Days Go By by Dirty Vegas

Album: Dirty Vegas (2002)

Charted: 16 14

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Songfacts®:

Dirty Vegas vocalist Steve Smith wrote this. He has said that it is a personal song, but in his case, it had a happy ending.
Dirty Vegas formed when DJs Paul Harris and Ben Harris (no relation) saw Smith perform and asked him to join them. Paul and Ben had been recording as The Hydrogen Rockers. Smith brought "Days Go By" to the studio the first time they worked together.
Before this became a hit, the group released it as The Hydrogen Rockers. It became a dance hit, as many DJs used it at clubs. The group later changed their name to Dirty Vegas and released a different mix of this.
The group recorded this into a computer using Pro Tools software. This let them work on the song and make lots of changes without paying for time in a traditional recording studio.
The 3 members of the group are from the London area.
The video tells the story of a middle-aged man who break-dances all day once a year in the same spot he did in his youth in hopes that the woman he let go will come back to him. The video uses text to tell the story. The group is in the video only briefly - they sat in the car at the stoplight in the first few seconds of the video. >>
Suggestion credit:
Jenny - Miami, FL
The video was first shown at RESFEST, a traveling show of short films from around the world. It was a huge hit and gained the attention of MTV, which put it in rotation.
As a result of the buzz created at RESFEST, a representative from Mitsubishi noticed the video and arranged to use the song in a commercial for the Eclipse. The ad shows a woman dancing wildly in the passenger seat as a man drives around, presumably looking for a club. It became a very popular spot in the US, and gave the song a great deal of exposure. Shortly after the ad appeared, many radio stations started playing the song.
When the commercial started airing, this became very much associated with Mitsubishi, who then used it in other ads to promote the Eclipse.
Dirty Vegas had not yet finished their CD when this became a surprise hit.
An acoustic version is included as a bonus track on the CD.
In 2003, this won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

Comments: 8

Rich from Mexico City, Mxas it has been discused in the comments.. there are two versions of the video, the one which is referenced in here is the later one.. the one they sit on the car, in the first one they were inside the dinner place. It was a pretty surprising hit for them, as in the USA, at the time, it wasn't that common for electronica/dance music to cross over to the mainstream i n such a manner.. that alone launched them a full on contract with EMI, they did their first album for the label while the song had been already released, and it did pretty well in the US.. as far as I remember it was number 1 on an extinct billboard chart called electronica... the thing is people who bought it wasn't just die hard fans of the music.. they just wanted the song and there wasn't itunes back then.. die hard dance music/electronica fans of the time, most probably bought the single... so, when they released their second album, their fate was already written, didn't sold that well, at least for big label expectations, and they were dropped off.. that doesn't mean they didn't gain a couple fans on the road. Later on they released on independent labels, and have had moderate success with some of their tunes . That being said, of them all, Paul Harris, has been the most prolific trough all this time, writing/co-writing songs for big names, even k-pop artists.
Greg from Richmond VaLove this song and Video
Leah from Humboldt, Iai adore this song.
Claire from Oak Ridge, TnI loved this song and video. Why can't some things musically be more like '02?
Ashley from Moncton, CanadaI have to agree, the bass in this song is incredible, it's a really good song, and I don't know why I like it, because I don't like this kind of music usually, but this song has so much bass and it's kind of trippy, so I like it. Recap: BASS=AWESOMENESS.
Samuel from Lincoln Park, MiIn the dance game "Dance Dance Revolution Max 2" (DDRMAX2) for the PS2, a shortened version of this song can be danced to. It also plays a shortened version of the music video as you dance.
Chris from Hull, MaThe bass in this song is incredible.
Kris from Toronto, Canadasince the commercial has caught on the video has been altered. It's subtle, but the difference is enormous. In the older video the band sat in the diner, watching the man dance, in the current version they sit watching him dance from the comfort of their Mitsubishi . . . lame lame LAME.

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