Every Morning (Sugar Ray song)

"Every Morning" is a song by American rock band Sugar Ray, released as the lead single from their third studio album, 14:59 (1999). The track is an alternative rock and flamenco pop song that references Malo's "Suavecito" and Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass". Serviced to US radio in December 1998, "Every Morning" was released in Japan in January 1999 and in the United States two months later, making it Sugar Ray's first commercially available single in the US.^[1]

"Every Morning"
Single by Sugar Ray
from the album 14:59
B-side	"Even Though"
Released	January 25, 1999 (1999-01-25)
Studio	Swing House Sunset Sound Ocean Way Recording Studio 56 (Los Angeles)
Genre	Alternative rock flamenco pop
Length	3:39
Label	Atlantic Lava
Songwriter(s)	Sugar Ray David Kahne Richard Bean Abel Zarate Pablo Tellez
Producer(s)	David Kahne
Sugar Ray singles chronology
"RPM" (1997) "Every Morning" (1999) "Falls Apart" (1999)
Music video
"Every Morning" on YouTube

Sugar Ray playing amid a skating party in the music video.

"Every Morning" reached number one on both the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, becoming the latter country's second-most-successful single of 1999. The song also reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single on both rankings.

Composition

"Every Morning" is an alternative rock^[2][3][4][5] and flamenco pop song.^[6] It is written in common time with a key of A♭ major and proceeds at a moderate tempo, played mezzo-forte. The song has a chord progression of A♭–D♭–A♭–D♭–E♭5.^[7] The chorus of the song references "Suavecito" by the Chicano music group Malo, as well as Hugh Masekela's 1968 hit "Grazing in the Grass". Lead vocalist Mark McGrath explained, "We referenced 'Suavecito' because growing up in California, you know, that was just like the low rider anthem. Any car show or swap meet you'd ever go by, you'd always hear that [song] and that just stuck in your mind." He added, "We actually came up with that part, and it was very similar to Malo's part. We were sort of imitating it, and then we said, 'Let's just leave it, we're gonna change it later.' It really makes the song – we think – so we just left it."^[8]

Accolades

The track was ranked number 98th on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999, Australia's largest annual music poll which is run by the Triple J station.^[9] It also ranked 162nd on Australian radio station Triple M's list of the top 400 greatest songs of all time.^[10] In 2019, Billboard placed it 58th on a list of the "99 Greatest Songs of 1999".^[11] In 2023, American Songwriter ranked it second on their list of Sugar Ray's top ten songs, behind only "Fly".^[12]

Track listings

US 7-inch, CD, and cassette single^[13][14][15]

1. "Every Morning" – 3:39
2. "Even Though" – 2:35

UK, European, Australian, and Japanese CD single^[16][17]

1. "Every Morning" – 3:39
2. "Rivers" – 2:50
3. "Aim for Me" (main version) – 2:29

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the liner notes of the CD singles.^[14][16]

Studios

• Recorded at Swing House, Sunset Sound Studio, Ocean Way Recording, and Studio 56 (Los Angeles)
• Mixed at Scream House (Los Angeles)
• Mastered at Precision (Los Angeles)

Personnel

• Sugar Ray – writing, vocals
• David Kahne – additional writing, production, programming, engineering, mixing, mastering
• Richard Bean – additional writing
• Abel Zarate – additional writing
• Pablo Tellez – additional writing
• John Travis – engineering, mixing
• Steve Gallagher – additional engineering
• Chip Quigley – management

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1999) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[18] 17 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[20] 10 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[21] 21 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[22] 37 Germany (GfK)[23] 86 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[24] 21 Ireland (IRMA)[25] 24 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[26] 17 Scotland (OCC)[27] 10 UK Singles (OCC)[28] 10 US Billboard Hot 100[29] 3 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[30] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[31] 27 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[32] 1 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[33] 1 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[34] 38 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[35] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position Australia (ARIA)[36] 62 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[37] 2 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[38] 23 UK Airplay (Music Week)[39] 16 US Billboard Hot 100[40] 8 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[41] 4 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[42] 4 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[43] 5 US Triple-A (Billboard)[44] 8

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[45]	Gold	35,000^
United States (RIAA)[46]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	December 1, 1998	Alternative radio	Atlantic Lava	[47]
	December 15, 1998	Contemporary hit radio		[48]
Japan	January 25, 1999	CD		[49]
United States	March 16, 1999	7-inch vinyl CD cassette		[1]
United Kingdom	May 17, 1999	CD cassette		[50]