Peak
3
Weeks
16
Score
1,628
Chart Year
2012
The first single from One Direction's second album sees the quintet teaming up again with songwriters Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk. The trio penned the boy band's first two US hit singles, "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing." The press release describes the song as "pop perfection," before adding it's, "an immediate, energy packed song mixing rock undertones with smooth harmonies, about living for the moment." "Live While We're Young" was released on September 30, 2012. The song was made available for pre-order at midnight on 24 August 2012, through the iTunes Store. It became the fastest-selling pre-order single in history, topping the advance sales charts in 40 countries, including the UK, Australia, Brazil, France and Spain. The song's music video was filmed on August 23 and 24, 2012 during a couple of unseasonably chilly days in a Kentish field in southeast England. Following on online leak on September 20 of an unauthorized, poor quality version of the clip, Syco/Columbia brought forward the premiere of the single by four days. The song's music video achieved 8.24 million views during its first 24 hours of being online. In doing so One Direction surpassed the previous VEVO record held by Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend," which claimed 8 million views within its first day. Justin reclaimed the record a month later when his clip for "Beauty And a Beat" racked up 10.6 million views in its first 24 hours. The song's opening musical structure is reminiscent of the beginning of the legendary punk band Clash's classic track "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?." Harry Styles admitted to the Associated Press the boys were aware of the similarities when they recorded the track. "It's a bit like the first single ("What Makes You Beautiful") where the opening riff sounds similar to a certain film ("Summer Nights" from Grease)," he explained. "It's kind of on purpose though, it's a great riff." Niall Horan told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM show that One Direction came up with the album's title themselves. "We thought about it for a while," he said. "Because we all would do a lot of traveling around the world and we get to see a lot of cool places, but the main thing is there's no place like home. It's always kind of nice to go home." The song's #3 debut on the Hot 100 was the highest ever bow by a UK group in the history of the chart. Of all UK acts, only Elton John's arrival in 1997 at #1 with "Candle In The Wind 1997" outdid its entry.
Hey girl, I'm waitin' on ya, I'm waitin' on ya Come on and let me sneak you out And have a celebration, a celebration The music up, the windows down Yeah, we'll be doing what we do Just pretending that we're cool and we know it, too Yeah, we'll keep doing what we do Just pretending that we're cool, so tonight Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun I know we only met, but let's pretend it's love And never, never, never stop for anyone Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh And live while we're young Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young Hey girl, it's now or never, it's now or never Don't overthink, just let it go And if we get together, yeah, get together Don't let the pictures leave your phone, oh Yeah, we'll be doing what we do Just pretending that we're cool, so tonight Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun I know we only met, but let's pretend it's love And never, never, never stop for anyone Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh Wanna live while we're young Oh-oh, oh, oh, oh Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young And girl, you and I We're about to make some memories tonight (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) I wanna live while we're young (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) We wanna live while we're young Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun I know we only met but let's pretend it's love And never, never, never stop for anyone Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young Crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun I know we only met but let's pretend it's love And never, never, never stop for anyone Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young Wanna live, wanna live, wanna live while we're young (come on, young) Wanna live, wanna live, wanna live while we're young (wanna live while we're young) Wanna live, wanna live, wanna live while we're young Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 20, 2012 | 3 | 123 |
| 2 | Oct 27, 2012 | 21 | 105 |
| 3 | Nov 3, 2012 | 31 | 95 |
| 4 | Nov 10, 2012 | 39 | 87 |
| 5 | Nov 17, 2012 | 39 | 87 |
| 6 | Nov 24, 2012 | 42 | 84 |
| 7 | Dec 1, 2012 | 68 | 58 |
| 8 | Dec 8, 2012 | 55 | 71 |
| 9 | Dec 15, 2012 | 70 | 56 |
| 10 | Dec 22, 2012 | 74 | 52 |
| 11 | Dec 29, 2012 | 78 | 48 |
| 12 | Jan 5, 2013 | 74 | 52 |
| 13 | Jan 12, 2013 | 43 | 83 |
| 14 | Jan 19, 2013 | 63 | 63 |
| 15 | Jan 26, 2013 | 82 | 44 |
| 16 | Feb 2, 2013 | 94 | 32 |