Recordings The song has been recorded by
Bing Crosby with
John Scott Trotter & his Orchestra (March 22, 1940); The Nutmegs;
Steve Conway with Jack Byfield & His Orchestra;
Thomas Hampson with
Jay Ungar (mandolin), David Alpher (piano), and
Molly Mason (guitar);
John Leyton (with revised lyrics by
Ken Lewis and
John Carter);
Jerry Lee Lewis;
Slim Whitman; and
Roy Orbison on the album
In Dreams (a top ten Australian single in 1964). According to the 1991 DVD, 'Gentleman
Jim Reeves - The Story of a Legend', the US singer recorded the song while on tour in
South Africa in 1962, sung in
Afrikaans under the title "Bolandse Nooientjie". (A brief translation is fraught; "lass of the hinterland" is one possibility.) Although Reeves could not speak Afrikaans, this was remedied by South African composer and songwriter Gilbert Gibson, who stood behind Reeves and whispered the words of the song to him, who would then sing the same words into the microphone. The song appeared on the 33 rpm LP 'The Jim Reeves Way' a 1965 UK 'red spot' label 12-track 'Dynagroove' Mono LP, co-produced by Chet Atkins & including two tracks sung in Afrikaans; one of which was Bolandse Nooientjie.
Gerry Goffin and
Jack Keller wrote a
doo-wop version for
Tony Orlando which took considerable liberties with the original; the opening quatrain, for instance is "Beautiful Dreamer/Wake unto me/Can't you see me, baby/I'm on my bended knee." Orlando released this version as a single in 1962 and it quickly became a regular part of the
Beatles' set list, from 1962 through
the Beatles Winter 1963 Helen Shapiro Tour in early 1963. A recording of a 1963 Beatles performance of the song on the BBC was released in 2013 on their album
On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2.
Rory Storm and The Hurricanes also featured the song in their live performances. This version has been recorded by
Billy J. Kramer with
The Dakotas.
Udo Jürgens recorded a German language version as
Beautiful Dreamgirl in 1964. Wolfgang Roloff aka "Ronny" (1930-2011) another one in 1975: "Träumendes Mädchen" ("Dreaming Girl").
Bobby Darin recorded a bluesy version of the song with all-new lyrics, but the song was unreleased until 1999 (on the album
Bobby Darin: The Unreleased Capitol Sides). No attribution is given for the new lyrics; one possibility is that Darin might have written these himself. These lyrics tell about a lonely woman who dreams of a love of her own, and a lonely man who dreams of love too. The reference to a queen is retained in Darin's version, asking if the woman is a "queen without a throne". The song is also featured on
Marty Robbins' posthumous album
Long, Long Ago (1984) and on
Ray Price's posthumous farewell album
Beauty Is... Ray Price, the Final Sessions (2014). The documentary
Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile is named after the song, and in the documentary
Brian Wilson quips that the first letters of the words "Beautiful Dreamer, Wake" compare with his own initials, Brian Douglas Wilson.
Film The song is central to the plot of the 1949 film
Mighty Joe Young, as it is used throughout the film to calm the title character, a large
gorilla. In 2018, the song "Beautiful Dreamer" was used in the supernatural film
Winchester. The opening lines of the song are heard during the official trailer. The lyrics are also heard throughout the movie, as a young boy begins to sing them when he has been possessed by a malicious spirit. A cover version of the song with lyrics written by Rafael Jaime and titled
Brave Angel is prominently featured in the final scene of the 2024
live-action Mexican independent short film Mi Hermano Lobo (My Brother Wolf). It's used as a hopeful and uplifting
lullaby and is performed by 13-year-old Héctor Mateo García Díaz Infante in the lead role of
Mowgli. Mowgli sings it to comfort his young protege Rafael (Jorge Luis Jiménez Avilés).
Literature The song is pivotal to
E. B. White's 1970 novel
The Trumpet of the Swan. Louis the trumpeter swan learns the tune during his long journey to find his voice via a stolen trumpet and a chalk slate. In a climactic scene, he belts out its poetry on his trumpet at dawn, declaring his love in the
Philadelphia Zoo to the beautiful swan Serena, the object of his long unrequited love. White also includes the
public domain sheet music in the novel, perhaps to encourage similarly dramatic loving gestures. The song was also used in
The Diviners book 2,
Lair of Dreams by
Libba Bray. ==References==