Here's to Never Growing Up is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne for her self-titled fifth studio album in 2013. The song was written by Lavigne, David Hodges, Chad Kroeger, Jacob Kasher, and its producer Martin Johnson. It was released as the lead single from the album on 9 April 2013, by Epic Records. "Here's to Never Growing Up" is a midtempo pop rock song that talks about a "celebration of being forever young" and features a reference to English alternative rock band Radiohead.
Music critics provided mixed reviews to "Here's to Never Growing Up" and drew comparisons between the song and songs by Lavigne's contemporaries Katy Perry, Kesha, and Taylor Swift. The single was an international success, reaching number one on the Taiwan and Philippines charts, while reaching the top ten in Belgium, China, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine, also reaching the top twenty in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States despite the lack of initial exposure. It achieved certifications by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) due to the chart success.
An accompanying music video for "Here's to Never Growing Up" was directed by Robert Hales. It features Lavigne and her band performing at the school's prom, and resembles the music video for her 2002 single "Complicated". The video gained positive feedback from critics, who praised Lavigne's look in the clip. Due to the song's success, Lavigne performed "Here's to Never Growing Up" on a number of shows, including Dancing with the Stars, The Today Show and The Voice UK. The song is playable on the video game Guitar Hero Live.
Background[]
| “ | When I was writing it, I was thinking about being younger – I’m still in my 20s, but you know, like high school - and with my 20s being in music and everything, I love the concept of ‘simply prom’ for the video.[1] | ” |
"Here's to Never Growing Up" was written by Lavigne, David Hodges, Chad Kroeger, Jacob Kasher, and producer of the song Martin Johnson. The song was recorded in early 2013 at Henson Recording Studios.[2] During an interview with Ryan Seacrest for 102.7 KIIS-FM show, Lavigne said, "I wanted to write something fun and summery. It's about being young, wanting to be young forever, living in the moment and having a blast".[2] Talking about the song's conception to 4Music, Lavigne revealed that she missed her high school prom so much, and that was the reason why she wrote "Here's to Never Growing Up".[1] She said, "When I was writing it, I was thinking about being younger – I’m still in my 20s, but you know, like high school - and with my 20s being in music and everything, I love the concept of ‘simply prom’ for the video".[1] Lavigne announced the song would be released as the first single from her fifth studio album on 8 February 2013 via Twitter.[3] Lavigne later revealed the single's official artwork as well as its release date via Twitter on 3 April 2013.[4] Epic Records premiered "Here's to Never Growing Up" on On Air with Ryan Seacrest (KIIS-FM) radio show, on iTunes Stores and eventually sent the single to US contemporary hit radio station on 9 April 2013.[2][5][6]
Composition[]
"Here's to Never Growing Up" is a midtempo pop rock song, with a moderate tempo of 82 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of F major. Lavigne's vocal range in the track spans from the low-note of A3 to the high-note of C5. The "punchy" song is built around a "big, kick-drum" stomp, acoustic-guitar-strumming, and simple-minded tunes. Digital Spy editor Robert Cospey wrote the song has a "pumping guitars 'n drums melody". Melinda Newman from HitFix thought that "Here's to Never Growing Up" is a "throwback" to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" (2010) and Lavigne's "Girlfriend" (2007) for the same musical structure.
Lyrically, the song talks about a "celebration of being forever young". In the song, Lavigne sings about the things she’s going to do that she believes will keep her forever young, such as getting drunk and dancing on a bar, running down the street screaming profanities, blasting music and staying up all night. At the beginning, Lavigne sings "Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs", referencing rock band Radiohead, which is also featured in the chorus. At the chorus, she continues "We'll be running down the street yelling kiss my ass", followed by and "ear-snagging chant" of "oh-woah-oh". Lavigne declares her celebration at the second verse, "This is who we are/ I don't think we'll ever change/ They say 'Just grow up,' but they don't know us/ We don't give a fuck!".
Critical reception[]
"Here's to Never Growing Up" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Digital Spy critic Robert Cospey gave the song a three stars out of five rating, writing "The result is nothing she hasn't given us before, but there's no harm in having one last hurrah". Amy Sciarretto from PopCrush provided the track a score of two and a half stars, commenting that the song sounds too similar to Lavigne's previous single 'Complicated'. Melinda Newman of HitFix provided a mixed review, writing that "You may find yourself begrudgingly clapping your hands and swaying to the generic 'Here’s to Never Growing Up', but you won’t like yourself for doing so. It feels like it was crafted in some pop lab as 'the song' that will get Lavigne back on the charts". Tris McCall from New Jersey On-Line was more positive, commenting that the song "likely to be a summertime anthem" and compared its theme to songs by Lavigne's contemporaries such as "22" by Taylor Swift, "We Are Young" by fun., and "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry. Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson deemed "Here's to Never Growing Up" "a classic drinking tune" and compared the song's theme to Ke$ha's "Die Young" and P!nk's "Raise Your Glass". A reviewer from The Huffington Post also thought that the track was similar to works by Ke$ha and Taylor Swift, calling it "a bouncy anthem".
Chart performance[]
In the song's debut week, the song debuted at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Lavigne's 16th entry in the chart. The song reached a peak at number 20 in the week of June 29, causing the song to surge from 23rd to 7th in the Digital Songs with more than 131,000 downloads sold that week.
"Here's to Never Growing Up" debuted on ARIA Singles Chart at number 16 and one week later peaked at number 15. The song peaked at number 7 in Ireland, 8 in Scotland and 14 in the United Kingdom.
Music video[]
The video for the song was directed by Robert Hales, with photography by Ketil Dietrichson and art direction by Lenny Tso. On April 8, 2013, Lavigne began shooting the music video for the song, the second day of the shooting was on April 19, confirmed by Lavigne on Twitter and the official premiere was on May 9. The video shows Lavigne playing with her band at a school during the Senior Prom. It also features scenes of Lavigne and her friends having a fun time at the school, eventually causing chaos. It also shows scenes of Lavigne singing in an empty classroom, that eventually shows all her friends dancing and having fun. The video makes allusions to Lavigne's first video for "Complicated", wearing the same outfit and skateboarding.
Live performances[]
Lavigne performed the song live for the first time on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 26, 2013. She also performed it on the semi-final results on Dancing with the Stars on 14 May, and on The Today Show on May 17, 2013. Avril sang the song on the Wango Tango on May 11, 2013. She also performed it on June 14 on Live! with Kelly and Michael, on June 15 on The Voice UK, and on June 16 on the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards.
Track listing[]
Digital download
- "Here's to Never Growing Up" - 3:35
CD single
- "Here's to Never Growing Up" - 3:35
- "Here's to Never Growing Up" (Instrumental) - 3:35
Personnel[]
- Songwriting: Avril Lavigne, Martin Johnson, Chad Kroeger, David Hodges, J. Kash
- Production: Martin Johnson, additional by Kyle Moorman and Brandon Paddock
- Piano: David Hodges
- Guitar: Martin Johnson
- Background vocals: Brandon Paddock, Kyle Moorman, David Hodges, Chad Kroeger, Avril Lavigne, Martin Johnson and Dan Gillan
- Programming and recording engineering: Kyle Moorman, Brandon Paddock
- Mixing engineering: Serban Ghenea
- Mastering Engineering: Tom Coyne
Lyrics[]
Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boombox blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
Call up all our friends
Go hard this weekend
For no damn reason
I don't think we'll ever change
Meet you at the spot
Half past ten o'clock
We don't ever stop
And we're never gonna change
Say, won't you say forever, stay
If you stay forever, hey
We can stay forever young
Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
We'll be running down the street, yelling kiss my ass
I'm like yeah whatever, we’re still living like that
When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups
Singing here's to never growing up
Oh woah oh woah, here's to never growing up
Oh woah oh woah, here's to never growing up
We live like rock stars
Dance in every bar
This is who we are
I don't think we'll ever change
They say just grow up
But they don't know us
We don't give a fuck
And we're never gonna change
Say, won't you say forever, stay
If you stay forever, hey
We can stay forever young
Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
Radio edit/Radio Disney version[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named4music - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Template:Cite video
- ↑ Corner, Lewis (8 February 2013). "Avril Lavigne announces new single 'Here's To Never Growing Up'". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ↑ Lansky, Sam (3 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne Unveils "Here’s To Never Growing Up" Single Artwork & Release Date". Idolator. Buzz Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ↑ "Available for Airplay". FMQB. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ↑ "Here's to Never Growing Up – Single by Avril Lavigne". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
[]
 |
|
|