"Daisy Bell"

No personal notes.

"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre [1860-1922] in 1892. As David Ewen writes in American Popular Songs;

When Dacre, an English popular composer, first came to the United States, he brought with him a bicycle, for which he was charged duty. His friend (the songwriter William Jerome) remarked lightly: 'It's lucky you didn't bring a bicycle built for two, otherwise you'd have to pay double duty.' Dacre was so taken with the phrase 'bicycle built for two' that he decided to use it in a song.

It is said that a real Daisy inspired the object of the song: "Daisy" the Countess of Warwick, Frances Evelyn Maynard, one of the wealthiest and most desirable English women of the period. In her lifetime, she became a vegetarian, championed women's education, and stood as a Labour (leftist/socialist) candidate. At one point, she was mistress of the Prince of Wales (subsequently Edward VII of the United Kingdom, 1901-10).

Lyrics

1.  There is a flower within my heart,
    Daisy, Daisy,
    Planted one day by a glancing dart,
    Planted by Daisy Bell.
    Whether she loves me or loves me not
    Sometimes it's hard to tell,
    But there are those that would share the lot
    Of beautiful Daisy Bell.

Chorus:
    Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do,
    I'm half crazy all for the love of you.
    It won't be a stylish marriage -
    I can't afford a carriage,
    But you'd look sweet upon the seat
    Of a bicycle built for two.

2.  We will go tandem as man and wife,
    Daisy, Daisy,
    Wheeling away down the road of life,
    I and my Daisy Bell.
    When the nights dark, we can both despise
    Policemen and lamps as well.
    There are bright lights in the dazzling eyes
    Of beautiful Daisy Bell.