Another Day of Sun

"Another Day of Sun" is the opening number from the 2016 musical film La La Land. The ensemble number portrays drivers in a Los Angeles traffic jam on a highway ramp singing and dancing about their aspirations to succeed in Hollywood. The song was filmed on location on a 130-foot-high express ramp of the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange[1][2] in three shots, edited with hidden cuts to give the illusion of a single six-minute take.[3] The song was composed by Justin Hurwitz with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and choreography by Mandy Moore.[4]

"Another Day of Sun"
Song by cast of La La Land
from the album La La Land: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
ReleasedDecember 9, 2016 (2016-12-09)
GenreMusical theater
Soundtrack
Length3:48
Composer(s)Justin Hurwitz
Lyricist(s)
Audio sample
"Another Day of Sun"
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Composition and lyrics

Hurwitz noted the tension in the song between the aspirations of the singers and the uncertain outcome of their efforts, noting "It’s an optimistic song, but it’s also about unfulfilled dreams."[5] Paul said, "You pursue that dream, and you go to bed and get up the next day, and it’s a gorgeous day. It encourages you in one breath, and in another breath doesn’t acknowledge that you just failed miserably. You wake up and it doesn’t match your mood. It’s a bright and shiny day."[4]

The song is written in the key of E♭ major, with a tempo of 126 beats per minute. It generally follows an A♭–B♭–Cm–Gm chord progression, and has a vocal range for the various parts of G3–C5.[6] Hurwitz composed the song with a fast-paced tempo predominantly using major keys, but often using minor keys as well, making it "more bittersweet than it may seem on its face" according to Hurwitz.[7] The song also has densely layered background vocals and a full 95-piece orchestra and 40-person choir.[7][8] Hurwitz tried to feature different elements of the orchestration as the visuals followed different members of the ensemble.[7]

Shooting and choreography
The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, where the scene with the song was filmed.
A view from below of the ramp used for the shooting

The sequence – the first of the film to be shot – was filmed over two days in August 2015. The song was filmed on a 130-foot-high express ramp of the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange between the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110) and the Glenn Anderson Freeway (Interstate 105) in South Los Angeles. The ramp was closed for the two full days of filming.[1][2] The rest of the highway was left open, so that normal traffic is visible in the background.[9] The sequence was initially planned to be on a ground-level ramp,[10] but it was changed to the interchange to give a sense of the vastness of the city.[9] Director Damien Chazelle also likened the number's location on a highway to the Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of Oz.[11]

The number was shot in three takes, which were edited to give the appearance of a single six-minute long take.[3] Moore spent between three and four months preparing for the shoot, which involved over 60 cars, 30 dancers, and 100 extras. The number was choreographed with a single dancer at its beginning, with other dancers joining in incrementally, to avoid having everyone abruptly start dancing at once.[1] The ensemble also included several stunt performers.[12] Initial rehearsals with ten dancers occurred in a studio parking lot using about 20 staff members' cars.[1]

The number was initially planned to be preceded by an overture, but during editing it was found that this slowed the opening too much. Film editor Tom Cross noted that Chazelle "realized that for people to accept that it's a musical, you have to announce it confidently at the beginning," and that displaying the film's title on the final beat of the song caused to serve as an overture itself.[13]

On screen, dancer Reshma Gajjar appears to sing the opening lines (and several others after that), but the lead female vocals were actually provided by vocalist Angela Parrish, who never appears in the film.[14] The filmmakers had hoped to find a woman "who could both sing and dance on camera" to launch the opening number, but ended up finding their dancer first and then had to conduct separate auditions for a vocalist during post-production in the spring of 2016.[14]

Other performances

The cold open of the 74th Golden Globe Awards in January 2017 featured a musical parody of "Another Day of Sun", "City of Stars", and "Planetarium" from La La Land, with altered lyrics. The "Another Day of Sun" segment featured limousines in a traffic jam en route to the awards, with the dance routine performed by characters from several works nominated for the awards that year. It was performed by host Jimmy Fallon and featured cameos by Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, John Travolta, Sarah Paulson, Rami Malek, Kit Harington, and others.[15][16]

It is also performed by the Italian singer Mina, published by Sony Music and PDU on 9 February 2018.

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[17] 17
Hungary (Single Top 40)[18] 16
Ireland (IRMA)[19]
[20]		 79
Japan Airplay (Tokio Hot 100)[21] 1
Portugal (AFP)[22] 93
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[23] 75
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[24] 21
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[25] 75

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[26] Gold 75,000

*sales figures based on certification alone

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See also

References
  1. Fallon, Kevin (December 16, 2016). "How 'La La Land' Staged a Dance Number on an L.A. Freeway". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  2. Aron, Hillel (2014). "Best Freeway Interchange: Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  3. Pond, Steve (December 9, 2016). "'La La Land' High-Flying Highway Opening Scene: How'd They Do That?". The Wrap. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  4. Bruner, Raisa (December 6, 2016). "Here's How They Made La La Land's Extravagant Opening Musical Number". Time. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  5. Meslow, Scott (December 16, 2016). "How 'La La Land' Got Its Unforgettable Music". GQ. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  6. Hurwitz, Justin. ""Another Day of Sun" from 'La La Land' Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  7. Tapley, Kristopher (August 31, 2016). "'La La Land' Composer Justin Hurwitz Details the Film's Songwriting Process". Variety. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  8. Ford, Rebecca (November 22, 2016). "How 'La La Land's' Music Found Just the Right Note". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  9. Mekado Murphy (November 4, 2016). "L.A. Transcendental: How 'La La Land' Chases the Sublime". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  10. Rebecca Ford (November 3, 2016). "How 'La La Land' Went From First-Screening Stumbles to Hollywood Ending". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  11. Gabler, Jay (December 16, 2016). "Will 'La La Land' save the movie musical?". Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  12. Robinson, Tasha (December 20, 2016). "La La Land's choreographer shares the film's sneakiest dance-movie references". The Verge. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  13. Giardina, Carolyn (December 19, 2016). "Why 'La La Land's' Opening Number Went From Cutting-Room Floor to Curtain-Raiser". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  14. Walters, John (January 9, 2017). "Angela Parrish, The Hollywood Dreamer Who Sings 'La La Land's' Dreamy Opener". Newsweek. New York: Newsweek LLC. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  15. Harris, Hunter (January 9, 2017). "Jimmy Fallon's La La Land–Inspired Golden Globes Cold Open Resurrected Stranger Things' Barb". Vulture. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  16. Lawson, Richard (January 8, 2017). "Jimmy Fallon Makes for an Oddly Tone-Deaf Golden Globes Host". HWD. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  17. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP (Week 5, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  18. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  19. "Chart Track: Week 4, 2017". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  20. http://irma.ie/index.cfm?page=irish-charts&chart=Singles
  21. "J-Wave: Tokio Hot 100 Chart". Tokio Hot 100. J-Wave. March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018. (To access the chart date, visit the Tokio Hot 100 Chart and select month 3 and week 3)
  22. "Portuguesecharts.com – La La Land Cast – Another Day of Sun". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  24. "Spanishcharts.com – {{{artist}}} – Another Day of Sun" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  26. "French single certifications – La La Land Cast – Another Day of Sun" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
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