Good Days

## Audio

"**Good Days**" is a song by SZA. It was released through Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA on December 25th, 2020, as the lead single from her second studio album, *SOS* (2022). SZA wrote the song alongside Jacob Collier, who provides background vocals, and with producers Carter Lang, Los Hendrix, and Nascent. "Good Days" is an alternative R&B and alternative pop 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 at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

## Background and release

SZA first teased the song on July 15, 2020, via her Instagram stories. "Good Days" was originally featured at the tail end of the music video for "Hit Different", 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", and third in total including "What Lovers Do" with Maroon 5. The song also reached a peak of number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number seven on the Global 200, her highest peak on either chart to date.

## 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, [and] YOUR 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 mushroom-induced psychedelic experience. It features scenes of SZA dancing while buried waist up in an oversized *Alice in Wonderland*-inspired garden and pole-dancing in a library. Jacob Collier cameos in the video as the man within the green television. In a similar fashion to the video for "Hit Different", the video ends with a teaser of "Shirt" and features SZA pole-dancing at an empty gas station while bathed in pink lighting.

## Theme

On “Good Days,” SZA tries to move away from past and present negativity, looking forward to the future instead.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1: SZA]**

Good day in my mind, safe to take a step out

Get some air now, let yo edge out

Too soon, I spoke

You be heavy in my mind, can you get the heck out?

I need rest now, got me bummed out

You so, you so, you

Baby, baby, babe

I've been on my empty mind shit

**[Pre-Chorus: SZA]**

I try to keep from losin' the rest of me

I worry that I wasted the best of me on you, babe

You don't care

Said, "Not tryna be a nuisance, this is urgent"

Tryna make sense of loose change

Got me a war in my mind

Gotta let go of weight, can't keep what's holdin' me

Choose to watch while the world break up in front of me

[Chorus: SZA, *Jacob Collier* & **Both**]

All the while, I'll await my armored fate with a smile

**Still wanna try, still believe in**

*Good days*, good days, always

Always inside (**Always in my mind, always in my mind, mind**)

Good day living in my mind

[Verse 2: SZA, *Jacob Collier*]

Tell me I'm not my fears, my limitations

I disappear if you let me

Feelin' like, yeah (*On your own*)

Feelin' like Jericho

Feelin' like Job when he lost his shit

Gotta hold my own, my cross to bear alone, I

Ooh, played and dipped, way to kill the mood

Know you like that shit

Can't groove it, ba-baby

Heavy on my empty mind shit

[Pre-Chorus: SZA]

I gotta keep from losin' the rest of me (Rest of me)

Still worry that I wasted the best of me on you, babe

You don't care

Said, "Not tryna be a nuisance, this is urgent" (It's urgent)

Tryna make sense of loose change

Got me a war in my mind (My mind)

Gotta let go of weight, can't keep what's holdin' me

Choose to watch while the world break up in front of me

[Chorus: SZA, *Jacob Collier* & **Both**]

All the while, I'll await my armored fate with a smile

**Still wanna try, still believe in**

*Good days*, good days, always (Good days on my mind, good days on my mind)

Sunny inside (**Always in my mind, always in my mind, mind**)

Good day living in my mind

**[Verse 3: SZA]**

Gotta get right

Tryna free my mind before the end of the world

I don't miss no ex, I don't miss no text

I choose not to respond

I don't regret, just pretend shit never happened

Half of us layin' waste to our youth, it's in the present

(Na-na, na-na, na-na, na)

Half of us chasin' fountains of youth and it's in the present now

**[Outro: Jacob Collier]**

Always in my mind, always in my mind, mind

You've been making me feel like I'm

Always in my mind, always in my mind, mind

## Personnel

* Solána Rowe – vocals, songwriting, composition
* Jacob Collier – vocals, songwriting, composition
* Carlos Muñoz – songwriting, composition
* Carter Lang – songwriting, composition, production
* Christopher Ruelas – songwriting, composition
* Loshendrix – production
* Nascent – production
* Shawn Everett – mixer
* Joe Visciano - additional mixing
* Rob Bisel – recording engineering, vocal production