10 Standout Rock Songs With The Word “Day” In The Title

Feature Photo: James Kovin

After putting together our list of rock songs with “night” in the title, it made sense to follow it with “day.” This is not a strict best-of list: the first half leans toward lesser-known favorites, the second half brings in more familiar songs, and number one solves the Beatles problem by giving several of their “day” songs the spot together.

# 10 – The Day the Earth Stood Still – Willie Nile

Willie Nile wrote “The Day the Earth Stood Still” after seeing normally crowded downtown Manhattan streets almost completely deserted during the COVID-19 lockdown. The title track of his 2021 album was inspired by one of those surreal walks home through New York, when the city seemed to have stopped moving. Nile recorded the album with longtime producer Stewart Lerman.

Read More: Top 10 Willie Nile Songs

# 9 – Day After Tomorrow – Tom Waits

Tom Waits released “Day After Tomorrow” on his 2004 album Real Gone. Written as a letter home from a weary soldier who longs to return to Illinois, the song strips war down to the person caught inside it rather than the politics surrounding it. Its quiet anti-war message makes it one of the most direct songs on an otherwise rough and experimental Waits album.

# 8 – Redemption Day – Sheryl Crow and Johnny Cash

Sheryl Crow first released “Redemption Day” on her 1996 self-titled album after writing it in response to what she had seen during a trip to Bosnia. Johnny Cash recorded the song shortly before his death in 2003, and his version was released posthumously on 2010’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave. Crow later combined Cash’s vocal with her own for the 2019 version on Threads, creating the duet used here.

Read More: Top 10 Johnny Cash Songs

# 7 – Dimming of the Day – Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt recorded Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day” for her 1994 album Longing in Their Hearts, produced by Raitt and Don Was. Thompson originally recorded the song with Linda Thompson for 1975’s Pour Down Like Silver, and he also plays acoustic guitar on Raitt’s version. Raitt keeps the arrangement spare and lets the song’s need for comfort at the end of the day carry the performance.

Read More: 10 Essential Bonnie Raitt Songs

# 6 – Four Days Gone – Buffalo Springfield

Stephen Stills wrote “Four Days Gone” for Buffalo Springfield’s final album, Last Time Around, released in 1968 after the band had already broken up. Stills handles the lead vocal and piano, while Neil Young contributes lead guitar. The song follows a man counting the days while trying to stay ahead of trouble, giving the title a weary sense of time slipping away.

Read More: Top 10 Buffalo Springfield Songs

# 5 – Blue Morning, Blue Day – Foreigner

Foreigner released “Blue Morning, Blue Day” from their 1978 album Double Vision. Written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones and produced by Keith Olsen, Jones, and Ian McDonald, the single reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title matches the song’s mood perfectly, turning morning and day into shorthand for the loneliness left behind after a relationship falls apart.

# 4 – Day by Day – Godspell

I just love this song. You watch the video and it brings you back to the ’70s if you were there. Stephen Schwartz composed “Day by Day” for Godspell, drawing its refrain from a prayer associated with Saint Richard of Chichester, and the original off-Broadway cast version reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.

# 3 – Day After Day – Badfinger

Pete Ham wrote “Day After Day” for Badfinger’s 1971 album Straight Up. George Harrison produced the recording and also played slide guitar, and the single reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 in the UK. It became Badfinger’s biggest U.S. hit and one of the clearest examples of the close musical connection between the band and The Beatles’ Apple Records world.

Read More: Top 10 Badfinger Songs

# 2 – That’ll Be the Day – Linda Ronstadt or Buddy Holly

Hasten Down the Wind by Linda Ronstadt [Music CD]

Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison wrote “That’ll Be the Day,” with producer Norman Petty receiving a co-writing credit, and Holly first recorded it in 1956 before the Crickets cut the hit version in 1957. Linda Ronstadt brought the song back to the charts on her 1976 album Hasten Down the Wind, produced by Peter Asher, and her single reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Either version works for this spot.

# 1 – The Beatles Day Songs

Trying to pick one Beatles song with “day” in the title was pretty tricky, so we decided to list them all. The group gives us “A Day in the Life” (1967), “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964), “Day Tripper” (1965), “Eight Days a Week” (1964), “Good Day Sunshine” (1966), “Things We Said Today” (1964), and “Yesterday” (1965). “A Hard Day’s Night” reached No. 1 in both the UK and United States, “Day Tripper” shared a UK No. 1 double A-side with “We Can Work It Out,” and “Yesterday” became a U.S. No. 1. “A Day in the Life” closes Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and was not originally released as a single, while “Yesterday” features Paul McCartney as the only Beatle on the recording, accompanied by a string quartet. Why pick one? It’s the Beatles.