Young Blood (The Naked and Famous song)

"Young Blood" is a song by New Zealand band the Naked and Famous from their debut studio album, Passive Me, Aggressive You (2010). It was released on 7 June 2010 as the album's second single. "Young Blood" debuted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The song received the 2010 Silver Scroll for Song of the Year.

"Young Blood"
Single by the Naked and Famous
from the album Passive Me, Aggressive You
Released7 June 2010 (2010-06-07)
StudioThe Lab, Auckland, New Zealand
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:53
LabelSomewhat Damaged
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Thom Powers
  • Aaron Short
The Naked and Famous singles chronology
"All of This"
(2009)
"Young Blood"
(2010)
"Punching in a Dream"
(2010)
Alternative cover
UK and US cover
Music video
"Young Blood" on YouTube

Composition edit

"Young Blood" is a synth-pop song,[1] featuring a buzz-guitar riff.[2] Kevin Harley of BBC Music compared the song to the work of MGMT.[1] According to Godfrey de Grut of NZ Musician, "Young Blood" is set in the key of F#, and follows the chord progression of B–F–B–F–C–B–F–B–Dmin–C.[3] The theme of "Young Blood" is that of "spirit of youth" and its loss,[3][4] and contains a "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" hook.[3][5]

Critical reception edit

The song received critical acclaim by music critics. AllMusic's Matt Collar noted "Young Blood" as one of the top tracks from Passive Me, Aggressive You and described it as "layered and shimmering".[6] Tom Cardy from The Dominion Post called it "one of the catchiest indie electro tunes I've heard in years".[7] The New Zealand Herald's Scott Kara labelled "Young Blood" as "an inventive, rousing, and uplifting tune".[5]

On 8 September 2010 "Young Blood" won the APRA Silver Scroll, a New Zealand peer-judged songwriting award. APRA's Anthony Healey stated, "Young Blood is outstanding; it's stroppy, it's youthful and energetic. It makes me want to be eighteen again".[8] At the awards ceremony it was covered by reggae band Three Houses Down.[8] The Naked and Famous said being awarded with the honour was "surreal and intense".[9]

Chart performance edit

"Young Blood" debuted atop the New Zealand Singles Chart on 14 June 2010,[10] becoming the first time a New Zealand artist debuted at number one in over three years;[11] Matthew Saunoa's "Hold Out" did so in November 2006.[12] The song held the top spot for another week, however on 28 June it was pushed to number two by "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg.[13] "Young Blood" fell out of the singles chart in October 2010, having spent 18 weeks on the chart.[10]

In Australia, "Young Blood" peaked at number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while in Austria it remained on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 for 10 weeks, reaching number 53. The song peaked at number 59 on the Dutch Single Top 100 chart, spending five weeks on the chart.[10]

In the United States, the song was featured as iTunes Store Single of the Week and was available for free of charge download during the week of 15–21 March 2011. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 10 December 2013, denoting sales in excess of one million copies.[14]

Music video edit

The accompanying music video for "Young Blood" was directed by Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper of Special Problems.[15]

Covers and use in media edit

Jessie J covered "Young Blood" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in March 2011.[16] Chiddy Bang remixed it in September 2011.[17] Birdy covered the song on her eponymous debut album Birdy. Her version was featured in the "Moment of Truth" episode of Grey's Anatomy and on Harry's Law at the end of episode "The Contest".[18] A remix was also made by Dutch DJs Tiësto and Hardwell, whose version appears on Tiësto's album Club Life: Volume Two Miami.[19] Machine Gun Kelly sampled "Young Blood" in his "Half Naked & Almost Famous" single.

In August 2010, the Israeli clothing company Castro featured "Young Blood" in their shoes commercial and later, in November 2010 the Winter collection advertisement included acoustic cover of the song. In March 2011, Castro used it again in their shoes commercial. With the relaunch of the television channel Viva on 1 January 2011, "Young Blood" gained popularity in Germany and Austria as it is used in the channels' idents and trailers. The song was featured in the Strongbow 'Summer Blossom' advert in Australia. In Uzbekistan, the song was used in the advertisement of the mobile network operator UCell during May and June 2011. It was also used in Canon camera adverts. It was used as the theme of the French television series La Nouvelle Édition (2011–2013). This song was played right before the unveiling of the all-new 2013 Nissan Altima at the 2012 New York International Auto Show.[citation needed]

UFC MMA fighter Maurício "Shogun" Rua used it as walk in music at UFC on Fox 4. "Young Blood" was featured in the Disney film Prom and in its trailer. The song was featured in the pilot of Covert Affairs,[20] in both the first and last episodes of The Almighty Johnsons,[21] and in the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of NBC's Chuck, during a sequence which was called the "best 10 minutes in the show's history" by series creator Josh Schwartz.[22] The song was further featured in the episode "Panic Roommate" of the fourth season of Gossip Girl,[23][24] in the season 3 premiere of TVNZ's Go Girls,[25] and in a promo for the British show Skins. "Young Blood" was then used in the third episode of MTV's TV series Awkward,[26] and in the pilot of The Secret Circle.[27] It was also used in the pilot episode of CBS's TV show Elementary. It is featured on the season finale of Whitney. The song was featured in Travis Rice's The Art of Flight, a snowboarding film released 7 September 2011.[28] A promo for the second season of the HGTV show Property Brothers features a cut of the song. The song is featured on the FOX telecast of the 2011 Major League Baseball World Series. The song is also featured in the trailer for the movies The Cabin in the Woods and Prom. The song was featured a bit in the Season 11 premiere of American Idol. The song is featured on the soundtrack for video game SSX.[29] An alternate version of the song with a slower tempo is currently being featured in commercials for Trident Gum. This version is known as the Renholder Remix and was used in the soundtrack for Underworld: Awakening. A remix of the song by Dekade was featured in the 2013 American comedy film 21 & Over. In the Philippines, meanwhile, the song is used as the opening theme song of #SU, a student-oriented magazine TV talk show produced by students of Silliman University in Dumaguete. The show airs weekly on local cable TV station Fil Products Channel 6.

This song was also used during the Fox 2011-2012 television schedule promo. It was featured in episode 10 of Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 6 and in the 2013 films Carrie and 21 & Over.

It was also featured in other movies and TV shows Partly Sunny, The Miracle Season, and Stargirl.

Track listings edit

Charts edit

Certifications edit

Certifications for Young Blood
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[49] Platinum 70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[50] Platinum 15,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[51] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[14] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history edit

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Australia 7 July 2010 Digital download Self-released [52]
New Zealand [53]
United Kingdom 6 September 2010 Neon Gold [31]
Austria 14 November 2010 Digital download
[54]
Denmark [55]
Finland [56]
Germany [57]
Ireland [58]
Italy [59]
Japan [60]
Netherlands [61]
Norway [62]
Sweden [63]
Switzerland [64]
United Kingdom [65]
United States [66]
Germany 18 February 2011 CD single [30]
United Kingdom 4 March 2011 7-inch single
[32]
Ireland 6 March 2011 Digital EP
  • Somewhat Damaged
  • Polydor
[67]
United Kingdom [33]
Australia 4 April 2011 Digital download Somewhat Damaged [68]
New Zealand [69]
Australia 23 February 2018 Digital download – Stripped [70]
New Zealand [71]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Harley, Kevin (3 March 2011). "The Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. ^ Beaumont, Mark (9 March 2011). "Album Review: The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You (Fiction)". NME. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. ^ a b c de Grut, Godfrey (October–November 2010). "X Factory: The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". NZ Musician. 15 (9). ISSN 0114-9032.
  4. ^ Ward, Nick (23 September 2010). "CD Reviews". The Nelson Mail. p. 12.
  5. ^ a b Kara, Scott (9 September 2010). "Album Review: The Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  6. ^ Collar, Matt. Young Blood at AllMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  7. ^ Cardy, Tom (16 September 2010). "CD Review The Naked and Famous – Passive Me Aggressive You". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  8. ^ a b Sundae, Hugh (8 September 2010). "The Naked and Famous win APRA Silver Scroll". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  9. ^ Jones, Bridget; Robinson, Victoria (9 September 2010). "Young Blood wins Silver Scroll". Stuff. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. ^ One News (8 September 2010). "Silver Scroll winner announced". TVNZ. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  12. ^ "Top 40 singles (#1537)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  13. ^ "Top 40 singles (#1727)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  14. ^ a b "American single certifications – The Naked & Famous – Young Blood". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  15. ^ "The Naked + Famous". Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  16. ^ "Jessie J Covers The Naked and Famous' 'Young Blood' For BBC Radio 1". Artistdirect. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  17. ^ Tom and Alex (17 September 2011). "Like A Version: Chiddy Bang – Young Blood". Triple J. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  18. ^ "Grey's Anatomy "Moment of Truth Music". TV Fanatic. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  19. ^ Akshay Bhansali (24 April 2012). "Tiesto's Club Life – Volume Two Miami A Tribute To City He Loves". MTV. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  20. ^ "Covert Affairs Episode Music Guide". USA Network. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  21. ^ "The Almighty Johnsons – Music". Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  22. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (12 March 2012). "Chuck – Chuck vs. the Gobbler: The undercover lover". HitFix.com. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  23. ^ "The CW Music | Soundtracks | Featured Artists". The CW Network.
  24. ^ Marsi, Steve (8 February 2011). "Gossip Girl Music From "Panic Roommate"". TV Fanatic.
  25. ^ "Go Girls | Television New Zealand | Television | TV One, TV2, TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7". tvnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Awkward. " Songs From the Show " Ep. 103". MTV. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  27. ^ "The Secret Circle – Pilot". Tunefind. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  28. ^ "The Art of Flight Soundtrack". redbullusa.com. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  29. ^ "SSX Soundtrack To Feature Foster The People, Pretty Lights, The Naked And Famous And Many More". EA News. ea.com. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  30. ^ a b "Young Blood (2-Track) [Single]". Amazon. Germany. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  31. ^ a b "Neon Gold International – Merchandise". Neon Gold. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  32. ^ a b "Young Blood [7" vinyl]". Amazon. United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  33. ^ a b "Young Blood – EP". iTunes Store. United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  34. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  35. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  36. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  37. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  38. ^ "The Naked and Famous Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  39. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  40. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  41. ^ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  42. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  43. ^ "Naked and Famous: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  44. ^ "The Naked and Famous Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  45. ^ "The Naked and Famous Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  46. ^ "The Naked and Famous Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  47. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 2010". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  48. ^ "Alternative Songs – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  49. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  50. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  51. ^ "British single certifications – Naked & Famous – Young Blood". British Phonographic Industry. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  52. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  53. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. New Zealand. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  54. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in German). Austria. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  55. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Denmark. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  56. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Finland. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  57. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in German). Germany. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  58. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Ireland. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  59. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in Italian). Italy. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  60. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in Japanese). Japan. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  61. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in Dutch). Netherlands. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  62. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Norway. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  63. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Sweden. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  64. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store (in German). Switzerland. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  65. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  66. ^ "Young Blood". Amazon. United States. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  67. ^ "Young Blood – EP". iTunes Store. Ireland. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  68. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Australia. January 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  69. ^ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. New Zealand. January 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  70. ^ "Young Blood (Stripped) – Single by The Naked and Famous". iTunes Store. Australia. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  71. ^ "Young Blood (Stripped) – Single by The Naked and Famous". iTunes Store. New Zealand. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.