Forever Young (Alphaville song)

"Forever Young"
Single by Alphaville
from the album Forever Young
B-side	"Welcome to the Sun"
Released	September 1984
Format	7-inch single, 12-inch maxi
Genre	Synthpop new wave[1]
Length	3:44
Label	WEA
Writer(s)	Bernhard Lloyd, Marian Gold, Frank Mertens
Producer(s)	Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos, Andreas Budde
Alphaville singles chronology
"Sounds Like a Melody" (1984) "Forever Young" (1984) "Jet Set" (1985)
Music video "Forever Young" (Ver. 1) "Forever Young" (Ver. 2)

"Forever Young" is a power ballad from German rock group Alphaville's 1984 debut album of the same name. The single was a strong hit in Scandinavia and in the European German-speaking countries in the same year.

Although it was not the group's highest-charting European hit, and it 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 single reached the number 65 spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the top 40 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/ Club Play Singles in 1985.^[2]

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 3: "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), Regular Show (season 5, episodes 24-25: "Skips' Story") 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. It was also sung by one of the characters in the "Soulmates" episode (2011) of the American television program, Parks and Recreation. It has become a signature tune for the Vietnamese channel YanTV, whose slogan is accordingly 'Forever Yan'.^[3] In 2015, the song is also used for the commercial for Centrum brand of multivitamins in the Philippines where a group of high schools friends (now in their seniors) reunite after several years.^[4]

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

The "Special Dance Version" and the b-side "Welcome to the Sun" were both included on 2014's so80s presents Alphaville.

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)

Charts and certifications

Forever Young 2001

"Forever Young 2001"
Forever Young 2001 Limited Fan Edition Cover
Single by Alphaville
A-side	Forever Young 2001
Released	September, 2001
Format	CD
Genre	Synthpop
Label	Warner Music
Writer(s)	Gold/Lloyd/Mertens
Alphaville singles chronology
"Soul Messiah (1999) "Forever Young 2001" (2001) "Dance with Me 2001" (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^[11]

Forever Young the Remix

"Forever Young The Remix"
Forever Young The Remix CD Cover
Single by Alphaville
A-side	Forever Young (Hamel Album Mix)
Released	2006
Format	CD
Genre	Synthpop
Label	Warner Music
Writer(s)	Gold/Lloyd/Mertens
Alphaville singles chronology
"Elegy" (2003) "Forever Young The Remix" (2006) "I Die for You Today" (2010)

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. The remix hit #31 on the Australian singles chart.^[12]

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

Karel Gott version

"Für immer jung" is a song by Czech schlager singer Karel Gott, and a cover of German rock band Alphaville's hit song "Forever Young", with German song lyrics.^[13] He also made a version in his native language, called "Být stále mlád"^[14] (literally in Czech, "To be forever young").

In 2008, a new version of this song was made by the rapper Bushido for his album Heavy Metal Payback with Karel Gott singing the chorus.

Bushido version

Lyrical content

In this song, Bushido raps frankly and openly, without cursing. He raps from the perspective of an older person, who is looking back on their childhood. During this time, they were young and powerful and their parents lived happily together. There is a desire to return to this time in the past.

Bushido also raps that his childhood and youth have passed by too fast and now, being an adult, this is difficult for some adults to respect.

In the final verses Bushido raps that, in his view, life is a struggle to attain something and he gives young people advice to spend more time with their family and friends and stop wasting their life away smoking and drinking.

Music video

The music video features scenes of young people enjoying their lives; Karel Gott performing in a theater with Bushido as the only spectator; Bushido performing in his recording studio; and another contrast of "old vs new" with two Mercedes-Benz cars - with Gott riding in the backseat of the older Mercedes-Benz 600, whilst Bushido drives a new Mercedes-Benz W221 S-Class himself. At the conclusion of the video, the two pass each other on a deserted road.

Cover versions and samples

• 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 1994, German electronic group Interactive released a cover which reached No. 7 in Germany and made the Top 20 in five other countries.
• 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"^[13] and in 2006, with lyrics in Czech as "Být stále mlád"^[14]), Bushido (in 2008, featuring Karel Gott with German lyrics), Paul Michiels, Dune & London Session Orchestra, B-Charme, BnH, Wakin Chau, Fire & Ice, Ella, Tune Up!, Axel Rudi Pell, Wayne Wonder and Atrocity.
• In 1997, Ainbusk recorded the song in Swedish as "För evigt nu".^[15] It also appeared on their 2001 Christmas album I midvintertid, en jul på Gotland.^[16]
• In 2007, Tiffany performed a version on her compilation album I Think We're Alone Now: '80s Hits and More.
• In 2009, the song was sampled by rapper Jay-Z and Mr Hudson in the song "Young Forever", from the album The Blueprint 3.
• "Forever Young" has also been covered by the German band Gregorian on their 2011 compilation Best Of 1990-2010.^[17]
• 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.
• Also in 2011, it was covered by Ana Torroja in Catalan as "Per sempre més" ("Forever more"), for the CD of TV3's telethon La Marató.^[18]
• The jazz-fusion band Dirty Loops covered the song which appeared on their YouTube channel on October 2014.^[19]

Youth Group version

"Forever Young"
Single by Youth Group
from the album Casino Twilight Dogs
Released	February 27, 2006
Format	CD, download
Recorded	2005
Genre	Indie rock
Length	4:33
Label	Ivy League
Writer(s)	Bernhard Lloyd, Marian Gold, Frank Mertens
Producer(s)	Wayne Connolly, Youth Group
Youth Group singles chronology
"Baby Body" (2004) "Forever Young" (2006) "Catching and Killing" (2006)

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, peaked at #1, was also ranked #1 in digital downloads (the first year digital downloads were tallied in Australia), and was certified platinum in sales.^[20] 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)
• Für immer jung, Bushido featuring Karel Gott (a remake of Forever Young)
• List of anti-war songs

References

External links

• Alphaville
  • Alphaville - "Forever Young" (Version 1) (Official Music Video) on YouTube
  • Alphaville - "Forever Young" (Version 2) (Official Music Video) on YouTube
  • Alphaville - "Forever Young (Dance Remix)" (Official Music Video) on YouTube
• Bushido feat. Karel Gott
  • Bushido feat. Karel Gott - Für immer jung on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics