"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.

"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 Woodcruft, 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". Davidf 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 crotchet. 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.

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