"Sun Daze" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

duo

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single "Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

. It is the second single from their second studio album, ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ...

'', which was released on October 14, 2014. The song was written by the duo's members

Tyler Hubbard Tyler Reed Hubbard (born January 31, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as a former member of the Nashville-based duo Florida Georgia Line. Hubbard, a native of Monroe, Georgia, had been involved with music since ...

and Brian Kelley, along with

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer, formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled ''Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

Cary Barlowe Cary Barlowe (born 1982) is an American country music songwriter, and a former member of the rock band Luna Halo. Born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina, Barlowe originally performed with his older brother Nathan in the rock group Lun ...

and

Jesse Frasure Jesse Vernon Frasure (born September 18, 1981), also known as DJ Telemitry, is an American music publisher, record producer, songwriter, and DJ. Biography A Detroit native, Frasure (DJ Telemitry), now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wif ...

History and content

Thematically, the song is about a man who plans to participate in various recreational activities, including

flip cup Flip cup (also called tip cup, canoe, or taps) is a team-based drinking game where players must, in turn, drain a plastic cup of beer and then "flip" the cup so that it lands face-down on the table. If the cup falls off the table, any player can ...

, sexual intercourse, and

substance intoxication Substance intoxication is a transient condition of altered consciousness and behavior associated with recent use of a substance. It is often maladaptive and impairing, but reversible. If the symptoms are severe, the term "substance intoxicatio ...

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

. ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'' describes the song as "

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

-indebted" and said that "While it retains the party friendly vibe of much of FGL’s work, the loose, stripped-down production is a bit of a departure for the duo". The group members told the magazine that “It still kinda bumps and it’s still got a cool guitar line and it’s got the whistles going and it’s still groovy. You can’t not shake your head to that song. It’s just a simple song, man. We just try to be very transparent in the way we write and the way we live. There’s nothing better than just kicking back . . . whatever ‘Sun Daze’ is for that person—staying home, making a drink, playing basketball, whatever it may be.” In an article for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', Emily Yahr cited the presence of the term "getting laid" and the

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

lyric "''I'll sit you up on a kitchen sink / Stick a pink umbrella in your drink''" as examples of increasingly prominent sexual content in country music in the 2010s.

Critical reception

The song received mixed to negative reviews from several critics. Hannah Smith for ''Vinyl Mag'' says "this song sincredibly catchy in the worst way. There’s nothing wrong with party songs, but there comes a time when an artist needs to evaluate the direction their career is heading. No one wants to hear middle-aged people singing about getting laid and stoned, which this song addresses multiple times." Jen Swirsky of ''Country Music Chat'' gave the song a more positive review, writing "Love it or hate it, 'Sun Daze' is witty. Perhaps witty on subjects that may still be a little too liberal for country music, but witty nonetheless." ''

'' reviewer Tammy Ragusa was more moderate, praising the reggae influences of the instrumentation while criticizing the lyrical content. She said that "their continued attempts to establish themselves as bad boys, gratuitously dropping in overt references to getting 'laid' and 'stoned', are beginning to sound more cartoonish." She also wrote that "This is the kind of thing that sells and garners airplay, and 'Sun Daze' will do well for FGL", ultimately grading the song "C+".

Commercial performance

The single has been a commercial success for the duo, peaking at #3 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs chart and #1 on the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart. The song was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

on January 29, 2015, and Platinum on September 15, 2015. As of April 2015, the single has sold 618,000 copies in the United States. Sales figure give
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Music video

The music video was directed by

Marc Klasfeld Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Slipknot, Sum 41, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Michael Bublé, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Kell ...

and premiered in October 2014. Footage from the 2014 installment of

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

Night of Champions is shown in the video, an event which Florida Georgia Line served as guest commentators for as a means of cross-promotion.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Florida Georgia Line 2014 singles Florida Georgia Line songs Song recordings produced by Joey Moi Republic Nashville singles Republic Records singles 2014 songs Songs written by Tyler Hubbard Songs written by Brian Kelley (musician) Songs written by Sarah Buxton Songs written by Cary Barlowe Music videos directed by Marc Klasfeld Songs about cannabis Songs written by Jesse Frasure