"Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)", also known as "...on the Radio (Remember the Days)", is the third official single from Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado's first album, Whoa, Nelly!. The song's album title was "Shit on the Radio (Remember the Days)"; the word "shit" was censored and removed from the title for radio airplay and substituted on the cover art with "#*@!!". Despite the success of Furtado's previous two singles, the song failed to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 and began a string of singles for Furtado that failed to chart, until 2006 with "Promiscuous". "…on the Radio (Remember the Days)" charted in other countries, and was a huge success in New Zealand, reaching number five on RIANZ Singles Chart. It also reached number fourteen on the Canadian BDS Airplay Chart.
Background and writing
Furtado, who wrote the song in one session, said it is about the feelings of insecurity she experienced when hiding her desire to make pop music to fit in with her underground musical peers. "I could try to be cool and whatever, but why do I have to try?", she said. "Why can't I just be myself? The moment you make that step and say, 'I want to make pop music' is a big thing. But no matter what happens to me there'll always be someone going, 'Oh, her music sucks now because everyone likes it.' I feel that song a lot."
Music video
The music video was directed by Hype Williams and features fellow British Columbian recording artists Swollen Members.[citation needed] The video begins with a remix of the intro of the song, with Furtado writing in chalk the directors name and editors name. The video finally begins with Furtado listening to music with earmuffs and the camera is showing parts of the room where Furtado is in. The lyrics begin and Furtado is singing on the bed with earmuffs and she gets up and picks up a radio and walks out of the house. She gets in a car while these dancers start doing tricks in an alleyway, the second verse shows Furtado singing to the camera while driving a car and she ends up where the dancers are and starts to singing the chorus with them while dancing. The bridge shows Furtado lying in the grass holding a flower and singing upwards to the camera, and then shows her running up to the stage where there is a concert going on and she begins to sing the last part of the song. The crowd of the concert begin to shout "myself" while the music stops then begins again. The video ends with Furtado quick 15 seconds flashes on a TV screen singing, dancing with the dancers and singing at the concert. The underground version sites Nelly in a wooded shed similar to the one in the "Turn Off the Light" underground video, and also leaning on a stone singing the song outdoors in a clearing.