"Soak Up the Sun" is a song by American singer Sheryl Crow. She and her longtime co-worker Jeff Trott wrote the song following a conversation they had during a plane flight, when they discussed the changing weather as they flew to New York City from Portland, Oregon. Crow was recovering from surgery at the time, inspiring her and Trott to write a happy song that would cheer her up. In the song, Crow has no money to afford any luxuries or necessities, but she decides that wallowing in her sadness is not a productive activity, so she reflects on what she currently has and "puts on a happy face" that she plans to spread to others. Crow chose to release the song as the lead single from her fourth studio album, C'mon, C'mon (2002), as she wanted to enliven people living in a post-9/11 society. Crow first performed the song at the 2002 AFC Championship Game in January 2002, and A&M Records released "Soak Up the Sun" as a single in the United States on February 11, 2002. The song became Crow's sixth top-40 hit in the US, reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping two other Billboard rankings. The Victor Calderone and Mac Quayle remixes also topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, making it Crow's only record to peak atop the listing. "Soak Up the Sun" was America's 35th-best-performing single of 2002, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the song a gold disc in 2005. Worldwide, the song reached the top 10 in Croatia and the top 20 in Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. A music video directed by Wayne Isham was made for the song, featuring Crow performing the track with many beachgoers on Oahu, Hawaii. The video shows her performing the song at several locations on the beach and surfing. These scenes are interspersed with other surfers riding the waves as well. Various cosmetics and lotions were used to achieve Crow's tanned look in the music video, with makeup artist Scott Barnes wanting a "St. Tropez" look. On her birthday, which occurred during filming, Crow received a surfboard from the crew that she uses in the video. Background, release, and promotion "Soak Up the Sun" originated from a conversation that Sheryl Crow had with co-worker Jeff Trott during a plane trip. The two were flying from Portland,