"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a song written in 1892 by British songwriter

Harry Dacre Harry Dacre was the pen-name of Frank Dean (September 1857–16 July 1922), a British songwriter best known for his composition "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two)". Biography Dean was born on the Isle of Man, where he was baptised on 6 Septem ...

with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy / Give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you", ending with the words "a bicycle built for two". The song is said to have been inspired by

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville, Countess of Warwick (''née'' Maynard; 10 December 1861 – 26 July 1938) was a British socialite and philanthropist. Although embedded in late- Victorian British high society, she was also a campaigning sociali ...

, one of the many mistresses of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. It is the earliest song sung using computer speech synthesis by the IBM 704 in 1961, a feat that was referenced in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968). Also referenced in the movie ''

Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...

'' (2005) by Blue Sky Studios.

History

"Daisy Bell" was composed by

in 1892. As David Ewen writes in ''American Popular Songs'': The song was originally recorded and released by Dan W. Quinn in 1893.

In technology and culture

Computing and technology

* In 1961, an IBM 704 at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...

was programmed to sing "Daisy Bell" in the earliest demonstration of computer speech synthesis. This recording has been included in the United States

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

. * In 1974, auditory researchers used the melody of "Daisy Bell" for the first demonstration of " pure dichotic" (two-ear only) perception: they encoded the melody in a

stereophonic Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

signal in such a way that it could be perceived when listening with both ears but not with either ear alone. * In 1975, Steve Dompier, member of Homebrew Computer Club, programmed an Altair 8800 computer to play Daisy as AM radio interference. * In 1985, Christopher C. Capon created a Commodore 64 program named "Sing Song Serenade", which caused the

Commodore 1541 The Commodore 1541 (also known as the CBM 1541 and VIC-1541) is a floppy disk drive which was made by Commodore International for the Commodore 64 (C64), Commodore's most popular home computer. The best-known floppy disk drive for the C64, th ...

floppy disk drive to emit the tune of "Daisy Bell" directly from its hardware by rapidly moving the read/write head. *In 1999, a piece of computer software called

BonziBuddy BonziBuddy ( , stylized as BonziBUDDY) was a freeware desktop virtual assistant created by Joe and Jay Bonzi. Upon a user's choice, it would share jokes and facts, manage downloads, sing songs, and talk, among other functions, as it used Microsof ...

sang Daisy Bell if the user asked it to sing. * Microsoft's personal assistant, Cortana, may sing the first line of Daisy when asked to sing a song.

Films

* Science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke witnessed the IBM 704 demonstration during a trip to Bell Labs in 1962 and referred to it in the 1968 novel and film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', in which the

HAL 9000 HAL 9000 is a fictional artificial intelligence character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's ''Space Odyssey'' series. First appearing in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', HAL ( Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) ...

computer sings "Daisy Bell" during its gradual deactivation. *

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

sings the song "Daisy Bell" in the 1972 film ''

The Triple Echo ''The Triple Echo'' (also known as ''Soldier in Skirts'' in its U.S. release) is a 1972 British drama film directed by Michael Apted starring Glenda Jackson, Brian Deacon and Oliver Reed, and based on the 1970 novella by H.E. Bates. It was sho ...

''. * In ''

'' (2005), when Rodney fixes Bigweld during the slide scene, Bigweld sings "Daisy Bell", the first song sung by a computer. * In ''

The Time Traveler's Wife ''The Time Traveler's Wife'' is the debut novel by American author Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. It is a love story about Henry, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably, and about Clare, his wife, an ...

'' (2009), Alba and her father Henry sing the song "Daisy Bell" in an attempt to stop him from traveling through time while he is still using a wheelchair from a recent accident.

TV

A student choir sings "Daisy Bell" (with minor lyric changes) at the beginning of a bicycle race in the Midsomer Murders Series 12 episode, "The Glitch" (2009). American Horror Story . Season 8, Episode 10. (2018). Ms Mead (recreated as an android by tech wizards Mutt and Jeff) explodes during the final confrontation between the Witches and Michael Langdon. Ms Mead’s severed head, sings “Daisy Bell” in a slurred and distorted voice.

Musical recordings

* Dan W. Quinn produced a wax cylinder recording of "Daisy Bell" in 1893, the first recorded rendition of the song. * Singer

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

recorded a version of the song for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

in 1941. * Singer

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

produced the most well-known recording of "Daisy Bell" as part of his ''

Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer ''Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer'' is a 1963 album by Nat King Cole, arranged by Ralph Carmichael. The album reached #14 on ''Billboards LP chart. Track listing # " Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (Hans Carste, Charles Tobias) – 2: ...

'' LP for Capitol Records in 1961. * On May 3, 2014, an album was released composed entirely of covers of "Daisy Bell" entitled ''The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell'', in conjunction with

Mark Ryden Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow (or Pop Surrealist) art movement.Ken Johnson"Mark Ryden: ‘The Gay 90s: Old Tyme Art Show" ''The New York Times'', May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2013 ...

's exhibit "The Gay 90s". The album features covers of "Daisy Bell" by Katy Perry,

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Nick Cave,

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...

of Metallica,

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 ...

of Devo,

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single "Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV an ...

's Stan Ridgway, Danny Elfman, and others. Profits from the album went to the nonprofit Little Kids Rock.

Radio

* The tune was played as the lead-in to

Aunt Daisy Maud Ruby Basham (née Taylor; 30 August 1879 – 14 July 1963), usually known as Daisy Basham or professionally as Aunt Daisy, was a New Zealand radio broadcaster from 1930 to 1963. Her various nicknames included "New Zealand's First Lady of ...

's radio broadcasts in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, which ran from 1930 until her death in 1963.

References

External links

*
1894 recording of "Daisy Bell" (MP3)

Page featuring a recording of "Daisy Bell" sung and played by IBM computers
at Bell Laboratories in the early 1960s (see last track on side 2 labeled "Synthesized computer speech demonstration (1963)") {{Authority control 1892 songs British songs English children's songs Songs about bicycles Songs about marriage Songs about socialites Blur (band) songs Katy Perry songs Nick Cave songs Tyler, the Creator songs "Weird Al" Yankovic songs Articles containing video clips