text: runaway daydreamer " runaway daydreamer " is a song by the english recording artist sophie ellis - bextor for her fifth studio album wanderlust ( 2014 ) . the song was released on 31 march 2014 as the second single of the album . composed by ed harcourt with additional writing by ellis - bextor , it is a chamber pop track which features percussion and string instruments . its lyrics , written in a way resemblant of nursery rhymes , expound on escapism and " self discovery " . " runaway daydreamer " received mostly positive reviews from music critics , who praised ellis - bextor 's vocals and its sound ; some denoted it as a highlight of wanderlust . the song was promoted with a music video directed by sophie muller , which largely shows ellis - bextor in a lounge room and walking through an abandoned pier . it was also performed on programmes including itv 's loose women , and peaked at number 29 on the uk indie chart . the song was featured on the regular and ow version of the theme park playlist . composition and reception " runaway daydreamer " , as with the rest of wanderlust , was co - written by its producer ed harcourt along with ellis - bextor . it was recorded at the state of the ark studios , mixed and engineered by richard , and mastered by miles showell . it is a chamber pop track which includes string arrangements and " shuffled percussion " . clare considine of time out compared its sonority to that of a humphrey bogart movie soundtrack . allmusic 's stephen thomas erlewine described the track as a " girl group homage " . farrell of popmatters opined that the song and " until the stars collide " set a " soaring , dreamy " atmosphere for wanderlust . according to the sheet music published by music sales group , the song contains 116 beats per minute in . its introduction follows a chord progression of c — f / c — c — f / c — c — f / c — c — f , and transitions into the verse section in which the notes c – f – c are followed . the track is composed in the traditional verse – chorus form . ellis - bextor 's vocals during the song incorporate the melisma technique and span from g3 to e5 . the song 's lyrics , which discuss escapism , are constructed in a way resemblant of nursery rhymes . during the chorus , ellis - bextor sings " it 's just my imagination / running away / girl 's gotta have a little daydream / it 's a secret escape / it 's just my imagination / running away / don 't worry baby , i 'm here to stay " . considine highlighted " i could tie up the bed sheets and slide down the house / be gone before the morning comes " as lyrics of ellis - bextor 's " artistic freedom " in wanderlust . reviewing the song for loud and quiet , stuart stubbs wrote that it " sees our protagonist pull herself out of squalor and onto a road of self discovery . " the song concludes with a short outro where ellis - bextor repeats the line " don 't worry baby , i 'm here to stay " twice . on behalf of virgin media , matthew horton opined that " runaway daydreamer " was the standout of wanderlust , describing ellis - bextor 's vocals in it as " prim and gorgeous " . james fyfe of the 405 echoed his view , praising ellis - bextor 's vocal performance , as well as highlighting its sonority , despite observing it was not " musically adventurous " . writing for digital spy , robert copsey billed the song as beautiful and " shimmering " . thomas erlewine highlighted the song as a standout , commenting that the album was " at its best when it 's slightly dexterous " , citing the song as an example . the irish times ' louise bruton wrote that the song explores " twee danger zones " and called it a " blunder " . release and promotion a promotional cd single including " runaway daydreamer " ' s radio edit , with a length of 3 minutes and 27 seconds , was sent to radio stations in march 2014 . the song was released in the united kingdom on 23 march 2014 . the music video for " runaway daydreamer " was directed by sophie muller , and released on 8 march 2014 ; it was mostly filmed during the taping of the video for " young blood " — wanderlust 's previous single . ellis - bextor lip - synchs the song 's lyrics inside a lounge room , wearing a white lace dress , with her hair gathered into a ponytail ; she is also seen walking through an abandoned pier , dining at a restaurant and posing in front of a small white house . the visual 's aspect ratio is changed throughout , ranging from to letterbox . ellis - bextor performed the song in an acoustic setting , on the morning programme zdf , aired on 23 january 2014 on german channel zdf . on 17 march of that year , she sang it on itv 's loose women . the song charted on the uk indie singles at number 29 . track listing promotional cd single details adapted from the credits of the cd single of " runaway " . " runaway daydreamer " ( radio edit ) – 3 : 27 credits and personnel credits adapted from the liner notes of wanderlust . sophie ellis - bextor – lead vocals , songwriting ed harcourt – songwriting , production , background vocals , samples , synth , keyboards , piano gita langley – violin richard woodcraft – engineering , mixing miles showell – mastering weekly charts release history