"Good Days" is a song by American singer SZA. It was released through

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...

and

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

on December 25, 2020, as the lead single from her second studio album, '' SOS'' (2022). SZA wrote the song alongside

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...

, who provides background vocals, and with producers Carter Lang, Los Hendrix, and Nascent. "Good Days" is a

alternative R&B Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, hipster R&B, dark R&B, emo R&B and left-field R&B) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and came to pro ...

and

alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

song. "Good Days" was a commercial success and peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming SZA's first solo top ten hit and third overall on the chart. Outside the United States, it also reached the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore, and peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Global 200. The song was met with critical acclaim and was nominated for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

Background and release

SZA first teased the song on July 15, 2020, via her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

stories. "Good Days" was originally featured at the tail end of the music video for "

Hit Different "Hit Different" is a single by American singer SZA featuring fellow American singer Ty Dolla $ign. The singers wrote the song with Rob Bisel and producers The Neptunes. The song was recorded at the home of American record producer DJ Khaled and ...

", released in September 2020, leading to speculation among listeners that it would serve as a B-side to that single. On October 21, 2020, SZA explained that the song was "in clearance" for release. A week before release, she confirmed the track to come out before 2021. The song was eventually released as a surprise drop on Christmas Day 2020. Upon release, the singer revealed that she started writing the song during a session on Carter Lang's birthday and "finished it randomly recently".

Composition

Dubbed a "nostalgic track", "Good Days" sees SZA singing about "former love, soul searching, and rejoicing carefreely" over "guitar-tinged riff plays", while she makes use of her "dreamy vocals". Compared to its predecessor, the song "manages to hit much more of a melodic, narrative-driven tone that puts it more in line with her CTRL output". The accending tone inserted at the end of the song is an easter egg of Jacob Collier's song In Too Deep.

Chart performance

In the United States, "Good Days" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 38 as the week's highest debut. The song rose to number 23 the following week. The song later reached a new peak at number 9 on the Hot 100, making it SZA's first top ten single as a solo artist, second top 10 as a lead artist following "

All the Stars "All The Stars" is a song recorded by American rapper Kendrick Lamar and American singer SZA. Written by Lamar, SZA, Sounwave, and Al Shux and produced by the latter two, the song was released on January 4, 2018, as the lead single to the soun ...

", and third in total including "

What Lovers Do "What Lovers Do" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American singer SZA. It was released on August 30, 2017, as the third single from the band's sixth studio album '' Red Pill Blues'' (2017). The song contains an interpolation of the 20 ...

" with

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

. The song also reached a peak of number three on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart and number seven on the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

, her highest peak on either chart to date.

Accolades

Music videos

Two music videos were released for "Good Days". Both videos were directed by SZA.

Official fan video

On January 13, 2021, SZA tweeted a request for fans to submit videos of their "happiest, saddest, ndYOUR UGLIEST moments" to an email address, with a deadline of Saturday at midnight. The fan video was released on February 10, 2021, and featured a compilation of videos submitted by fans lip-syncing to the song as well as featuring the aforementioned moments intercut with behind-the-scenes footage of the official video.

Music video

On March 5, 2021, the official music video was released. The video takes place with SZA experiencing a

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-induced

psychedelic experience A psychedelic experience (known colloquially as a trip) is a temporary altered state of consciousness induced by the consumption of a psychedelic substance (most commonly LSD, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, or DMT). For example, an acid tr ...

. It features scenes of SZA dancing while buried waist up in an oversized ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

''-inspired garden and

pole-dancing Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered on a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in gentleman's clubs as erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated dance studios ...

in a library.

cameos in the video as the man within the green television. In a similar fashion to the video for "

", the video ends with a teaser of an upcoming song, popularly known as "Shirt" or "Bloodstain", which went viral on TikTok in 2020. The ending teaser features SZA pole-dancing at an empty gas station while bathed in pink lighting.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. * Solána Rowe – vocals, songwriting, composition *

– vocals, songwriting, composition * Carlos Muñoz – songwriting, composition * Carter Lang – songwriting, composition, production * Christopher Ruelas – songwriting, composition * Loshendrix – production * Nascent – production *

Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Ever ...

– mixer * Joe Visciano - additional mixing * Rob Bisel – recording engineering, vocal production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs SZA songs Jacob Collier songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Jacob Collier Songs written by SZA Top Dawg Entertainment singles