"Days Go By" is a song co-written and recorded by Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released in June 2004 as the first single from his 2004 album Be Here. It became Urban's fifth number one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in late-2004, spending a four-week stay at that position. Urban wrote this song with Monty Powell.
| "Days Go By" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Keith Urban | ||||
| from the album Be Here | ||||
| Released | 29 June 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 | |||
| Genre | Country, country pop | |||
| Length | 3:44 | |||
| Label | Capitol Nashville | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Monty Powell Keith Urban | |||
| Producer(s) | Dann Huff Keith Urban | |||
| Keith Urban singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Content
Starting with an acoustic guitar phrase and then built in D major around Urban's typical up-tempo banjo/mandolin-driven riffs with exuberant vocal yelps and electric guitar fills, the song's message is a variation on the carpe diem theme, as played off the song's title phrase.
Music video
A portion of the song's music video shows Urban appearing to walk forwards, while everyone else about him is walking backwards. This segment was actually filmed in the opposite direction, with Urban walking backwards.[1]
In another part of the video, Urban makes a hand gesture, holding it parallel to the ground while raising and lowering it in an undulating motion, illustrating the line "I can feel it flying like a hand out the window in the wind". This inspired a collaborative project in which Keith Urban fans videotaped themselves imitating the motion while doing purposeful things most often by visiting recognizable landmarks (such as the Washington Monument, Yellowstone National Park, The Parthenon) and the most modest places, like Paducah, Kentucky. A compilation containing those videos was seen on the large image wall backdrop as the song was performed during Keith Urban's 2007 Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour.[2]
Other performances
"Days Go By" is one of Urban's songs with the most pop and rock crossover appeal, and was featured in his sets at both the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia in 2005 and the Live Earth concert in New Jersey in 2007.
Chart performance
On the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the song reached number one and spent four consecutive weeks at that position until it was knocked off by "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans.
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[4] | 31 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2004) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Country Songs (Billboard)[6] | 10 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[7] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
- ^ CMT.com : Keith Urban : 2005 CMT Music Awards Backstage With the Winners
- ^ Keith Urban debuts fan video at show
- ^ CMT Music Awards : Country Music Television Awards News Headlines : CMT.com
- ^ "Keith Urban Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ "Keith Urban Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ "Best of 2004: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- ^ "American single certifications – Keith Urban – Days Go By". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 3 August 2020.