"Best Day of My Life" is a song by American indie rock band American Authors.
The song was written by band members Zac Barnett, Dave Rublin, Matt Sanchez, and James Adam
Shelley, along with producers Aaron Accetta and Shep Goodman.
"Best Day of My Life" was originally recorded for release as a single by Mercury Records
and Island Records on March 19, 2013, and later appeared as the second track on the
band's third extended play American Authors and the third track on their debut studio
album, Oh, What a Life.
Music and lyrics Zac Barnett told an interviewer for Blueprint
Magazine, "Recently we have been experimenting with a lot of different instruments including
banjo, mandolin and various percussion toys.
Africa-influenced rhythms have been taking more of a prominent role in our songs which
has then opened up our ideas on melodies.
We're always open to trying new things and we get very excited to learn new instruments
and experiment with new sounds.
... "Best Day of My Life" was an idea that James and I had been messing around with.
We had the pre-chorus and chorus but once we showed the idea to the rest of the guys
they came in and restructured the verses and added the stuttered "life" chorus.
Looking back on it, the song changed a lot from the initial idea but that's what I love
so much about it.
I'll always remember that song being started on acoustic guitars in my tiny Bushwick bedroom,
but all of us together as a band really took the song to a completely different place."
(Barnett mentions "the stuttered 'life' chorus"—as in "the best day of my li-i-i-i-ife"; the
"stuttering" also occurs in a recurrent "whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh"—by which he refers to a lyrical tradition of
stuttering in rock music, popularized by Buddy Holly, David Bowie, Elton John, and others.)
Bill Lamb, writing for About.com, praised the song's "opening banjo lick" as "a perfect
first hook," its "irrepressibly upbeat lyrics," and "a blend of key elements from across a
wide range of current successful pop music."
He added, "The bass drum heavy backing percussion sounds a little like Imagine Dragons, and
backed by a pop-punk style "Whoa Oh" chorus, "Best Day Of My Life" takes some of the most
distinctive elements of a variety of current pop hit genres and blends them into something
new."
Packaging The single art for the "Best Day of My Life"
single features a photograph of the skyline of Midtown Manhattan, with the Empire State
Building in the center of the shot, from Brooklyn looking north.
The photograph is overwritten by the American Authors logo on the majority of the photograph
and the words "American Authors", with "Best Day of My Life" written underneath it.
Commercial performance The song received significant airplay on the
radio for it to debut at No. 49 in the Hot Rock Songs and No. 40 in the Adult Top 40
for charts dated October 5, 2013.
It began climbing the various rock charts and became a crossover hit on both alternative
rock and Top 40 stations, becoming big hits on those formats and peaking at No. 2, No.
18 and No. 4 on the Hot Rock Songs, Alternative Songs, and Mainstream Top 40 charts.
It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 93 for the chart dated November 30, 2013,
and eventually peaked at No. 11 on the charts dated April 19 and May 10, 2014.
By March, 2014 it had reached No. 1 on the Adult Top 40.
The song reached its first million sales mark in the U.S. in March, 2014, and its second
million in August, 2014.
The song was certified double platinum on July 16, 2014 by the Recording Industry Association
of America.
The song debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at No. 64 in December, 2013, and peaked at No.
10 in April, 2014.
Usage in media In media, the song has been featured in television
advertisements for retail home improvement store Lowe's in the United States, which were
aired during the Superbowl, automotive manufacturer Hyundai in the United Kingdom and France,
and communications service provider Telecom New Zealand in New Zealand.
The song additionally appears in the opening sequence for ESPN's coverage of the 2013 World
Series of Poker.
It appears in the movie trailer for the 2013 Touchstone Pictures film Delivery Man, as
well as the trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
It was used in the Center Parcs adverts in the United Kingdom in early 2014.
The song was performed by Blaine Anderson and Sam Evans in the 2014 Glee episode New
New York.
The song has also been used in the Vampire Diaries episode "Total Eclipse of the Heart".
NHL on NBC has been using this song as a theme song for the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Justin Yates covered the song, with a music video, as part of a tourist attraction for
Lake County, Illinois, in June, 2014.
"Best Day Of My Life" was played at the conclusion of the 2015 Miss America pageant, during Kira
Kazantsev's crowning moment.
The song is used by Nissan Motor Indonesia for their Datsun Go advertisement.
Music video The music video was released on October 18,
2013 via YouTube.
The video was filmed in Brooklyn, New York.
It depicts a man engaging in various activities with a large furry monster, such as drinking
in a bar called Sweet & Vicious in Nolita, playing basketball, looking at the Brooklyn
Bridge, getting matching tattoos, visiting a strip club, and going to a playground.
At the end of the video it is implied that the monster is his imaginary friend, but then
the puzzled bartender finds a photo of the two.
Zac Barnett, in an interview with the Jim & Kim Morning Show, explained that the video
starts in Nolita and ends up in Brooklyn, and the journey of the man and his monster
pal is the focus of the video.
That journey is interweaved with shots of the band playing and singing as they also
stroll through New York.
"We started in Manhattan and walked across the bridge to the party which was down in
DUMBO.
What it was, we were kind of trying to do a reverse Where The Wild Things Are type thing.
You know, instead of a human going into a monster dream world, what would it be like
if a monster came into our world and experienced New York City and Brooklyn and all of these
things.
And playing off of that, it was kind of like an alter ego of a dude and these two, together,
just showing each other the best days of their lives."
Common Sense Media reviewed the video for parents: "There's nothing iffy to worry about
in the song's upbeat, clean lyrics about having a positive outlook on life and never giving
up, but the official music video shows a man and his furry monster friend drinking in a
bar, going to a strip club, and getting tattoos.
Kids will be more entertained by the adorable dog-version music video for Best Day of My
Life, which shows one lucky bulldog's adoption day in an effort to promote pet adoption."
Track listing Personnel
Adapted from Oh, What a Life liner notes.
Charts Certifications
Release history References
External links "Best Day of My Life" Official Music Video
on YouTube