Songfacts®:

• Mac Miller's first official posthumous single since his death in September 2018 reveals the rapper's depressed mindset. He wishes he could get a break from all those negative feelings but can't stop himself "always trying to figure everything out." As the introspective '70s rock-inspired track progresses, Miller talks about his desire to come out of his funk and experience the many positive aspects of the world he lives in.
• During the chorus, Miller recounts how people are constantly on him to give them "good news" instead of hearing about how he really feels. A manic-depressive, Miller's extreme moods often made others uncomfortable.
• Miller's estate released the song as the lead single from Circles. The rapper was working on the album at the time of his untimely passing; he envisaged it as a companion to his 2018 album Swimming.
• Jon Brion (Kanye West, Fiona Apple) completed "Good News" along with the rest of Circles. The LA producer had been working with Miller on the record, and he based the posthumous work on the pair's time and conversations together.
• The music video, directed by Anthony Gaddis and Eric Tilford, features clips of Miller recording music, plus some colorful animated landscapes. The directors pepper familiar Mac imagery throughout the visual. According to the press release, it details the rapper's life in a "poignant six-minute, abstract exploration of iconic themes and images through Miller's career."
• Mac Miller's demo comprised him singing some lyrics, but no chorus, over a very minimal track. He asked Jon Brion to add some more music. The producer told Apple Music he started to play some stuff on the keyboard while watching the rapper's body language to see if he was happy or not. Miller responded enthusiastically, came into the control room and started singing the chorus over Brion's instrumentation. The producer loved it and told him to grab the mic so he could get it on tape.
  
  Miller was a little unsure, at first, thinking the hook would suit more a different song, but eventually saw the sense in it and laid the track - chorus and all - down.
• The song became Mac Miller's first ever Top 20 hit as a lead artist when it debuted at #17 on the Hot 100. His previous highest-charting single as a lead artist was "Self Care," which reached #33 in September 2018 in the wake of his drug overdose death. Miller was a featured artist on Ariana Grande's 2013 single "The Way," which peaked at #9.