"16 Days" is a song by alternative country band Whiskeytown and written by Ryan Adams. It first appeared on Whiskeytown's Strangers Almanac album in 1997, and was released that same year as a CD single.[1] An earlier version of the song – recorded during the band's "Baseball Park" sessions – was released on the 1998 reissue of the band's first album Faithless Street.[2] And an alternate, acoustic version of the song – also recorded during the "Baseball Park" sessions – was released on the 2008 deluxe edition of Strangers Almanac.[3][4]
According to Ryan Adams, the song was released as a single and was getting significant radio airplay until, in a fit of anger, he dared a powerful West Coast radio programmer to take the song off the air. The programmer obliged, and the song soon disappeared from radio playlists.[5]
The song has been covered by The Clarks on their album Songs in G.
The song has also been covered by Wade Bowen as a hidden track on his Blue Light Live album
↑Skiing – Jan 1998 Vol. 50, No. 5 "Like Whiskeytown. Their Stranger's Almanac (Outpost) recycles pop hooks worthy of Jackson Browne, but with a country twang. Lap and pedal steels, banjos, and violins conspire on open-road raves like "Turn Around" and "Sixteen Days.""