"Beautiful Dreamer" is a

parlor song Parlour music (or parlor music) is a type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of houses, usually by amateur singers and piano, pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th ...

by American songwriter

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

. It was published posthumously in March 1864, by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. The first edition states on its title page that it is "the last song ever written by Stephen C. Foster, composed but a few days prior to his death." However, Carol Kimball, the author of ''Song'', points out that the first edition's copyright is dated 1862, which suggests, she writes, that the song was composed and readied for publication two years before Foster's death. There are at least 20 songs, she observes, that claim to be Foster's last, and it is unknown which is indeed his last. The song is set in time with a

broken chord In Western music theory, a chord is a group of notes played together for their harmonic consonance or dissonance. The most basic type of chord is a triad, so called because it consists of three distinct notes: the root note along with interv ...

accompaniment.Carol Kimball. ''Song: a guide to art song style and literature''. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 248.Michael Saffle. 2000. Perspectives on American music, 1900–1950 Taylor & Francis. p. 382. The song tells of a lover serenading a "Beautiful Dreamer" who is oblivious to worldly cares and may actually be dead. Foster's works feature many dead young women, including his sister Charlotte and " Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair". Helen Lightner writes, "This sentimental ballad is folk-like in character with its repetitious but lovely

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

and its basic

harmonic In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...

accompaniment ... The quiet and calm of this mood is portrayed by the monotony of the arpeggiated accompaniment, by the repetitiveness of the melodic pattern, and by the

strophic form Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, ...

itself."

Lyrics

Recordings, film, and literature

Recordings

The song has been recorded by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

with John Scott Trotter & his Orchestra (March 22, 1940); The Nutmegs; Steve Conway with Jack Byfield & His Orchestra; Thomas Hampson with Jay Ungar (mandolin), David Alpher (piano), and Molly Mason (guitar); John Leyton (with revised lyrics by Ken Lewis and John Carter);

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

; Slim Whitman; and

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

on the album '' In Dreams'' (a top ten Australian single in 1964). According to the 1991 DVD, 'Gentleman Jim Reeves - The Story of a Legend', the US singer recorded the song while on tour in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1962, sung in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

under the title "Bolandse Nooientjie". (A brief translation is fraught; "lass of the hinterland" is one possibility.) Although Reeves could not speak Afrikaans, this was remedied by South African composer and songwriter Gilbert Gibson, who stood behind Reeves and whispered the words of the song to him, who would then sing the same words into the microphone. The song appeared on the 33 rpm LP 'The Jim Reeves Way' a 1965 UK 'red spot' label 12-track 'Dynagroove' Mono LP, co-produced by Chet Atkins & including two tracks sung in Afrikaans; one of which was Bolandse Nooientjie.

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

and Jack Keller wrote a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

version for

Tony Orlando Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American Pop music, pop/Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for h ...

which took considerable liberties with the original; the opening quatrain, for instance is "Beautiful Dreamer/Wake unto me/Can't you see me, baby/I'm on my bended knee." Orlando released this version as a single in 1962 and it quickly became a regular part of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' set list, from 1962 through the Beatles Winter 1963 Helen Shapiro Tour in early 1963. A recording of a 1963 Beatles performance of the song on the BBC was released in 2013 on their album '' On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2''. Rory Storm and The Hurricanes also featured the song in their live performances. This version has been recorded by Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas.

Udo Jürgens Jürgen Udo Bockelmann (30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014), generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, ...

recorded a German language version as ''Beautiful Dreamgirl'' in 1964. Wolfgang Roloff aka "Ronny" (1930-2011) another one in 1975: "Träumendes Mädchen" ("Dreaming Girl").

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...

recorded a bluesy version of the song with all-new lyrics, but the song was unreleased until 1999 (on the album ''Bobby Darin: The Unreleased Capitol Sides''). No attribution is given for the new lyrics; one possibility is that Darin might have written these himself. These lyrics tell about a lonely woman who dreams of a love of her own, and a lonely man who dreams of love too. The reference to a queen is retained in Darin's version, asking if the woman is a "queen without a throne". The song is also featured on

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

' posthumous album ''Long, Long Ago'' (1984) and on Ray Price's posthumous farewell album ''Beauty Is... Ray Price, the Final Sessions'' (2014). The documentary '' Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile'' is named after the song, and in the documentary

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

quips that the first letters of the words "Beautiful Dreamer, Wake" compare with his own initials, Brian Douglas Wilson.

Film

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

hums the song in her Best Actress

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning performance of 1938, ''

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

''. The song is central to the plot of the 1949 film '' Mighty Joe Young'', as it is used throughout the film to calm the title character, a large

gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

.Erb, Cynthia Marie (2009).
Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture
'.

Wayne State University Press Wayne State University Press (or WSU Press) is a university press that is part of Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 186 ...

. p. 140. Retrieved March 23, 2019. The tune is a motif in the 1947 film '' The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'', where Rosalind van Hoorn ( Virginia Mayo) plays it at key points. In the 1952 biopic of Stephen Foster entitled '' I Dream of Jeanie'', there is a scene where

, played by Bill Shirley, sings this song as a serenade to one of his two love interests in the film. The song is touched on repeatedly relating to the subliminal stimuli throughout the 2018 film '' Distorted''. The song is used as a recurring theme in ''

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

'' (2018) with

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

. The song is used as a theme song in the 2020 Netflix movie ''Lost Girls''. In '' Young Frankenstein'' (1974), the song is referenced, when the ghoulish Igor (

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on th ...

), hears a shrill and anguished female wail from a remote dungeon, he smiles and (almost) sings "Beautiful screamer...". In '' Lorelei'' (2021), the song is featured in several scenes and gives the film its title. A cover version of the song with lyrics written by Rafael Jaime and titled ''Brave Angel'' is prominently featured in the final scene of the 2024 live-action Mexican

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Mi Hermano Lobo (My Brother Wolf)''. It is used as a hopeful and uplifting

lullaby A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowl ...

and performed by Mowgli (Héctor Mateo García Díaz Infante) to comfort his young protege Rafael (Jorge Luis Jiménez Avilés).

Literature

The song is pivotal to E. B. White's 1970 novel '' The Trumpet of the Swan''. Louis the trumpeter swan learns the tune during his long journey to find his voice via a stolen trumpet and a chalk slate. In a climactic scene, he belts out its poetry on his trumpet at dawn, declaring his love in the Philadelphia Zoo to the beautiful swan Serena, the object of his long unrequited love. White also includes the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

sheet music in the novel, perhaps to encourage similarly dramatic loving gestures. The song was also used in '' The Diviners'' book 2, ''Lair of Dreams'' by Libba Bray.

References

{{authority control 1864 songs American songs Bing Crosby songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Jim Reeves songs Parlor songs Roy Orbison songs Slim Whitman songs Songs released posthumously Songs written by Stephen Foster The Beatles songs Tony Orlando songs Songs of the American Civil War