The Days (song)

"The Days" is a song by Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii, with vocals by English singer Robbie Williams. The song was written by Brandon Flowers, Robbie Williams, Salem Al Fakir, Avicii, and Vincent Pontare, and was produced by Avicii, Fakir and Pontare. The song was played for the first time in Las Vegas, with uncredited vocals by Fakir and Pontare. The song was released worldwide on 3 October 2014, alongside another song, "The Nights" on The Days / Nights EP. A planned release in the United Kingdom on 23 November 2014 was cancelled.

Background and composition
"The Days" is written in the key of C major, at a tempo of 127 BPM. The song was originally written with Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir, but was meant to be a collaboration between Brandon Flowers and Avicii, with Flowers providing the vocals. However, due to Flowers' dissatisfaction with the recording, Avicii brought on a different vocalist, English singer Robbie Williams. According to Fuse, "The Days" opens with "acoustic guitar strums before knocking synths get quickly added to the mix. The track moves into a snap-heavy, piano-led pre-chorus section and later goes to a fizzy, glitch-pop dance breakdown." It was released alongside another song, "The Nights" on The Days / Nights EP, on 3 October 2014. According to the Official Charts Company, "The Days" was intended to be the first single from Avicii's second studio album, Stories (2015), however it only ended up being included as a bonus track on the UK, Russian and some international editions of Stories. In June 2015, the original/demo version of "The Days" featuring vocals from Flowers appeared online. In this version, the middle eight features a sample of the 1996 song "Return of the Mack" by British R&B singer Mark Morrison.

Music video
An official lyric video was also released on YouTube by the official Avicii Vevo channel. In the video, an artist (later confirmed as INO), spray-paints the lyrics of "The Days" in black against a white wall. Near the end of the video, a pan-out reveals the lyrics creating a portrait of Avicii, which is subsequently covered with splashes of coloured paint by the artist.

Track listing
Digital download
 * 1) "The Days" - 4:38

CD single
 * 1) "The Days" (Radio Edit) - 3:45
 * 2) "The Days" (Original Mix) - 4:38
 * 3) "The Days" (Extended Mix) - 5:51

Credits and personnel

 * Brandon Flowers – lyrics, backing vocals
 * Salem Al Fakir – producer
 * Tim Bergling – music, producer
 * Vincent Pontare – producer
 * Robbie Williams – vocals
 * Stuart Hawkes – mastering
 * Ash Pournouri – executive producer

Credits adapted from CD single.