Forever Young (Alphaville song)

"Forever Young" is the title track from German rock/synthpop group Alphaville's 1984 debut album of the same name. Though it was not the group's highest-charting European hit and failed to reach the American Top 40 despite three separate U.S. single releases, "Forever Young" has subsequently been covered by numerous artists.

Alphaville versions

Original 1984 version

Background and video

Originally released by Alphaville as a single in 1984, "Forever Young" was available in both its original mix and also in a dance version titled the "Special Dance Mix." Over the years the band has released several remixes and demo versions of the song.

The song's music video shows the band performing in one of the halls at Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. A number of ragged people ranging from children to the elderly awake to observe the band, then walk through a diamond-shaped glowing portal.

Influence

"Forever Young" has become something of a pop culture standard. It has been performed by numerous musical groups and in different versions and has appeared in television series, movies, and advertisements. The song plays during scenes in the television series Passions, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (episode 103: "Underage Drinking: A National Concern"), the North American version of Queer as Folk (season 1, episode 18), One Tree Hill (season 4, episode 16), 30 Rock (season 4, episode 10), Greek (Cover version by the Youth Group in the Series finale) and Big Love. It also plays in the movie Listen to Me and during the school dance scene of the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite. In 2006 and 2007 the song was used in advertisements for the Scandinavian banks SEB in Estonia and Sweden, and Nordea in Denmark. It also appeared in prom-themed advertisements for Saturn Ion automobiles. In Argentina it was used in advertisements for Consolidar AFJP, a pension retirement fund.

Track listings

7" single

1. "Forever Young" — 3:45
2. "Welcome to the Sun" — 3:09

12" maxi

1. "Forever Young" (Special Dance Version) — 6:06
2. "Forever Young" — 3:45
3. "Welcome to the Sun" — 3:09

• "Welcome to the Sun" also appeared (in a remix and a re-recording) on 1999's Dreamscapes

Other releases

The original album version has also appeared on the following official Alphaville releases:

• Alphaville Amiga Compilation, 1988
• Alphaville: The Singles Collection, 1988
• First Harvest 1984–92, 1992

Other versions

This song has been released several times in various forms, including remixes and demos, on:

• Alphaville: The Singles Collection, 1988 (remixed)
• History, 1993 (covered live)
• Dreamscapes, 1999 (demo, demo remix, performed live and re-recorded acoustically)
• Little America, 1999 (performed live)
• Stark Naked and Absolutely Live, 2000 (performed live)
• Forever Pop, 2001 (remixed)
• "Forever Young 2001" (see below)
• "Forever Young The Remix", 2006 (see below)

Certifications

Charts

Forever Young 2001

In 2001, Alphaville released a new set of remixes in a "limited fan edition" called "Forever Young 2001." This single contained 3 music tracks, 1 spoken word track, and a PC-only track.

This CD was released to fans for free (fans only had to send in enough money for postage to have the CD mailed to them), and the names of every fan who requested a copy is printed on the inside cover. Copies were hand-signed by the band and the remixes that appear on the single have never appeared on any other release.

The cover is a still image from the video, which was created by The Cartoon Saloon.

Track listings

CD single

1. "Forever Young (F.A.F's Diamonds in the Sun Mix)" — 3:56
   • Remixed by: F.A.F
2. "Forever Young (Factory Mix)" — 4:21
   • Remixed by: José Alvarez-Brill
3. "Forever Young (Original Demo 1983)" — 4:43
4. "Thank You (Spoken Version)" — 3:44
5. "Forever Young (Magix PlayR)" (PC only)

• The "Thank You" track consisted of then-member Bernard Lloyd thanking the fans, while speaking over one of his "favorite tracks," which was a remix of "Lassie Come Home," as it was to appear on the 2001 remix album Forever Pop
• The Magix PlayR track was a PC-only application that allowed fans to customize the FAF remix to their liking

CD promo single

1. "Forever Young (F.A.F's Diamonds in the Sun Mix)" — 3:56

• This promotional CD was produced in a strictly limited run of 500 copies and not sold commercially^[6]

Forever Young The Remix

Released in 2006, this CD contains 2 new remixes by notable remix artist Bill Hamel. It also includes a digitally remastered version of the original album version of the song.

Track listing

CD single

1. "Forever Young (Hamel Album Mix)" — 4:58
2. "Forever Young (Bill Hamel Club Mix)" — 7:39
3. "Forever Young (Remastered Original Version)" — 3:47

Cover versions

• Just a year after the song's initial release, pop singer Laura Branigan covered "Forever Young" on her album Hold Me and began a tradition of performing the song as an encore at her concerts.
• In 1987 German punk band Die Goldenen Zitronen re-worked the song as "Für immer Punk" ("Forever Punk") with guest appearances by the lead vocalists of Slime, Die Toten Hosen, and Die Ärzte, each contributing their own lyrical variation of the chorus, and ending with Alphaville singer Marian Gold singing the original chorus.
• In 1996 the Canadian eurodance group Temperance released a cover version of the song which reached number 8 on the Canadian Dance Chart.
• Other artists to have covered "Forever Young" in the years since its original release include DJ Space C, David Monte Cristo, DJ Company, Karel Gott (in 2000, with lyrics in German as "Für immer jung"), Bushido (in 2008, featuring Karel Gott with German lyrics) Paul Michiels, Dune & London Session Orchestra, B-Charme, BnH, Wakin Chau, Fire & Ice, Interactive, Ella, Tune Up!, Axel Rudi Pell, Wayne Wonder and Atrocity.
• In 2001 Swedish group Ainbusk re-wrote the song in their native language as a Christmas song titled "Förevigt nu" ("Forever Now" in Swedish).
• A cover version by Pluto was used in a 2007 tourism ad for New Zealand's "youngest country on Earth" campaign.
• In 2009, the song was used as the basis for the song "Young Forever" from Jay-Z.
• Tangerine Dream covered the song in their 2010 album Under Cover - Chapter One.
• "Forever Young" has also been covered by the German band Gregorian on their 2011 compilation Best Of 1990-2010.^[7]
• One Direction, who finished third in seventh series of The X Factor, recorded the song as a "winners song" for the 2010 finals had they won the competition. It was later leaked on the internet.^[8]
• Kim Wilde first sang the song live as part of her Come Out and Play Tour. In 2011 she recorded a studio version which was included as a bonus track on her covers album, Snapshots.
• Brandi Carlile performed the song in concert in 2011 and included the song as a hidden track on her live album Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony.
• In 2011, Sam Concepcion has covered the song for his third studio album with the same name under Universal Records (Philippines).

Youth Group version

In 2005 Australian rock band Youth Group were asked by the producers of the hit American television series The O.C. to record a cover version of "Forever Young" for use in an episode of the show, after their single "Shadowland" had appeared in a previous episode and received a positive response. Their version of "Forever Young" not only played during an episode, but was used as theme music during Australian advertisements for the show's third season and was included on the soundtrack album Music from the OC: Mix 5. The song became a hit in Australia, receiving radio play on rock station Triple J and soon being picked up by other stations. A single released in the country debuted at #2 on the ARIA charts, was ranked #1 in digital downloads, and was certified gold in sales.^[9] The song was included on the band's album Casino Twilight Dogs released internationally later that year. A music video was released consisting of footage from the early-1970s Australian youth television program GTK, showing Australia's first skateboarding contest being held at the Coca-Cola factory in Frenchs Forest, New South Wales in 1975.

Track listing

1. "Forever Young" – 4:33
2. "Someone Else's Dream" – 2:36
3. "Forever Young" (Edit) – 3:26

See also

• Young Forever, Jay-Z featuring Mr Hudson (a remake of Forever Young)

References