tongue
I know the days are long
You’re tired of keeping up
I see you in the trenches
Counting dimes that don't add up
But there's another way
And there’s another day
Listen to me when I say
Daydreamer come close
Pull the stars back in
They may let you know
This feeling takes control
Open pathways to where you want to go
I know you're gonna find your way
Weaving through the traffic lines
Racing past these broken signs
You’re always gonna have your say
Just another dreamer who’s tryna break away
I know it’s getting hard
You feel the whole world’s weight
I see those calloused shoulders holding back the tears at bay
There's another way
There's another day
Listen to me when I say
Daydreamer come close
Pull the stars back in
They may let you know
This feeling takes control
Open pathways to where you want to go.
Daydreamer was written and recorded last year for my band KODAE’s record. The whole process of writing the album was weirdly disjointed and isolating. As a band, we had been performing and writing as a group for the better part of four years but we kept running into roadblocks… First, it was the pandemic, then it was lifestyle and work changes and our drummer moved across the country. Eventually, we all started drifting away from our home base and lost some of that initial connection. We went from jamming weekly to maybe seeing each other every other month if there was a show on the horizon. By the time we were ready to head into the studio to lay down this record, we’d been apart for a while, all writing parts in semi-solitude using pre-production tracks as our anchors.
I was nervous. We were given three grants to help us get this album off the ground and I couldn’t help but think we’d have made better use of this money if it found us earlier — we were lacking some direction and band identity but the studio was booked and we were to spent a week at this gorgeous place called OCL outside of the city on a little farm to capture all the beds and live instrumentation.
My bandmates had been arranging the tunes the best they could in rehearsal leading up to the studio but I was still writing and uncovering vocal melodies/lyrics/direction by myself, so by the time I got into the vocal booth to record, my ideas weren’t fully formed. I was relying on hearing the band glue everything together for the first time and I ended up throwing most of my lyric and melody ideas away to let the live arrangements and instrumentation guide me; all of my scratch vocals were heavily improvised.
One of the pillars of KODAE, and one of the things we excelled in as a group, was our ability to fall into pandora’s box together and allow ourselves to be moved by whatever groove drove us forward. Letting my parts blossom and take shape was no different and a few weeks later I was back in solo studio sessions tracking the final vocals.
“Daydreamer” is my second favourite song off of this EP. The syncopated beat has a really fun, sunshiney disco vibe to it — almost like a laid-back Dua Lipa track. The horn movements invite so much epic growth throughout the song that you can’t help but find yourself strutting along with confidence. To me, the base feeling of this song was empowerment and positivity but in a realistic and unapologetic way. I wanted my lyrics to sound like I was speaking to the listener and sharing some wisdom or some type of older sibling advice.
“Daydreamer, pull the stars back in” is the central message of the tune and offers encouragement to remain mystical and starry-eyed. At the time of writing this album, I was working a miserable job that took up all of my time and was squeezing every ounce of energy out of me and I kept saying to myself, ‘It shouldn’t be this hard’. I was feeling so defeated in knowing I didn’t fit into the 9-5 worker life but I also couldn’t justify embodying the starving artist anymore. I needed a change and on the last day of recording, I decided to quit that miserable job and embraced building my photography career alongside music. This song was the reminder I needed that life was allowed to be wonderful and I was allowed to chase after my dreams. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become increasingly aware of the financial fluctuation that comes with working as an artist, and I have often forgotten to trust my path and my ability to create. These lyrics became the permission I needed to reinvest my energy and seek out everyday magic again.
“I know you're gonna find your way, you’re always gonna have your say,” speaks to the necessity of using our voices and allowing for the universe to nudge us in the direction we need to go. Whatever you believe in and however spirit shows up for you, there is an element of surrender and trust. The power sits in our ability to hold the heaviness of reality with the perspective that our very existence is an improbable miracle.
I was labelled a daydreamer and little space cadet my whole life, and now I am celebrating that fact and connection to my inner mystic through song and I hope this tune does the same for you ❤️💫
Keep dreamin,
xo A
I absolutely love this. Even upon reading the words before listening to the song it felt to me more somber and nudging, but then listening to the ~confidence and "take you by the hand and excitedly lead you" upbeat rhythm is so fitting to the message. Can't wait to hear the rest of the EP!