If Today Was Your Last Day

"If Today Was Your Last Day"
Single by Nickelback
from the album Dark Horse
Released November 11, 2008 (iTunes)
November 2008 (CAN radio)
March 31, 2009 (US radio)
June 15, 2009 (UK)
Format Digital download
Recorded March–July 2008
Studio Mountain View Studios, Abbotsford, British Columbia
Length 4:08
Label Roadrunner
Songwriter(s) Chad Kroeger
Producer(s) Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Nickelback singles chronology
"Something in Your Mouth"
(2008)		 "If Today Was Your Last Day"
(2008)		 "I'd Come for You"
(2009)

"Something in Your Mouth"
(2008)		 "If Today Was Your Last Day"
(2008)		 "I'd Come for You"
(2009)
Music video
"If Today Was Your Last Day" on YouTube

"If Today Was Your Last Day" is the third single from Nickelback's sixth studio album Dark Horse. It was originally planned as the first single, to hit all U.S. radio formats September 30, 2008,[1][2] but was scrapped as the first single in favour of "Gotta Be Somebody".[3] Instead it was released on March 31, 2009. It was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who produced the entire album. The song was released as a digital download in the U.S. on November 11. "If Today Was Your Last Day" was released in the UK on June 15. The song was performed live for the very first time on May 22 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

In the US, the song has sold over 1,500,000 downloads, as of February 2010. According to Roadrunner Records UK, the song is "dynamically swelling our bank accounts". The song has also apparently been around with Nickelback for a while, but had never been finished. The song received Gold certification in Australia.[4]

Lead vocalist/guitarist Chad Kroeger has mentioned the song as his personal favorite from Dark Horse. He had described the middle part of the song as "very motivational, and very positive".[5]

The song was used for promotional videos in the Winter Olympics in 2010, and was used as the closing song during NHL Tonight's 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs coverage.

Music video

The music video was shot with director Nigel Dick in March 2009. Performance portions of the video were shot at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska and in New York City. The other portion was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The music video premiered on 23 April. In the beginning, two trashy teenage boys dressed in black seem to be up to some sort of shady business in Philadelphia. They record their journey on a camcorder. They carry mysterious black bags with them which seem to be filled with illegal stuff. In the end, they stand on top of a bridge ready to carry out their plan. They open the bags, but only harmless colorful pieces of paper with quotes from the song such as "forgive your enemy" and "live each moment" fall over the people beneath them. This inspires two women to hand out coats with messages similar to those on the colored paper, a wealthy-looking man to hand money to everyone he meets, an arguing couple make up and a man arguing with presumably his boss to quit. All of the quotes refer to lines in the song "If Today Was Your Last Day."

Track listing

  1. "If Today Was Your Last Day" (album version) – 4:08

Charts

On October 2008, "If Today Was Your Last Day" debuted at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US based on downloads only. After its release as an official single, it re-entered the Hot 100 and reached a new peak at 19. It is their second top twenty hit on the Hot 100 from Dark Horse, and their ninth top twenty hit on the chart overall. In Canada, it debuted at 91 on the Canadian Hot 100 also based on just downloads, and after its physical release in Canada and receiving airplay it made a re-entry on the chart at number 67 and would go on to reach number 7.

Weekly charts

Chart (2008–10) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 26
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 31
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[8] 7
Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 31
Luxembourg Digital Songs (Billboard)[10] 3
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[11] 58
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 32
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 30
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[14] 64
UK Rock (The Official Charts Company)[15] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 19
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[17] 14
US Billboard Adult Top 40[18] 2
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[19] 32
US Billboard Pop Songs[20] 12

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
Australia (ARIA)[21] 80
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[22] 21
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 70

References

  1. ↑ Nickelback Currently Recording New Album Nickelback.com. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
  2. ↑ Nickelback announce new album Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved September 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ Mainstream Top 40 Add Dates Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine. FMQB.com. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Pandora Archive" (PDF). Pandora.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  5. ↑ NICKELBACK - Dark Horse Album: If Today Was Your Last Day on YouTube
  6. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  8. ↑ Canadian Hot 100 peak position, billboard.com
  9. ↑ "Musicline.de – Nickelback Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  10. ↑ "Luxembourg Digital Songs - February 20, 2010". Billboard.
  11. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert {{{year}}}{{{week}}} into search.
  12. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". Singles Top 100.
  13. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day". Swiss Singles Chart.
  14. ↑ Chart Stats: UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
  15. ↑ Chart Stats: UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ Adult Contemporary Tracks chart listing for June 20, 2009, billboard.com
  18. ↑ Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Top 10 Singles, billboard.com
  19. ↑ Mainstream Rock Tracks chart listing for April 25th, 2009, billboard.com
  20. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/312256/nickelback/chart?f=381
  21. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2009". ARIA. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Canadian Hot 100 Year-End 2009". Billboard. 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  23. ↑ "Year End Charts - Year-end songs - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
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