Fun. - We Are Young (Feat. Janelle Monae)

My favourite song of 2012 so far . . .



Spyke

It would appear that Madonna wasn't the only one to befit from musical exposure during the Super Bowl this past week. After featuring on an ad (which apparently cost $2.2 million per 30 second slot) this track shot straight to #1 on US itunes and is looking set to make a massive impact upon next week's chart. So far it has managed a modest peak of #53 on the Hot 100; but when Glee covered the song back in December it became one of their best performing singles of the series, charting at #12.

The more I listen to the song, the more I revel in its depth and discover new aspects which I haven't noticed before. In many ways it reminds me of a couple of My Chemical Romance tracks. The thudding drums establishing the marching beat is very reminiscent to Welcome To The Black Parade, and I can imagine a whole procession of youths marching in protest along to this song. Like another MCR track Sing!, the chanting 'na na na na' backing helps build momentum and captures the passion and anthem-like nature.

But We Are Young offers more than that. It really is a celebration of youth and showing the world what you can do. 'so let's set the world on fire; we can glow brighter than the Sun' is all about relishing the glory of the good times. In a way this is the song that Mika should have made his comeback with. However I can't help but feel that would have been accompanied by a street festival with rainbows everywhere - completely spoiling the subtle undertones of pain and sadness present in the song. I love how the video follows the course of the song so perfectly; gradually building up the anticipation for what is going to happen on this particular night. The slow motion shots of the milk splurging out of the guy's mouth and the insides of the soft toy spraying everywhere are just superb.

The way it ends by stripping everything back to the lone 'so if by the time the bar closes, and you feel like falling down . . . I'll carry you home tonight' sends a shiver down my spine every time. I really hope this track gets an opportunity to explode in the UK charts as it deserves to, just as Apologize and Hey There Delilah previously broke through from the Indie American Rock scene.