"Bad Day" is a pop song by Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter from his self-titled second studio album (2005). It was written by Powter and produced by Jeff Dawson and Mitchell Froom. Powter and Dawson recorded the song in 2002, but were initially unable to find a record label to release it. The song was first used in a French Coca-Cola television advertisement in Christmas 2004 before its official release. Tom Whalley, Warner Bros. Records' chairman and CEO, offered Powter a contract after hearing a demo tape of it. The track ended up being released as the aforementioned album's lead single in Europe in early 2005.

The song was received with a generally mixed reception from critics. While some praised its lyrics for their "universal appeal", others felt they were too broad. Despite this, it was a commercial success. In 2005, the single charted in the top five in more than ten countries worldwide and became the most played song on European radio. After its European success, it was released in the United States where it topped the Billboard Hot 100, Pop 100, Adult Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts. In 2006, it became the first song ever to sell two million digital copies in the United States, as well as being measured by Billboard as the most popular song of the year inside of the United States, and the first under its new system. After another million were sold, it was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2009. It was certified double platinum in the United Kingdom, platinum in Australia and Canada, and gold in Denmark and Germany.

The accompanying music video for "Bad Day" was directed by Marc Webb and became the eighth most-watched music video on the Internet in 2006, reaching 9.8 million views one year after its release. The video depicts two downcast people sharing a similar routine until they meet each other at the end of the video. The song was used for advertisements and television programs, most prominently as American Idols elimination song. Different shows and artists covered and parodied "Bad Day", including Saturday Night Live and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Powter has also performed the song on television shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and during his concert tours in North America and Europe. The song's success made it Powter's "anthem" and would be included on his later compilation albums B-Sides (2007) and Best of Me (2010).

Background and release After leaving MacEwan University in Edmonton at 20, Powter moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where he played keyboards before he started composing songs. In 1997, he partnered with music producer Jeff Dawson; they recorded "Bad Day" in 2002. For two weeks, Powter had a melody that "wouldn't go away" from his mind. Thinking of a lyric that would fit the melody, he thought an "up and poppy" lyric would make it "the cheesiest song of all time". He then thought "bad day" would be a good choice for the chorus, and wrote the lyrics partly based on his life as "a struggling musician". It was the last song to be composed for his album, with Powter writing it in an hour during a ferry journey between Victoria and Vancouver. Powter said it was not a lyrically elaborate song, but that: "mostly it's about phonics. It's about words that sing great. I was mumbling something, and those words came out."

Dawson and Powter included the song on a disc that was offered to record labels that asked Powter to audition in New York, but his lack of stage presence led to the labels turning him down. Disappointed, he returned to Vancouver to move on because: "once a record company says no, it's difficult to come around again". After this failure, his new representative, Gary Stamler, played a demo tape for Tom Whalley, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records. Whalley offered Powter a contract but he was reluctant to sign it because he considered himself primarily a songwriter. He accepted the offer in April 2003 and, along with Dawson and producer Mitchell Froom, worked on his album and the song in Los Angeles, California. The album was originally recorded in Powter's Vancouver apartment but Warner Bros. asked that it be rerecorded. However, because Froom wanted to keep its "original feel[ing]", in Powter's words it was just "touch[ed] up".

"Bad Day" was first released to three French radio stations—RTL, NRJ, and Europe 2—in early 2005. On February 8, Barnes & Noble released it on an exclusive extended play (EP), which also contained "Free Loop", "Lie to Me", and "Song 6". In the United States it was digitally released on February 22, 2005. In 2005, Warner Bros. Records released it as a CD single in Switzerland on March 4, in France on March 22, in Italy on May 18, in Germany on May 30, in Australia on June 27, in the United Kingdom on July 25, and in Canada on July 28. The Swiss and Canadian release also included "Stupid Like This", a non-album track, while the Italian, German, and Australian versions included "Stupid Like This" and "Lost on The Stoop". In France and the United Kingdom, both versions were released, and the British release also contained the music video for "Bad Day". A live-recorded version for Austrian radio station Hitradio Ö3 was included on the 2005 EP Free Loop. On August 6, 2008, an EP live from Tokyo was released exclusively on iTunes and it included "Song 6", "Free Loop", "Best of Me", "Love You Lately" and "Bad Day". "Bad Day" was also included on Powter's compilation albums B-Sides (2007) and Best of Me (2010).

Composition

"Bad Day" is a midtempo pop power ballad, performed in a moderate groove and accompanied by a piano. The song is composed in the key of E♭ major (with the bridge in F♯ major), and uses syncopated 16th-note rhythms. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Warner Bros., Powter's vocals range from the note of E♭3 and D♭5. Its instrumentation differs from "the scores of adolescent thrust-rockers" and includes, as Powter referred to it, "aggressive" drums. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said it is: "addressed to anyone who's feeling depressed ... but [in contrast] its grand, panoramic arrangement wants to pump you up". Simon Donohue of the Manchester Evening News commented its sound " from boy band banality to Foo Fighters-style raucous rock". According to Winston Kung of PopMatters, it is "in tune with the zeitgeist".

The lyrics of "Bad Day" were said to have a universal appeal by Alan Connor of BBC News Magazine as they have an "everyman breeziness" because the song's subject can be any person going through a bad daytime. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic described it as: "a loping, sunny tune that pretty much has the opposite sentiment of its title". Although About.com's Bill Lamb described its lyrics as having a "reassuring, comforting" tone, Powter said the song "mak[es] fun of self-absorbed and narcissistic people who bitch and gripe". He also affirmed: "It's not literally about having a bad day, it's more about not taking yourself too seriously and complaining about trivial things".

Critical reception The song received mixed reviews by commentators; some reviewers praised it for its composition, while other critics felt that the lyrics were not profound. Billboard Chuck Taylor called the song "instantly memorable" and praised its instrumentation for being different "from the scores of adolescent thrust-rockers currently dominating the scene." Dubbing it "elegant, timeless pop/rock", Taylor qualified it as "one of the great discoveries of the year", while Pete Waterman, writing for The Guardian in 2007, stated it was "one of [his] favourite songs of recent years". Eric R. Danton from the Hartford Courant classified it as the best track on the album, while Erlewine called it "the template for the rest of his debut". In contrast, Wilson Kung said the song "pales in comparison to some of the truly strong songs" on the album Daniel Powter. Alan Connor of BBC News Magazine said it is a typical sentimental song but that in "Bad Day"'s case "there's even less detail". He said the song "is so low on the specifics, there are some couplets that feel like they've been translated from a foreign language, possibly by a computer". A writer for The Daily Edge called it "a song so sweet it gave you a toothache", while a reviewer from The Scotsman called it a "horrible song". Bill Lamb said it "feels genuine" but "if you are looking for depth, this is not your song", Chris Lee of the Los Angeles Times said the song is "baleful but soulful", and People commented: "'Bad Day' may be catchy enough to overcome its trite lyrics".

Accolades "Bad Day" won an award from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada as one of six Canadian pop songs with the most radio airplay in 2005. In 2006, it won the Tokio Hot 100 Award for Best Song, and guaranteed Powter the Canadian Radio Music Award for Best New Group or Solo Artist—Mainstream AC. In the following year, the song won a BMI Pop Award, and shared the 2007 Japan Gold Disc Award for the most-downloaded international song with "You Raise Me Up" by Celtic Woman and "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The song was nominated for Pop 100 Single of the Year at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards losing to Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous". At the APRA Music Awards of 2006, it was nominated for Most Performed Foreign Work but lost to Rob Thomas's "Lonely No More". In 2007, it was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards but John Mayer's performance on "Waiting on the World to Change" won him the award. It received a nomination for Best Song at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards but lost to Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable".

Chart performance "Bad Day" topped Nielsen Music Control's Pan European Airplay 100 as the most played song on European radio stations in 2005. It was also the third most downloaded song that year in Europe. On Billboards European Hot 100 Singles it peaked at number two on the weekly chart, while it placed seventh on its year-end chart. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart issue dated August 6, 2005, at number two, its peak position, spending 38 weeks on the chart. "Bad Day" was the eleventh best-selling single and the third most downloaded song in the UK in 2005. It was the most played song on UK radio during the period 2003–08. In November 2023, it was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The song debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number 13 on July 28, 2005, and topped it for three weeks, spending 19 weeks on the chart. The song peaked at number three on the French Singles Chart, and was the most played song on French radio in 2005. It was the most played song on the German Airplay Chart in 2005. It sold 143,600 copies and was certified silver in France, and in Germany it was certified gold for the shipment of over 150,000 copies. It peaked at number one in the Czech Republic, at number three in Italy, at number 5 in Denmark, and reached the top 10 on the singles chart in eight other European territories.