“Good Days” is a song that has been taking over Tik Tok, and the brains of many people everywhere. SZA’s song is a beautiful masterpiece that makes people still believe in good days. People have been struggling through the pandemic like SZA who said she “genuinely lost her mind in quarantine last year (NBC News).” “Good Days” was a song that was birthed out of SZA having to convince herself that good days still exist. The song is a mantra, a safe haven, and the logic behind a lot of the emotions people have faced this past year. For me, “Good Days” is the extra push to help me deal with my emotions. The song may mean different things for different people at any stage of their lives. I experience the song in a very vivid way, and I am extremely grateful for that. This is my love letter to “Good Days.”
My relationship with the song is a very interesting one. I put off listening to the song in its entirety because of how powerful I knew it would be. I had seen what the song had done for others on Tik Tok and even SZA herself. The first time I listened to the song was months after its December release. That day was a rough one. I was reminiscing about my father who had passed, and I no longer believed in good days. A part of the song says, “Got me a war in my mind,” and that was the epitome of my mind that day. I realized that I wasn’t dealing with my grief, or even vocalizing what I was feeling. I’m so grateful to SZA for putting out a body of work that is a part of my healing process.
The song begins with the words “Good day in my mind, safe to take a step out, get some air now, let your edge out…” This speaks to me because it reminds me that good days exist and that it’s okay to believe that. Then the next line says, “Too soon, I spoke, you be heavy in my mind, can you get the heck out?” This part of the song also speaks to my overarching anxiety and fear that good days will never come. “Good Days” is a song that makes me feel like I am not alone.
SZA had endured things like quarantine and losing her grandmother. I could relate. I lost many intangible things due to the pandemic, and I lost my dad last year as well. Coming into 2021, I felt broken, pessimistic, and unsure. SZA understood my grief and was able to vocalize it in a way that I could not. I genuinely appreciate the work of art that this song is.
“I gotta keep from losing the rest of me,” as she says in the song. Most importantly, I must remember good days are ahead of me and continue to strive for better. I’m so grateful for a song that reminds me to breathe, helps me regain my composure on bad days, take my thoughts out of their compartments. Now when I hear the song, it is a reminder to myself to stay grounded. A reminder to stay positive and remember that I have to go through my hardships in order to overcome them. So, cheers to the good days in my mind, and the ones that will show up in real life someday.