Song by Harry Dacre known for being used in early computer speech synthesis
"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a song written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre 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, one of the many mistresses of King Edward VII.[1][2] It is the earliest song sung using computer speech synthesis by the IBM 7094 in 1961, a feat that was referenced in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
History
"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892. As David Ewen writes in American Popular Songs:[3]
When Dacre, an English popular composer, first came to the United States, he brought with him a bicycle, for which he was charged import duty. His friend William Jerome, another songwriter, 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 soon used it in a song. That song, Daisy Bell, first became successful in a London music hall, in a performance by Katie Lawrence. Tony Pastor was the first to sing it in the United States. Its success in America began when Jennie Lindsay brought down the house with it at the Atlantic Gardens on the Bowery early in 1892.
The song was originally recorded and released by Dan W. Quinn in 1893.[4]
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; Yet I am longing to share the lot Of beautiful Daisy Bell!
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'll look sweet upon the seat Of a bicycle built for two!
We will go "tandem" as man and wife, Daisy, Daisy! "pedaling" away down the road of life, I and my Daisy Bell! When the road's dark we can both despise Policeman and "lamps" as well; There are "bright lights" in the dazzling eyes Of beautiful Daisy Bell! (Chorus)
I will stand by you in "wheel" or woe, Daisy, Daisy! You'll be the bell(e) which I'll ring you know! Sweet little Daisy Bell! You'll take the "lead" in each "trip" we take, Then if I don't do well; I will permit you to use the brake, My beautiful Daisy Bell! (Chorus)
In technology and popular culture
Computing and technology
Daisy Bell sung by the DECtalk speech synthesizer released in 1984
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 signal in such a way that it could be perceived when listening with both ears but not with either ear alone.[7]
In 1975, Steve Dompier, member of Homebrew Computer Club, programmed an Altair 8800 computer to play Daisy as AM radio interference.[8]
In 1985, Christopher C. Capon created a Commodore 64 program named "Sing Song Serenade", which caused the Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive to emit the tune of "Daisy Bell" directly from its hardware by rapidly moving the read/write head.[9]
In 1999, a piece of computer software called BonziBuddy sang Daisy Bell if the user asked it to sing.[10]
Microsoft's personal assistant, Cortana, may sing the first line of Daisy when asked to sing a song.[11][12]
Daisy Bell programmed in Standard shell
Films
In 1941 the Eton Boys starred in a short musical film performing the song including riding tandem bicycles[citation needed]
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 computer sings "Daisy Bell" during its gradual deactivation.[13]
In Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Takashi (Brian Tochi) sings a Japanese version of "Daisy Bell" during his tricycle race against the Alpha Betas.
In Robots (2005), when Rodney fixes Bigweld during the slide scene, Bigweld sings "Daisy Bell"
In The Time Traveler's Wife (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.[citation needed]
TV
In the English sitcom Mind Your Language, season 1 episode 4 (All Through the Night), Mr. Brown and the students sing Daisy Bell whilst waiting for the caretaker Sid to unlock the classroom door.
Bender sings "Daisy Bell" during a montage of him and the Planet Express ship in Futurama's fourth-season episode, Love and Rocket, as an allusion to the film 2001.[14]
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).
In American Horror Story season 8, episode 10 (2018), the android recreation of Ms. Mead 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.
The tune was played as the lead-in to Aunt Daisy's radio broadcasts in New Zealand, which ran from 1930 until her death in 1963.[16]
Sport
Supporters of Feyenoord, the football club of Rotterdam, sing their chant "Wat gaan we doen vandaag?" to the tune of "Daisy Bell".[17]
References
^Carroll, Leslie (3 June 2008). Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy. Edward VII and Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick 1861–1938: NAL Trade. ISBN 978-0-451-22398-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^"Local history: The socialist socialite". BBC. 22 May 2009.
^Ewen, David (1966). American Popular Songs. Random House. ISBN 0-394-41705-4.
^"The IBM 7094 is The First Computer to Sing". historyofinformation.com. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)". Library of Congress. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
^Kubovy, M.; Cutting, J. E.; McGuire, R. M. (1974). "Hearing with the Third Ear: Dichotic Perception of a Melody without Monaural Familiarity Cues". Science. 186 (4160): 272–274. Bibcode:1974Sci...186..272K. doi:10.1126/science.186.4160.272. PMID 4413641. S2CID 8867839.
^"Play "Daisy (Bicycle Built for Two)"". 30 May 2017.
^"[CSDb] - Sing Song Serenade by Christopher C. Capon (1985)". Commodore 64 Scene Database. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
^O’Dell, Cary. ""Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)"" (PDF). loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
^Martin, Jim. "Amaze your friends with these 45 funny Cortana responses on Windows 10". Tech Advisor. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^Sri San (7 August 2015), Daisy Daisy, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 24 October 2016
^"Background: Bell Labs Text-to-Speech Synthesis". bell-labs.com. Lucent Technologies. March 1997. Archived from the original on 7 April 2000.
^"Love and Rocket". theinfosphere.org. March 2023. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023.
^Williams, Maxwell (2 May 2014). "Katy Perry Featured on Pop Artist Mark Ryden's $100 'Gay Nineties' Album (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
^"Basham, Maud Ruby – Biography". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
^"Feyenoord, Feyenoord, wat gaan we doen vandaag? 🎻 CLASSIC EDITION". YouTube. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Daisy Bell
Johns Hopkins University (30 March 2007). "Daisy Bell. Song". Levy Sheet Music Collection, Box 140, Item 090. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
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)")
