Cigarette Daydreams
"Cigarette Daydreams" is a song by American alternative rock band Cage the Elephant. Produced by Jay Joyce, it was released as the third single from the band's third studio album Melophobia on August 26, 2014. It topped the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the United States, becoming the second number-one single from Melophobia, following the album's single "Come a Little Closer", and the band's fifth overall chart-topper.
In late 2024 it became the band's first song to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Writing and background
Singer Matt Shultz has stated that the song is inspired by a "personal experience" and that the words came to him naturally. After he began writing, Shultz phoned the album's producer who stated "Matt, finish the song right now! Just do it." Shultz also noted that the song came from a desire to "be transparent and speak from naked honesty".The song's background is rooted in a softer, more melancholic, brooding sound distinct from the band's typical style, incorporating nostalgic black and white imagery in its music video, which depicts a fractured, hallucinatory love story.