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:

Bitter Sweet SymphonyThe Verve

"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.

ScreamMichael Jackson

The video for Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream" in 1995 was the most expensive ever made at the time, costing $7 million.

Beverly HillsWeezer

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo wrote "Beverly Hills" after seeing a photo of the group Wilson Phillips and imagining what it would be like to marry someone famous.

BelieveCher

When "Believe" hit #1 in America, it made Cher, age 52, the oldest woman ever to top the chart.

Don't Go Breaking My HeartElton John and Kiki Dee

Elton John had a huge hit duetting with Kiki Dee on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," but he's also performed it with RuPaul and Miss Piggy.

When I'm 64The Beatles

In The Beatles' "When I'm 64," Paul McCartney asks a woman if she'll still be there for him when he's 64. In 2006, he got his answer when shortly before his 64th birthday, he and Heather Mills separated.

Editor's Picks

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Chris IsaakSongwriter Interviews

Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.