Daisy

Album: Trophy (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Coming Up Daisy is a fictional movie within the movie Burn After Reading, but it has nothing to do with this song.

    In a Songfacts interview with Kate Davis, she explained that when her father was dying of brain cancer, her sister asked him what she should name her child. He suggested some lovely, flowery names, like Daisy. When she asked him what Kate should name her child (should she ever have one), he replied, "Volcano."

    "These floral names that were easy to digest gave me this idea for creating this expectation of what my dad wanted for his kids," Davis said. "'Daisy' represented all of the things we needed to achieve to help promote his legacy.

    So it ended up being a word to describe the experience once you've lost someone. It's good and bad, it's hard and easy. It's total self-destruction, it's total empowerment. It's the experience of loss in a word, which I know is very abstract and strange, but it also represents the potential I have for my future, whether it is that I have a child, or if I can have a career I think he'd be proud of. It's just all of those things in one word."
  • Daisies represent the circle of life - when you die you are metaphorically "pushing up daisies," meaning your body provides nutrients for the soil. "It all made sense to me," Davis said. "My parents, when we were growing up, grew little starter seeds in our basement. I have this really deep memory of going down to the basement and seeing all these tiny seedlings under one of those lights that is supposed to be like the sun. I related to that - I felt like I was one of those little seedlings, being very protected and nourished and isolated in the basement."
  • This is one the tracks from Davis' first album, Trophy, which came out five years after she made a viral splash performing "All About That Bass" in a jazz style with an upright bass. Davis learned jazz at the Manhattan School of Music, but rejected the form in favor of more contemporary music that allowed her more personal expression. Listening to "Daisy," there's little trace of the Davis that became famous for her jazz spoof.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Gary Louris of The Jayhawks

Gary Louris of The JayhawksSongwriter Interviews

The Jayhawks' song "Big Star" has special meaning to Gary, who explains how longevity and inspiration have trumped adulation.

TV Theme Songs

TV Theme SongsFact or Fiction

Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?