Golden Buzzer winner Lily Meola’s song “Daydream” was a heart wrenching performance on America’s Got Talent Season 17. Her performance had the entire audience and more importantly Heidi Klum. Lily started the audition talking about how she used to be living the dream with a major label record deal and feeling great about life. She wrote this song wanting to have people feel good and feel the way she felt. Soon after writing this song her mom got diagnosed with cancer and Lily became her full-time care giver. Her life got flipped upside down, her mom passed away and she lost her record deal. In this emotional speech, Simon asked if she would be able to do the audition. Tearfully, Lily replied that she just wanted to make her mom proud and continue to live her Daydream.
The song starts out with a simple electric guitar and wonderful lyrics, talking about when she was a kid and daydreaming about what she would be. The crowd erupts as she hits the chorus. Everyone in the audience stands, everyone has tears, everyone has goosebumps. Heidi was emotional and brought down the house as she pushes the golden buzzer.
This song was good enough to take many more listens to. As I listened to it back on Spotify, I am reminded that the AGT version is shortened. So it was kind of a nice surprise to hear more of the song. The production on it is very nice. The song starts out the same way, with a single electric guitar and Lily singing. Coming through the second verse you can hear some light drums coming in the background. Her big vocals come in around the 3-minute mark. You can feel the emotion in this song, and I always think knowing a bit of the back story of a song makes it that much more powerful. I think AGT helped put this song on the map, and I for one, am happy that they did.
About the artist
Lily Meola was born and raised on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Her love of music blossomed in the passenger seat of her Mom’s car listening to legendary artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King. Lily began performing around Maui in local bars and cafes at the young age of 11. Mentored by super-producer Bob Rock, Lily toured with the likes of Willie Nelson, and was featured on his album of duets “to all the girls”. She learned to write songs with Jackson Browne, and has shared the stage with Steven Tyler, Kris Kristofferson, Sammy Hagar, Alice Cooper and more. She also co-wrote a single for Andra Day titled ‘Amen’. Lily spent the last few years in the studio writing and producing the bluesy, soulful pop songs that make up her most recent EP release.
