“Leave the Door Open” by Silk Sonic

The lyrics of “Leave the Door Open” aren’t anything complex but are entertaining, kinda what we’ve come to expect from the likes of Bruno Mars when it comes to espousing an exciting setting. And as far as Anderson Paak’s lyrical influence yes, there is a shoutout to the purple haze, with the artist being a serious weed aficionado. (Mars is kinda known for embracing stronger stuff.)

The storyline is based on the singer trying to get a specific lady to come over for a romantic evening. This is the person whom he is ‘leaving the door open’ for. And he is attempting to convince her primarily by letting her know that he is in fact hard chillin’. 

In other words, he is not trying to appear attractive by boasting about his lovemaking skills or even wealth per se.  Rather it’s more like he’s an exciting dude himself, and his demeanor and resource allocation reflects that reality.

Indeed one may likely conclude that the thesis sentiment of this song, as given by the title and chorus, is based on the singer’s desire to have the addressee come over. But arguably such is not necessarily the case. Rather we can say it’s more like the vocalist assuring this lady that when she does come around, he’s going to show her a good time. 

Yes, his residence is pimped out enough to afford him the opportunity to adequately accomplish this task. But more to the point, once again in terms of his wording’s entertainment value, is the way he will creatively utilize these resources in the name of ‘adoring’ her.

Who are Silk Sonic?

Silk Sonic is actually a duo consisting of successful musician Anderson Paak and living legend Bruno Mars. This is the first track they have ever collaborated on under Silk Sonic and in general as far as vocals are concerned. However, Bruno Mars was amongst the many co-writers of Paak’s 2018 track “Anywhere”.

Silk Sonic was first formed or at least announced in February of 2021. Anderson and Bruno had actually been liaising for a few years prior to finally deciding to just form a group together. They were even planning to tour proper together, but that ambition has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

However, it should be noted that Paak did open for Mars in Europe. This was during the latter’s 24K Magic Tour in 2017. In fact it was while Anderson was performing such a role for Bruno that the two of them met.

Release Date of “Leave the Door Open”

Atlantic Records officially brought “Leave the Door Open” to the world on 5 March 2021. And Bruno Mars first teased it, via Twitter, on 26 February.

He and Paak also put together a one-minute track entitled Silk Sonic Intro which leads into this song.

Said intro features Bootsy Collins, a funk musician from back in the day who went on to be inducted, as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. And whereas he may not be an A lister in more recent times, he is someone who has a lot of respect and recognition within the R&B, soul and hip-hop communities. In fact he is involved in an entire forthcoming Silk Sonic album, which is reportedly entitled “An Evening with Silk Sonic”.

Creation of “Leave the Door Open”

Bruno Mars served as co-producer and co-writer of this song as well as co-director of its music video. In terms of the latter, the other director is Florent Dechard.

D’Mile also served a dual role of writer and producer. And the other co-writers are Anderson Paak and Brody Brown.

Grammy Glory

“Leave the Door Open” had an exceptional showing at the 2022 (i.e. 64^th Annual) Grammy Awards. In total it took home a whopping four trophies, which were in the following categories:

• Record of the Year
• Song of the Year
• Best R&B Song  
• Best R&B Performance (though in this case, it shared the accolade with Jazmine Sullivan’s “Pick Up Your Feelings“).

Chart Performances

“Leave the Door Open” garnered #1 ranks in the following countries:

It also celebrated success being in the Top-10 hits in these regions: