Lorde doesn’t hand out co-signs lightly. So when she publicly declared Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” her 2025 song of summer, it wasn’t just a viral moment: it was validation that Bieber’s lo-fi pivot hit exactly where it needed to.
Five months after the track’s July release, “Daisies” continues to rack up streams and appear on year-end lists, proving that vulnerability doesn’t have an expiration date.
The song arrived as the 25th track on Bieber’s sprawling SWAG II album, debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 (his 106th chart appearance and first top 10 placement in three years since “Ghost” peaked at number five back in April 2022), and quietly became the emotional centrepiece of an album that could’ve drowned in its own ambition.
But the commercial triumph tells only half the story. What makes “Daisies” stick isn’t the streaming numbers.
It’s the way Bieber strips the veneer off modern love and asks the question we’ve all whispered in the dark: “Do you love me or not?”
The Sound: Lo-Fi Soul Meets Acoustic Warmth
“Daisies” channels the vibe of a sunny Saturday morning, that golden hour where the world hasn’t yet demanded your attention and you can just be.
Sonically, the track leans into minimalism with purpose. Built around clean guitar lines that flicker between lazy fingerpicking and gentle strums, the production feels like eavesdropping on a voice memo that accidentally became art.
The lo-fi aesthetic isn’t just a trendy coat of paint: it’s structural. Producer Mk.gee’s guitar work sits slightly off-centre in the mix, giving the track a homespun warmth that recalls Jack Johnson’s “Better Together” but with more melancholy threaded through.
That comparison isn’t accidental; both songs traffic in the same currency of intimate confession over acoustic backbones.
But where Johnson leaned into carefree romance, Bieber dwells in the grey area, the space between commitment and uncertainty.
Carter Lang, Eddie Benjamin, Dijon, Daniel Chetrit, and Sir Dylan round out the production team, crafting a soundscape that borrows from doo-wop’s vintage chord progressions whilst keeping one foot planted in contemporary R&B’s smooth, unhurried cadence.
The percussion remains understated, just enough rhythm to guide you through without demanding centre stage.
Some listeners on Reddit flagged the guitar as sounding “slightly out of tune” or the bass as “too loud in the mix,” but that roughness reads less like a flaw and more like a choice. It’s the sonic equivalent of showing up to brunch in yesterday’s T-shirt: comfortable, real, unpretentious.
The Lyrics: Petal-Pulling Vulnerability
Lyrically, “Daisies” builds its architecture around one of childhood’s simplest rituals: plucking petals whilst singing “loves me, loves me not.”
But Bieber isn’t playing in a field. He’s navigating a grown relationship where the stakes feel higher and the answers murkier.
The opening verse sets the scene with conversational ease: “Throwin’ petals like, ‘Do you love me or not?’ / Head is spinnin’, and it don’t know when to stop.”
Right away, Bieber positions himself in limbo, caught between hope and doubt, patience and urgency.
The “head is spinnin'” line isn’t just romantic anxiety; it’s the vertigo of wanting someone who might not want you back with the same intensity.
By the pre-chorus, he acknowledges the modern communication minefield: “You leave me on read, babe, but I still get the message / Instead of a line, it’s three dots, but I can connect them.”
This is 2025 love in shorthand, where silence speaks volumes and typing indicators become tea leaves to interpret.
The reference to being left “on read” grounds the song in the digital age, where intimacy plays out across screens and unanswered texts carry as much weight as words.
The chorus offers the thesis: “Way you got me all in my head / Think I’d rather you in my bed / Whatever it is, you know I can take it.”
Bieber isn’t demanding reciprocity; he’s declaring availability. There’s a quiet strength in that openness, a willingness to sit in discomfort rather than force resolution.
The line “I’m countin’ the days, how many days ’til I can see you again?” hits with the ache of long-distance longing, but also the steadiness of someone who’s chosen to stay the course.
The Influence: Dijon, Mk.gee, and Borrowed Aesthetics
Sharp-eared listeners clocked the Dijon and Mk.gee fingerprints immediately. Both producers brought the same textural warmth to Matt Champion’s “Aren’t you Excited,” and the sonic DNA carries over: the cadence, and the instrumentation.
Reddit’s Brockhampton community noted the similarity, with one user pointing out that Dijon’s production signature creates a specific kind of emotional container, tender but not fragile, intimate but not insular.
This isn’t genre fusion for the sake of novelty. Bieber pulls from alt-pop’s introspection, lo-fi’s tape-hiss authenticity, and R&B’s melodic sophistication, blending them into something that feels lived-in rather than assembled.
The Context: Marriage, Maturity, and Public Scrutiny
Though Bieber hasn’t confirmed it outright, the song reads like a letter to Hailey Baldwin.
The references to weathering storms together, the emphasis on loyalty despite external noise, and the repeated question of “did you mean it or not?” all point towards a relationship lived under a microscope.
Lines like “Picked you from a field of roses that grew wild” suggest a deliberate choice amidst chaos, a decision to commit when easier options existed.
The timing matters too. After three years away from the top 10, Bieber returns not with bombast but with vulnerability.
“Daisies” doesn’t try to reclaim cultural dominance. It simply exists, offering a specific emotional snapshot without demanding you relate.
But that’s precisely why it works. In an era where pop music often feels engineered for virality, “Daisies” stakes its claim on intimacy. It’s a song made for late-night replays and quiet reflection, not stadium singalongs.
The Reception: Split Reactions, Steady Streams
Critical response split predictably. Die-hard Beliebers called it a return to emotional authenticity; others on Reddit’s r/Music thread labelled it “so bad” and critiqued the production choices.
One user wrote: “It sounds completely discordant with a throbbing headache of a beat.” Another countered: “I actually think this is the best song of his I’ve heard on the radio… reminds me of pop/rock and an unplugged sound.”
That polarisation feels appropriate as it’s neither a radio-ready banger or a stripped-back acoustic demo. It occupies a middle ground that won’t satisfy everyone.
But for listeners tuned to Bieber’s wavelength, “Daisies” offers something increasingly rare: a major pop star choosing honesty over hooks, atmosphere over adrenaline.
The commercial performance suggests the approach resonated. With 27.6 million streams in its debut week and a number one placement on the Global Spotify chart, “Daisies” proved that vulnerability sells, if it’s executed with conviction.
The track also climbed to number one in the UK, giving Bieber his eighth UK chart-topper and pulling him level with Oasis and The Rolling Stones on the all-time list.
Billboard’s Lyndsey Havens, ranking all the SWAG tracks, placed “Daisies” first, saying it transports the listener to an “intimate” setting where the song might have been recorded, somewhere “small, comforting, and likely hazy.” According to Havens, Bieber has never “sounded more real.”
Why It Sticks Around
Five months later, “Daisies” hasn’t faded into the background like most album cuts do.
It keeps showing up on playlists, keeps getting mentioned in year-end conversations, keeps pulling in listeners who weren’t initially sold on SWAG II as a whole.
Part of that staying power comes from the production team Bieber assembled. Working with Dijon and Mk.gee wasn’t a safe choice; it signalled he’s more interested in making music that feels right than music that fits a formula.
The track also taps into something broader happening in R&B and pop right now. There’s a move towards intimacy, towards songs that feel like journal entries rather than press releases.
“Daisies” won’t convert sceptics, but it deepens the connection with listeners who’ve grown alongside him and want more than just nostalgia.
What’s interesting is how the song resists being pinned down. It’s not a statement track.
It’s not trying to redefine Bieber’s career or prove anything to critics. It just exists as this small, specific moment, and trusts you enough to either get it or move on.
That kind of confidence is rare, especially for an artist who’s spent so much of his career chasing approval.
The question “Do you love me or not?” hangs there throughout the song, never quite getting answered. Maybe that’s the point.
Sometimes the asking matters more than the response. Sometimes staying in the uncertainty is the bravest thing you can do.
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