"The Puppy Song" is a

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

song that appeared on his album ''

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

'' released in August 1969. Nilsson originally wrote this song at

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's request for

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

, an 18-year-old singer that McCartney had signed to

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...

and whose first album, ''

Post Card A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

'' would feature her version of Nilsson's song.

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

released his version as a double A-side single with " Daydreamer", which reached No. 1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1973.

Background

In 1968, Nilsson went to London to meet with members of

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

after

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

named Nilsson as his favorite American artist with both Lennon and

naming him their favorite group, and they requested a session with him. While in London, McCartney asked Nilsson to write a song for

, a request to which Nilsson complied, working out the song on the piano and recording a demo that night. The song was sent to McCartney who thought it "perfect" for Hopkin. Hopkin recorded the song for her debut album ''

''. Nilsson recorded the song himself later in the year. Nilsson's version was a little slower Hopkin's, and was sung in the key of C rather than G. It was included in his album ''

'' released in 1969, and it served as the B-side to Nilsson's single "Maybe" in the UK. The song lyrics tell of a child longing for a puppy, and the opening lines of the song about dreams and wishes: "Dreams are nothin' more than wishes / And a wish is just a dream you wish to come true", became a theme for the album ''Harry''.

David Cassidy version

The song was popularized by

in his double A-side single " Daydreamer"/"The Puppy Song". The single was released by

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

, and Cassidy specially flew to London to promote the single. The song reached No. 1 on the UK Chart, staying there for three weeks in November 1973. The single was also among the ten biggest sellers of 1973. The opening line of "The Puppy Song" was used as the title of David Cassidy's 1973 album '' Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes'', and both songs of the single appear on the album.

Track list

*Side A: Daydreamer (written by Terry Dempsey) (2:46) *Side B: "The Puppy Song" (written by Harry Nilsson) (2:44)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Usage

* Nilsson's version was used in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the opening credits of

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award f ...

's 1998 film ''

You've Got Mail ''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian play '' Parfumerie'' by Miklós László (which had earlier been adapted in 1940 as ''The Shop ...

''. *The song appeared at the end of the first episode of the FX series '' Wilfred''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puppy Song 1969 songs Harry Nilsson songs David Cassidy songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by Rick Jarrard Songs written by Harry Nilsson Mary Hopkin songs