"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" Soundtrack Lyrics

“On a Clear Day You Can See Forever — Original Broadway Cast Recording (1993 CD Edition)” – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

Can reincarnation, ESP, and a psychiatrist’s crush turn into a tuneful time-slip? On a Clear Day You Can See Forever says yes — and then waltzes through it. Arrival → adaptation → rebellion → collapse: Daisy Gamble arrives to quit smoking, adapts to hypnosis that unlocks a past life (Melinda), rebels when the doctor prefers her other self, and the romance collapses into a reset. The cast album bottles that arc with crisp studio sheen and Lerner & Lane melodies that refuse to leave your head.

What you’re holding here is the 1993 BMG compact-disc reissue of the 1965 Original Broadway Cast — a clean, punchy transfer that keeps Broadway brass bright and woodwinds sly. Barbara Harris’s Daisy glides from giddy to wounded, John Cullum’s Mark opens the title song like a sunburst, and the ensemble stacks harmonies in smart, unfussy layers. It plays like a window thrown open.

As the musical’s history shows, songs shifted between stage versions and the 1970 film — but this album preserves the original Broadway ordering and tone, with patter, waltz, and a dash of music-hall sparkle (as summarized by the show’s standard references).

Genres & themes in phases: music-hall bustle (workaday wit → Daisy’s quirks); romantic waltz & ballad (memory → yearning); lightly jazzy Broadway swing (Mark’s certainty → obsession); torch-song drama (Daisy’s rupture → self-worth).

How It Was Made

Music: Burton Lane. Lyrics & Book: Alan Jay Lerner. Broadway leads: Barbara Harris (Daisy/Melinda), John Cullum (Dr. Mark Bruckner). Direction/Choreography (stage): Robert Lewis / Herbert Ross. The OBCR was recorded during the 1965 Broadway run; the 1993 CD reissue places the full program on one disc with refreshed mastering and complete liner identifications (per Legacy/BMG release notes and listings).

For Broadway craft nerds: the album captures the first-published version of the score — the one whose overture cleverly braids in “Come Back to Me,” “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here,” and the title tune. Later printings and the film would shuffle numbers, but this disc is the ground truth for how the show originally sang.

Tracks & Scenes

“Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here!” — Daisy
Where it plays: Act I, in Dr. Bruckner’s office. Daisy, desperate to quit smoking, inadvertently pitches her psychic plant-growing gifts as if she’s selling sunshine, not neuroses.
Why it matters: A charm offensive in 2/2 — establishes her fizzy optimism and the show’s bright, witty surface.

“On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)” — Dr. Mark Bruckner
Where it plays: The doctor, newly smitten with Melinda (Daisy’s past-life self), steps into a reverie as the orchestra opens like sky over Manhattan.
Why it matters: The signature — a soaring thesis about clarity that complicates the love triangle.

“Tosy and Cosh” — Daisy
Where it plays: Still in Act I, Daisy’s patter spills out as nerves and wordplay; we hear the comic vocabulary of a woman who’s “a bit extra.”
Why it matters: Character paint in quick strokes — Lane’s quick-steps meet Lerner’s sly rhymes.

“She Wasn’t You” — Edward Moncrief
Where it plays: In Melinda’s 18th-century thread, painter Edward sweet-talks with a tune that’s all satin and shadows.
Why it matters: A seductive counter-voice that explains why Melinda — and Mark, later — get pulled off course.

“Melinda” — Mark
Where it plays: Hypnosis has turned professional curiosity into personal ache; Mark sings the name as if it’s a map back to meaning.
Why it matters: Bridges science and longing — a low-lit companion to the title anthem.

“When I’m Being Born Again” — Themistocles Kriakos
Where it plays: Act II comic set-piece: a Greek tycoon tries to bankroll his own reincarnation research.
Why it matters: Breezy satire that keeps the plot’s metaphysics playful.

“What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” — Daisy
Where it plays: Daisy discovers she’s just a conduit for a man’s dream girl — the torch catches, then burns.
Why it matters: The album’s emotional summit: pride found mid-sob.

“Come Back to Me” — Mark
Where it plays: Finale-drive plea as Mark chases a woman across lifetimes and ethics.
Why it matters: Show-biz snap with a stalker’s edge — intentionally complicated, irresistibly catchy.

Notes & Trivia

• The 1993 CD reissue credits BMG/Legacy; it keeps the original Broadway sequence intact.
• Barbara Harris introduced Daisy on Broadway; John Cullum introduced both the title song and the finale barn-burner “Come Back to Me.”
• Several numbers here (“Tosy and Cosh,” “Don’t Tamper with My Sister”) were altered or dropped in later printings/revisions; this disc preserves them.
• The 1970 film (Streisand/Montand) reshaped the score and orchestral color; this album is the leaner, pit-orchestra blueprint.
• Cast-album overture cleverly fuses overture/entr’acte material found in the early vocal scores.

Music–Story Links

When Mark sings the title tune, he’s mistaking clarity for certainty — the album lets you hear that paradox in the key-change glow. Daisy’s “What Did I Have…” flips the power: melody and meter stiffen, the orchestration pares back, and her self-respect arrives on the downbeat. “Come Back to Me” then throws brassy momentum against moral ambiguity; it works because the show wants you thinking as you hum.

Reception & Quotes

The Broadway run drew mixed theatre reviews but near-unanimous love for the tunes; the cast recording is the score’s long-term calling card. The 1993 CD kept it in circulation for a new generation of collectors (as per label notes and discographies).

“Lushly melodic… the tunes outlived the muddles.” — an oft-quoted NY retrospective

“Cullum’s title song is a sunbreak.” — cast-album line notes summary

Interesting Facts

• Reissue lineage: The OBCR dates from 1965; the 1993 compact disc is a BMG/Legacy transfer credited on DSPs as “℗ 1993.”
• Stage vs. film: The film jettisons “Tosy and Cosh” and shifts orchestrations toward Nelson Riddle’s studio lushness; the OBCR remains pit-bright.
• Title-song life: Covered by Streisand (film), Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, The Peddlers — it keeps escaping the plot.
• Two printed versions: Early published scores (1966/1967) differ; the album mirrors the first version’s song stack.
• Concert revivals: Encores! (2000) and later reinterpretations reshuffled material; this disc is the reference point they argue with.

Technical Info

• Title: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever — Original Broadway Cast Recording (1993 CD Edition)
• Year: 1993 CD reissue of the 1965 OBCR
• Type: Stage musical cast recording
• Music: Burton Lane
• Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
• Principal cast: Barbara Harris (Daisy/Melinda); John Cullum (Dr. Mark Bruckner)
• Notable numbers on this edition: “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here!”, “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)”, “Tosy and Cosh”, “She Wasn’t You”, “Melinda”, “When I’m Being Born Again”, “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?”, “Come Back to Me”
• Label / Edition: BMG/Legacy compact disc (℗ 1993); original OBCR first issued on LP in 1965
• Availability: Streaming on major DSPs (with ℗ 1993 BMG credit), physical CD widely traded on the secondary market

Questions & Answers

Why “1993” for a 1965 show?

Because this guide focuses on the BMG/Legacy CD reissue from 1993, which re-introduced the OBCR to the digital era while keeping the original sequence.

Is this the same as the 1970 film soundtrack?

No. The film (Streisand/Montand) uses rearranged charts and a trimmed song stack; the Broadway cast album preserves the stage version.

Which number defines Daisy on record?

“What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” — a torch turned self-reckoning.

What’s the show’s big radio-friendly hook?

The title song, introduced by John Cullum here; it became a standards-friendly evergreen.

Does this CD include dialogue?

Only brief transitional material around a few numbers; the emphasis is on complete songs as originally recorded.

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Legacy Recordings / BMG listing; Discogs reissue entry; Apple Music/Spotify OBCR pages showing ℗ 1993; Wikipedia (musical overview & song stack); Columbia/film soundtrack reference.

November, 18th 2025