The Meaning Behind “Everyday” by ASAP Rocky and the Rapper Escaping Chaos with High-Profile Friends

In “Everyday”, ASAP Rocky escapes the chaos of fame. And the New York rapper gets some help from a few high-profile friends: Rod Stewart, Miguel, and Mark Ronson. The cloudy track combines a trap beat with Stewart’s 70s blues rock. It’s nostalgic and relaxed, but the verses reveal the mounting anxieties that led Rocky on a hazy quest for peace.

Feeling Fine

The track begins with Rod Stewart singing the hook from “In A Broken Dream”, the 1970 song he’d first recorded with Australian rock band Python Lee Jackson.

Then Miguel echoes Stewart’s chorus, setting the stage for ASAP Rocky’s break from fame. In Miguel’s voice, you can hear the R&B that helped form early rock and roll.

Every day, I spend my time,
Drinking wine, feeling fine.
Waiting here to find the sign,
That I can understand. Yes, I am.

ASAP Rocky raps about his state of mind and how addiction gives one the illusion of escaping problems. The verse oscillates between lawsuits and redemption, God and mortality.

Off again, there he go,
To another dimension, my mind.
Body, soul imprisoned, my eye.
Probably going ballistic, but listen, I’m missing a couple of screws
They ain’t never do drilling true, you been sippin’ away at the truth
A double shot of wisdom’ll do.

Here, Rocky calls out the imitators and references Donna Goudeau, whose 2011 arrest went viral in 2014. “P.O.P., hold it down,” she says in the video clip after telling reporters that she’s legally blind.

How it feel to get a deal and come back,
And the whole hood look like you?
Screaming, “Pimp Squad, hold it down!”
Can’t drive, b***h, I’m legally blind, b***h.

I Got the Love Birds Chirping at the Window

Miguel sings that there’s no time for romantic entanglements. No hurry. No rush. Just a fresh glass with Stewart and the ease of lazing about the day.

I got the love birds chirping at the window (Whoo! Whoo!)
But I don’t need love no more.
I’ll be fine, sipping wine,
Taking time slow.

“Everyday” is ASAP Rocky’s survival anthem. It appears on his 2015 album, At. Long. Last. ASAP.

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival