“Daydream Believer” was a song written by John Stewart who was an ex-member of The Kingston Trio. The song was recorded at the same time as the Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. album but didn’t make it on that album. Instead, they saved it for the next album called The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees.

At first, even though Davy sings lead on the song, he didn’t like it. He did not want to sing it and if you listen carefully, you can hear a little annoyance in his voice. But, later, when the song went to number one in the United States, he tempered his opinion and decided it was an OK song, after all.

John Stewart had written the line “You once thought of me as a white knight on a steed. Now you know how funky I can be.” Davy changed the word “funky” to “happy.” “Daydream Believer” and the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. were both number one at the same time, so the Monkees held down the top position on both the singles chart and the album chart. This is not unheard of (the Beatles did it several times), but it is relatively rare. “Daydream Believer” peaked at number five in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, this would be the last number one the guys would ever have, but “Daydream Believer” is a classic. I find myself singing along to it every time I hear it. It is truly one of the Monkees’ best songs.

In 1967, the Monkees were on top of the world. They had a hit (sort of) television show. They were consistently hitting the Top 10 on the charts. They were partying with the Beatles and touring with Jimi Hendrix. They were millionaires and flying in their own private jets. What more could you ask for?

1968 would be a totally different story. You have to understand that the four Monkees were not really friends. This band was not put together like traditional bands. It didn’t start with four people who knew each other or grew to know each other as the band progressed. These guys were relatively strangers when they met and they were four completely different personalities.

In 1968, this began to become much more prevalent. 1968 was the last year the Monkees did anything on the charts. The television show was cancelled in 1968 and the guys went their separate ways. “Daydream Believer” was the last number one they would ever have.

“Daydream Believer” debuted on the pop charts on November 18, 1967 and spent four weeks at number one.