"Days Go By" is a song by Britishelectronic groupDirty Vegas, released as their debut single in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2001. It served as the lead single from theirself-titled debut album (2002). The song initially peaked at number 27 on theUK Singles Chart the same month. The single's artwork was done by American artistRichard Phillips.[2]
Early one morning, a man is wearing a business suit and a well-worn pair of orange high-topChuck Taylor All-Stars trainers. He lays out a cardboard mat in front of a restaurant, turns on a boombox, and starts a routine ofpopping,locking, and doing therobot to the music.
A few people stop to watch. As they do, the man is replaced by a younger version of himself wearing a tracksuit and brand-new orange Chucks, and he beginsbreakdancing to the music. One of the spectators tells the story: one day each year, the man comes to the restaurant and dances on the pavement from sunrise to sunset. He does so in the hope of bringing back a lost girlfriend, who gave him the orange trainers as a present when they were young but who ultimately left him because he "couldn't stop." (What he couldn't stop is left ambiguous.) The music pauses briefly while a few spectators voice their thoughts about the young woman's fate. At the end of the day, two of them leave to get a cup of coffee together. The man in the business suit catches a brief glimpse of his girlfriend's younger self, then he picks up his belongings and leaves.
The video was filmed at Chroni's Famous Sandwich Shop inEast Los Angeles,California. Garland Spencer and Byron McIntyre portrayed the dancer's younger and older selves, respectively.
There are two versions of the music video; one has the three band members observing from a table at the restaurant, while the other replaces those shots with footage of them in a silverMitsubishi Eclipse stopped at a traffic light. In addition to the replaced shots, the Eclipse version of the video includes footage of the car arriving at and departing from a traffic light, suggesting that they arrived in the morning and remained at the light all day to watch the man dance.
AMitsubishi executive saw the music video for "Days Go By" in a hotel room, and personally tracked the group down to procure rights to feature the song in an advertisement.[4] The song was licensed to be used in the Mitsubishi ad, which began airing in early 2002. A New York radio station began playing the song,[5] which was subsequently released to rhythmic and top 40 radio stations in mid-2002.[5] American brand awareness for Mitsubishi went from 44% to 60% following the use of the song in the commercial.[6]
