Album: The Sweetest Days (1994)

Charted: 41 18

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• The title track and lead single from Vanessa Williams' third album, "The Sweetest Days" is a gentle song about a marriage that is sometimes turbulent, but ultimately worthwhile, with the "good old days" currently happening.
  
  By this time, she had put the Miss America scandal behind her (Williams earned the title in 1983 but gave it back when nude photos of her surfaced) and established herself as a singer and actress. "The Sweetest Days" found her embracing the softer sounds that suited her style well. A year later, she had a huge hit with the ballad "Colors Of The Wind" from the Disney movie Pocahontas. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
• Williams could sing, dance, and act, but she left the songwriting to others. The Sweetest Days was written by Phil Galdston, Jon Lind, and Wendy Waldman, the same team that wrote "Save The Best For Last," a #1 hit from her previous album.
• The music video, directed by Kevin Bray, keeps it simple, with Williams looking elegant and reflective as she sings the tune. By this time, VH1 was in most households, providing an outlet for it in America.
  
  Bray is best known for his work in TV (episodes of Insecure, Burn Notice, Black-ish), but was also making music videos at this time. He did De La Soul's "Potholes In My Lawn.

Comments: 3

• Ryan De Haas from MarylandVanessa explained in her concert that that The Sweetest Days was actually written about her children.
• Left High Kick from Middle Class Usa During the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shut in order, I got to think about my life and prior relationships.
  
  Little did I know that looking back now, those times with a certain someone were the sweetest days. She used to read to me from 1001 Arabian nights. I never had someone do that before. I used to gently stroke her head and hold her close before she fell asleep. She would fall asleep instantly. She would ask me to do that. She felt comforted.
  
  I miss those days. My sweetest days.
  
  She’s better off without me though.
• Heavy D from Los AngelesI remember my ex girlfriend and I took a trip down to Orange County / Laguna Niguel one time and we listen to the song outside of one of the well-known steakhouses there. We basically enjoyed this song together and it makes me think of our relationship back then. I think of the times when the relationship was blossoming, a new love blossoming, it was so pure, so clean, innocent, and very very passionate.
  
  The time spent with her in the early years were the sweetest days I’ll ever know. I’ll probably never feel that way again. I never felt that way before her, and I never had anyone talk to me the way she did.
  
  Ultimately, things went South due to other factors but I still think of those early years with her when I hear this song, good memories because they were the sweetest days for sure.
  
  She was as beautiful as Vanessa Williams too, maybe more.

More Songfacts:

Wild ThingTone-Loc

Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" samples Eddie Van Halen's guitar riff from "Jaime's Cryin'."

Red Red WineUB40

UB40's cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" was a minor hit when first released in 1983, but it went to #1 five years later when radio stations in Phoenix started playing it.

YesterdayThe Beatles

The melody to "Yesterday" came to Paul McCartney in a dream, but the lyrics he had to write consciously. His first attempt at the title was "Scrabble Eggs."

Video Killed The Radio StarBuggles

"Video Killed The Radio Star" by Buggles was the first video to air on MTV when the network started broadcasting on August 1, 1981.

The ScientistColdplay

There aren't many songs with a scientist as the main character, but Coldplay's "The Scientist" is one of their biggest hits. The guy in the song is brilliant, but despondent because he's lost his girl after neglecting her for his work.

Cotton Eye JoeRednex

"Cotton Eye Joe" is a folk song dating to the 1800s, but it became a hit when a Swedish act called Rednex did a psychokinetic version in 1994.

Editor's Picks

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.