Peak
65
Weeks
23
Score
1,015
Chart Year
1988
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On the surface, this is a hopeful song celebrating the virtues of youth, but a closer listen reveals a fear of aging and death. The song was written during the Cold War, where the singer is "hoping for the best, but expecting the worst; are you gonna drop the bomb or not?" Alphaville was a German synthpop/rock music group. The song was not a big hit when it was released, but has become well known as a result of its use in movies and TV shows. Among its uses are these TV shows: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (episode 103: "Underage Drinking: A National Concern") Queer As Folk (season 1, episode 18) One Tree Hill (season 4, episode 16). And these movies: Listen To Me Napoleon Dynamite (in the school dance scene). It was also used in commercials for Saturn ION automobiles. >> This was written by Alphaville members Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. A year after this was released, Laura Branigan covered it for her album Hold Me and began performing it as an encore at her concerts. The Canadian dance group Temperance recorded the song in 1996. In 2005 the Australian band Youth Group recorded this for an episode of the TV show The O.C.. Their release was a hit in Australia. >> British singer Becky Hill released her version of "Forever Young" on November 13, 2020 with at least 10p from every download of the song being donated to the food charity FareShare. Hill's cover was selected as the soundtrack to the 2020 McDonald's UK Christmas TV advert; as part of the promotion, McDonald's donated five million meals to FairShare during the 2020 festive season. Becky Hill's version spent six weeks in the UK charts peaking at #35.
Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst Are you gonna drop the bomb or not? Let us die young or let us live forever We don't have the power, but we never say never Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip The music's for the sad men Can you imagine when this race is won Turn our golden faces into the sun Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune The music's played by the m-madman Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever, whenever Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever young Some are like water Some are like the heat Some are a melody and some are the beat Sooner or later, they all will be gone Why don't they stay young? It's so hard to get old without a cause I don't want to perish like a fading horse And youth's like diamonds in the sun And diamonds are forever So many adventures couldn't happen today So many songs we forgot to play So many dreams swinging out of the blue We let them come true Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever, whenever Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever young Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever, whenever Forever young I want to be forever young Do you really want to live forever Forever young Forever young
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 23, 1985 | 95 | 31 |
| 2 | Mar 30, 1985 | 93 | 33 |
| 3 | Apr 6, 1985 | 98 | 28 |
| 4 | Apr 13, 1985 | 100 | 26 |
| 1 | Oct 29, 1988 | 91 | 35 |
| 2 | Nov 5, 1988 | 82 | 44 |
| 3 | Nov 12, 1988 | 82 | 44 |
| 4 | Nov 19, 1988 | 81 | 45 |
| 5 | Nov 26, 1988 | 73 | 53 |
| 6 | Dec 3, 1988 | 70 | 56 |
| 7 | Dec 10, 1988 | 67 | 59 |
| 8 | Dec 17, 1988 | 70 | 56 |
| 9 | Dec 24, 1988 | 65 | 61 |
| 10 | Dec 31, 1988 | 65 | 61 |
| 11 | Jan 7, 1989 | 66 | 60 |
| 12 | Jan 14, 1989 | 74 | 52 |
| 13 | Jan 21, 1989 | 84 | 42 |
| 14 | Jan 28, 1989 | 90 | 36 |
| 1 | Jan 25, 2025 | 99 | 27 |
| 2 | Feb 1, 2025 | 93 | 33 |