Released: 2022
“Good Days” by SZA leans heavily into introspection and self-reflection. Swathed in metaphors, the song is a rich commentary on heartbreak, personal growth, and finding the strength to move forward. It’s a journey through a mind grappling with the vestiges of a failed relationship and wrestling with hope in the face of setbacks.
The opening lines, “Good day in my mind, safe to take a step out. Get some air now, let your edge out”, sets the tone for the self-reflection that pervades the song. SZA is stepping out into her thoughts and letting her guard down, exposing her vulnerabilities. When she says, “Can you get the heck out? I need rest now, got me bummed out,” she’s talking about the exhausting mental weight that past heartbreak can bring, it hinders her from enjoying the ‘good day’ she’s trying to create for herself mentally.
The repeated lines “I worry that I wasted the best of me on you, baby. You don’t care.” signify regret over investing time and energy in a relationship that didn’t reciprocate her feelings. The internal war that she mentions, “Got me a war in my mind”, is the constant tug of war between wanting to let go of the past (the weight) and holding onto it. She’s like a spectator to her own destruction, “Choose to watch. While the world break up and fall on me”.
SZA’s resilience shines through in the lines “All the while, I’ll await my armored fate with a smile. Still wanna try, still believe in (good days), good days, always.” Despite setbacks, she chooses optimism; she’s prepared to don her metaphorical armor to face whatever comes her way with a smile and belief in better days.
When SZA mentions, “Feelin’ like (on your own), feelin’ like Jericho, feelin’ like Job when he lost his shit”, she’s infusing Biblical references. Jericho, a city in the Bible, was brought down by sound, symbolizing how words or thoughts can bring someone down. Job was a man who lost everything but never lost faith, echoing SZA’s persistence to hold onto hope amidst loss. The line ultimately underlines the feeling of being alone in struggle and hardship.
The lyrics “I 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” encapsulate SZA’s resolve in freeing herself from the vestiges of her past and moving forward. She’s made the decision not to pay heed to the remnants of her prior relationship, in essence, choosing herself.
The closing verse, “Half of us chasin’ fountains of youth and it’s in the present right now” signifies the paradox of desiring eternal youth while living in the present moment, which is where youth is experienced. It’s a statement on the human tendency to chase after fleeting feelings, like the ecstasy of young love, instead of accepting and living in the present.
“Good Days” is very much a self-revelatory track that sees SZA grappling with her emotions and mental state after enduring heartbreak. She takes us through her internal struggles and her determination to find solace within herself, underscoring the universal human experience of navigating past regrets and envisioning better days.
