Peak
17
Weeks
29
Score
4,019
Chart Year
2002
Wayne Isham directed the video to "Soak Up the Sun", which was filmed on Oahu, Hawaii.[53][54] The first day was rainy, but by the next day, the weather had cleared up. That same day, for Crow's 40th birthday, the music video's crew gave Crow a custom-made surfboard. Speaking of the experience, Crow said, "I couldn't have asked for a sweeter birthday [...] And I couldn't wait to go surfing."[52] During the filming, she rode waves alongside professional surfers such as Malia Jones and Pākē Salmon. To prepare Crow's hair for the video, hairstylist Peter Butler lathered it with Fudge Oomf Booster, then blow-dried it straight. Afterwards, he curled her hair with Velcro rollers, sprayed it with Phytolaque Soie hair spray, and used a curling iron to texture several areas. For Crow's skin, makeup artist Scott Barnes decided to replicate a St. Tropez tan, which he accomplished by applying Body Bling cream. He also used his then-upcoming brand of mascara on Crow's eyelashes. The clothes Crow wore during filming were courtesy of Linda Medvene, who explained, "The concept was to make her look like a rock star and yet fit in with the surfers."[52] The video features numerous clips of surfers riding waves and includes several freeze frames with yellow coloration. During the introduction, Crow retrieves her surfboard from her car and puts on lotion.[55] As she performs the song with her guitar, she is mostly seen on the beach. During the first verse, she is seen in a recreational vehicle (RV).[56] As the first chorus begins, she leaves the RV and prances with her guitar close to the ocean.[57] The second verse features Crow singing by a waterfall, where various people, including herself, jump into the water below.[58] Shortly before the second chorus begins, Crow is seen riding in a car.[59] The sun sets during the final section, where many beachgoers dances around Crow and sing the song with her.[60] The video ends by fading to yellow during a scene where Crow is next to a beach fir
Crow's co-writer, Jeff Trott, came up with the idea for this on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to New York. He told Songfacts: "I'm thinking this is really ironic that I'm leaving Portland being soaked in rain, and I'm actually going to New York to soak up some sun. I'm going to New York to soak up some sun. That's got a ring to it. That's kind of cool. Then I started thinking about the sun, and I started thinking of these Beach Boys-style harmonies. On that five-hour flight, I had come up with the whole song completely in my head, not all the lyrics necessarily. I had a good chunk of the chorus of 'Soak Up The Sun,' but I had harmonies and everything all in my head, and I'm just having to scratch it down on a piece of paper." As Trott and Crow started working on the song together, they started talking about the then-recent Columbine shootings, where two students went on a killing spree at their high school before committing suicide. "We kind of carried that over into the song as the voice of Sheryl as a young teenager with a lot of oddball friends who can't really quite make out why people are the way they are," Trott told us. "There's a reference to 'I've got my 45 on so I can rock on.' The 45 on was like a kid with a gun, originally, and then we thought that's a little scary. We were talking about Columbine and we're like okay I've got my 45 on, so I can rock on, like I can blast you guys. I'm going to blast all the people that are bugging me. That's kind of where we were at with it, and then we said that's just a little too... over the top." The video was part of a promotional deal with American Express. During the shoot, footage was also collected for an American Express commercial, which came out looking very similar to Crow's video. American Express helped pay the production costs, hoping that viewers would remember their product every time they saw the video, since it looked so much like the commercial. MTV does not allow sponsors to pay for videos, but because the card never appeared in the video, they didn't know about the deal and gave it plenty of airplay. Sting had a similar deal with Jaguar in his video for "Desert Rose." In the video (directed by Wayne Isham) Sheryl Crow showed off more skin than she ever had before. She also posed provocatively for the cover of Stuff magazine around the time this was released. She said she did it to prove that women over the age of 40 could still be sexy. >> Crow had some high-profile help with the backing vocals on C'mon C'mon. Liz Phair sang backup on this track, and Stevie Nicks sang on the title track and "Diamond Road." In 2001, Sheryl helped Stevie write and produce some of her album Trouble In Shangri-La. This casual song about enjoying the simple things in life was very marketable for Crow, as it enjoyed success on pop radio and was a #1 on the Adult Top 40 chart. Trott was shocked when he first saw the music video, which completely dulled the song's edge and transformed it into a fun-in-the-sun surf song. "I thought, 'Oh my God, Sheryl's surfing. What the hell is that? It's not even close to what it's about.' I think having Sheryl on a surfboard, being at the beach, is probably more palatable then having her in a trench coat shooting people in a lunch cafeteria. Not that I thought that that's what the song was, but my impression from writing it was that it was much edgier than what came across. The video of course is like, hey, we're having a holiday. We're surfing. We're catching some sun. Everything's cool. Strum acoustic guitar. Like, wow! That's not even close to what we thought it was about." Best Buy used this song in television commercials to pitch their electronic consumer goods, conveniently ignoring the song's message of enjoying the simple things in life: I don't have digital I don't have diddly squat It's not having what you want It's wanting what you've got Crow performed a kid-friendly version on Sesame Street in 2003, joining Elmo and the gang to sing about the adventures of the letter I in "I Soaks Up The Sun."
My friend the communist Holds meetings in his RV I can't afford his gas So I'm stuck here watching TV I don't have digital I don't have diddly squat It's not having what you want It's wanting what you've got I'm gonna soak up the sun I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame For every time I feel lame, I'm looking up I'm gonna soak up the sun I'm gonna soak up the sun I've got a crummy job It don't pay near enough To buy the things it'd take To win me some of your love Every time I turn around I'm looking up, you're looking down Maybe something's wrong with you That makes you act the way you do I'm, I'm gonna soak up the sun I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame For every time I feel lame, I'm looking up I'm gonna soak up the sun While it's still free I'm gonna soak up the sun Before it goes out on me Don't have no master suite But I'm still the king of me You have a fancy ride, but baby I'm the one who has the key Every time I turn around I'm looking up, you're looking down Maybe something's wrong with you That makes you act the way you do Maybe I am crazy too I'm gonna soak up the sun I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame For every time I feel lame, I'm looking up I'm gonna soak up the sun I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up (to lighten up) I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame For every time I feel lame, I'm looking up (I'm looking up) I'm, I'm gonna soak up the sun I got my 45 on So I can rock on
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 13, 2002 | 73 | 53 |
| 2 | Apr 20, 2002 | 68 | 58 |
| 3 | Apr 27, 2002 | 66 | 60 |
| 4 | May 4, 2002 | 55 | 71 |
| 5 | May 11, 2002 | 47 | 79 |
| 6 | May 18, 2002 | 40 | 86 |
| 7 | May 25, 2002 | 34 | 92 |
| 8 | Jun 1, 2002 | 32 | 94 |
| 9 | Jun 8, 2002 | 28 | 98 |
| 10 | Jun 15, 2002 | 27 | 99 |
| 11 | Jun 22, 2002 | 22 | 104 |
| 12 | Jun 29, 2002 | 19 | 107 |
| 13 | Jul 6, 2002 | 19 | 107 |
| 14 | Jul 13, 2002 | 18 | 108 |
| 15 | Jul 20, 2002 | 17 | 109 |
| 16 | Jul 27, 2002 | 19 | 107 |
| 17 | Aug 3, 2002 | 22 | 104 |
| 18 | Aug 10, 2002 | 22 | 104 |
| 19 | Aug 17, 2002 | 24 | 102 |
| 20 | Aug 24, 2002 | 25 | 101 |