Here's to Never Growing Up

"Here's to Never Growing Up"
Single by Avril Lavigne
from the album Avril Lavigne
Released 9 April 2013 (2013-04-09)
Format
Recorded 2013
Genre Pop rock
Length 3:35
Label Epic
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Martin Johnson
Avril Lavigne singles chronology
"Wish You Were Here"
(2011)		 "Here's to Never Growing Up"
(2013)		 "Rock n Roll"
(2013)
Music video
"Here's to Never Growing Up" on YouTube

"Here's to Never Growing Up" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, taken from her self-titled fifth studio album in 2013. The song was written by Lavigne, David Hodges, Chad Kroeger, Jacob Kasher, and its producer Martin Johnson. It was released as the lead single from the album on 9 April 2013, by Epic Records. "Here's to Never Growing Up" is a midtempo pop rock song that talks about a "celebration of being forever young" and features a reference to English alternative rock band Radiohead.

Music critics provided mixed reviews to "Here's to Never Growing Up" and drew comparisons between the song and songs by Lavigne's contemporaries such as Katy Perry, Kesha, and Taylor Swift. The single was an international success, reaching number one on the Taiwan and Philippines charts, while reaching the top ten in Belgium, China, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine, also reaching the top twenty in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States despite the lack of initial exposure. It achieved certifications by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) due to the chart success.

An accompanying music video for "Here's to Never Growing Up" was directed by Robert Hales. It features Lavigne and her band performing at the school's prom, and resembles to the music video for her 2002 single "Complicated". The video gained positive feedback from critics, who praised Lavigne's look in the clip. Due to the song's success, Lavigne performed "Here's to Never Growing Up" on a number of shows, including Dancing with the Stars, The Today Show and The Voice UK.

Background

"When I was writing it, I was thinking about being younger – I’m still in my 20s, but you know, like high school - and with my 20s being in music and everything, I love the concept of ‘simply prom’ for the video".

—Lavigne talking about the song's conception to 4Music.[1]

"Here's to Never Growing Up" was written by Lavigne, David Hodges, Chad Kroeger, Jacob Kasher, and producer of the song Martin Johnson. The song was recorded in early 2013 at Henson Recording Studios.[2] During an interview with Ryan Seacrest for 102.7 KIIS-FM show, Lavigne said, "I wanted to write something fun and summery. It's about being young, wanting to be young forever, living in the moment and having a blast".[2] Talking about the song's conception to 4Music, Lavigne revealed that she missed her high school prom so much, and that was the reason why she wrote "Here's to Never Growing Up".[1] She said, "When I was writing it, I was thinking about being younger – I’m still in my 20s, but you know, like high school - and with my 20s being in music and everything, I love the concept of ‘simply prom’ for the video".[1] Lavigne announced the song would be released as the first single from her fifth studio album on 8 February 2013 via Twitter.[3] Lavigne later revealed the single's official artwork as well as its release date via Twitter on 3 April 2013.[4] Epic Records premiered "Here's to Never Growing Up" on On Air with Ryan Seacrest (KIIS-FM) radio show, on iTunes Stores and eventually sent the single to US contemporary hit radio station on 9 April 2013.[2][5][6]

Composition
"Here's to Never Growing Up" (2013)
A 21 second sample of "Here's to Never Growing Up"'s chorus. A midtempo pop rock song,[7] it discusses a "celebration of being forever young".[8] Critics draw comparisons between the track and songs such as "22", "We Are Young", and "Teenage Dream".[9]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Here's to Never Growing Up" is a midtempo pop rock song, with a moderate tempo of 82 beats per minute.[7][10][11][12] It is composed in the key of F major.[12] Lavigne's vocal range in the track spans from the low-note of A3 to the high-note of C6.[12] The "punchy" song is built around a "big, kick-drum" stomp, acoustic-guitar-strumming, and simple-minded tunes.[1][13] Digital Spy editor Robert Cospey wrote the song has a "pumping guitars 'n drums melody".[8] Melinda Newman from HitFix thought that "Here's to Never Growing Up" is a "throwback" to Kesha's "Tik Tok" (2009) and Lavigne's "Girlfriend" (2007) for the same musical structure.[13]

Lyrically, the song talks about a "celebration of being forever young".[8] In the song, Lavigne sings about the things she’s going to do that she believes will keep her forever young, such as getting drunk and dancing on a bar, running down the street screaming profanities, blasting music and staying up all night.[9] At the beginning, Lavigne sings "Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs", referencing rock band Radiohead, which is also features in the chorus.[8] At the chorus, she continues "We'll be running down the street yelling kiss my ass", followed by and "ear-snagging chant" of "oh-woah-oh".[8] Lavigne declares her celebration at the second verse, "This is who we are/ I don't think we'll ever change/ They say 'Just grow up,' but they don't know us/ We don't give a f-ck!".[10]

Critical reception

A black-haired girl in green dress with red belt singing on a microphone
Critics compared "Here's to Never Growing Up" to the works of Katy Perry (left), Kesha (center), and Taylor Swift (right).[9][13][14]

"Here's to Never Growing Up" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Idolator praised the song, stating that it was different than the typical dance-pop songs and named it the Song of the Summer 2013. Digital Spy critic Robert Cospey gave the song a three stars out of five rating, writing "The result is nothing she hasn't given us before, but there's no harm in having one last hurrah".[8] Amy Sciarretto from PopCrush provided the track a score of two and a half stars, commenting that the song sounds too similar to Lavigne's previous single "Complicated".[15] Melinda Newman of HitFix provided a mixed review, writing that "You may find yourself begrudgingly clapping your hands and swaying to the generic "Here’s To Never Growing Up", but you won’t like yourself for doing so. It feels like it was crafted in some pop lab as "the song" that will get Lavigne back on the charts".[13] Tris McCall from New Jersey On-Line was more positive, commenting that the song "likely to be a summertime anthem" and compared its theme to songs by Lavigne's contemporaries such as "22" by Taylor Swift, "We Are Young" by fun., and "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry.[9] Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson deemed "Here's to Never Growing Up" "a classic drinking tune" and compared the song's theme to Kesha's "Die Young" and Pink's "Raise Your Glass".[14] A reviewer from The Huffington Post also thought that the track was similar to works by Kesha and Taylor Swift, calling it "a bouncy anthem".[16]

Chart performance

In the song's debut week, the song debuted at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Lavigne's 16th entry in the chart. The song reached a peak at number 20 in the week of 29 June, becoming her 10th top 40 in United States and causing the song to surge from 23th to 7th in the Digital Songs with more than 131,000 downloads sold that week. As of September 2015, "Here's to Never Growing Up" has sold 1.3 million copies in the United States.[17]

"Here's To Never Growing Up" debuted on ARIA Singles Chart at number 16 and one week later peaked at number 15. The song peaked at number 7 in Ireland, 8 in Scotland and 14 in the United Kingdom. The song was well received in Asia where in most of the countries it stood atop the charts.It did extremely well in China, where it grabbed the 2nd Most played song of the year 2013 before Rock n' Roll.

Music video

The music video was directed by Robert Hales, with photography by Ketil Dietrichson[18] and art direction by Lenny Tso. On 8 April 2013, Lavigne began shooting the video for the song, the second day of the shooting was on 19 April, confirmed by Lavigne on Twitter and the official premiere was on 9 May. The video shows Lavigne playing with her band at a school during the senior prom. It also features scenes of Lavigne and her friends having a fun time at the school, eventually causing chaos. It also shows scenes of Lavigne singing in an empty classroom, that eventually shows all her friends dancing and having fun. The video makes allusions to Lavigne's first music video "Complicated", wearing the same outfit and skateboarding.

Live performances

Lavigne performed the song live for the first time on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 26 April 2013. She also performed it on the semi-final results on Dancing with the Stars on 14 May, and on The Today Show on 17 May 2013. Lavigne sang the song on the Wango Tango on 11 May 2013. She also performed it on 14 June on Live! with Kelly and Michael, on 15 June on The Voice UK, and on 16 June on the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards.

Track listing

Digital download
  1. "Here's to Never Growing Up" – 3:35
CD single
  1. "Here's to Never Growing Up" – 3:35
  2. "Here's to Never Growing Up" (Instrumental) – 3:35

Credits and personnel

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 15
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 49
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[21] 10
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[22] 3
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[23] 17
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[24] 29
China (Sino Chart)[25] 4
France (SNEP)[26] 63
Germany (Official German Charts)[27] 60
Ireland (IRMA)[28] 7
Italy (FIMI)[29] 19
Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay (Billboard)[30] 1
Japan Digital and Airplay Overseas (Billboard)[31] 1
Japan Hot 100 (Billboard)[32] 8
Japan Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)[33] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[34] 85
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[35] 28
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[36] 24
Philippines (Myx Philippines)[37] 1
Portugal Singles Chart[38] 23
Russia (Russian Music Charts)[39] 3
Scottish Singles Chart[40] 8
South Korea (Gaon International Chart)[41] 2
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[42] 95
South Africa (EMA)[43] 7
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[44] 29
Taiwan (Five Music Western Chart)[45] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[46] 14
Ukraine (FDR Charts)[47] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[48] 20
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[49] 19
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[50] 21

Year-end charts

Chart (2013) Position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[51] 79
Philippines (MYX Hit Chart Year-end countdown)[52] 17
South Korea (Gaon International Chart)[53] 91

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[54] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[55] Platinum 80,000
United States (RIAA)[56] Platinum 1,300,000[17]
Venezuela (APFV)[57] Gold 15,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United States[58] 9 April 2013 [59] Epic Records
Russia[60] Digital download
Netherlands[61]
Italy[62]
Spain[63]
Germany[64] Sony Music
Philippines[65]
Italy[66] 12 April 2013 Contemporary hit radio Sony
United States[67] 15 April 2013 Hot/Modern/AC radio Epic Records
Taiwan[68] 17 May 2013 CD single Sony Music
United Kingdom[69] 14 July 2013 Digital download Epic Records
China[70] 1 August 2013 CD single Sony Music

Awards

Year Awards ceremony Award Results
2013 MuchMusic Video Awards International Video Of The Year By A Canadian Won
Billboard Mid-Year Music Awards Best Music Video Nominated
World Music Awards World's Best Song Nominated
World's Best Video Nominated
2014 Radio Disney Music Awards That's My Jam Nominated
2015 #VEVOCertified 100.000.000 views Won

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Maynard, Trent (3 May 2013). "News: Avril Lavigne On Never Growing Up, Living In The Moment And Scrapbooking". 4Music (Channel 4). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Ryan Seacrest (host) (9 April 2013). Avril Lavigne Debuts "Here's To Never Growing Up": Interview, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Part 1 (radio show). United States: KISS-FM.
  3. ↑ Corner, Lewis (8 February 2013). "Avril Lavigne announces new single 'Here's To Never Growing Up'". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Lansky, Sam (3 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne Unveils "Here’s To Never Growing Up" Single Artwork & Release Date". Idolator. Buzz Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Available for Airplay". FMQB. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Here's to Never Growing Up – Single by Avril Lavigne". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  7. 1 2 Lipshutz, Jason (9 May 2013). "Avril Lavigne Refuses To Age in 'Here's To Never Growing Up' Video". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cospey, Robert (23 June 2013). "Avril Lavigne: 'Here's To Never Growing Up': Single Review". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 McCall, Tris (2 June 2013). "Song of the Week: 'Here's to Never Growing Up', Avril Lavigne". New Jersey On-Line. Limited Liability Company. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  10. 1 2 Benjamin, Jeff (8 April 2013). "Listen: Avril Lavigne's New Single "Here's To Never Growing Up"". Fuse. The Madison Square Garden Company. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  11. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (9 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne Toasts New Song With Chad Kroeger: 'Here's To Never Growing Up'". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "Avril Lavigne's "Here's to Never Growing Up" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. EMI Music Publishing. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Newman, Melinda (9 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne's new song: Here's To Never Growing Up: Review". HitFix. HitFix Inc. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  14. 1 2 Anderson, Kyle (8 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne releases new single 'Here's to Never Growing Up': Hear It Here". The Music-Mix Blog. Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  15. ↑ Sciarretto, Amy (8 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne, 'Here's to Never Growing Up'". PopCrush. Townsquare Media. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  16. ↑ Rosen, Christopher (4 April 2013). "Avril Lavigne's 'Here's To Never Growing Up': It's Complicated (AUDIO)". The Huffington Post (AOL). Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  17. 1 2 Trust, Gary (6 September 2015). "Ask Billboard: Avril Lavigne's Best-Selling Songs & Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Avril Lavigne "Here's To Never Growing Up" (Robert Hales, dir.)". VideoStatic. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  19. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  20. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" (in French). Ultratip.
  23. ↑ "Avril Lavigne – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Avril Lavigne.
  24. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201325 into search.
  25. ↑ "综合榜 2013年 第32周". Sino Chart.
  26. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" (in French). Les classement single.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up". GfK Entertainment.
  28. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 23, 2013". Irish Singles Chart.
  29. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up". Top Digital Download.
  30. ↑ "Billboard Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  31. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  32. ↑ Japan Billboard Hot 100 , Japan Billboard Hot 100
  33. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 Airplay│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  34. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  35. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Avril Lavigne search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
  36. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  37. ↑ Myx Philippines , Myx Philippines Official Website
  38. ↑ "Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  39. ↑ Russian singles chart , Baidu Avril-Bar
  40. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/20130721/41
  41. ↑ ":: 가온차트와 함께하세요 ::". Gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  42. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201324 into search.
  43. ↑ "EMA Top 10 Airplay: Week Ending 2013-06-11". Entertainment Monitoring Africa. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  44. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Here's To Never Growing Up" Canciones Top 50.
  45. ↑ "Taiwan Five Music Western Chart Top 20 (Week 21, 2013)". Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  46. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2013-07-27" UK Singles Chart.
  47. ↑ "ФДР - Радіо - Розсилки". Fdr.com.ua. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  48. ↑ "Avril Lavigne – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Avril Lavigne.
  49. ↑ "Avril Lavigne – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Avril Lavigne.
  50. ↑ "Avril Lavigne – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Avril Lavigne.
  51. ↑ "Best of 2013 - Canadian Hot 100 Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  52. ↑ http://jecoup9587.blogspot.com/2013/12/chart-recap-2013-year-end-charts.html?m=1
  53. ↑ "South Korea Year End Chart 2013". GAONCHART. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  54. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2013.
  55. ↑ "Gold and Platinum Search Avril Lavigne". Music Canada. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  56. ↑ "American single certifications – Avril Lavigne – Here%27s To Never Growing Up". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  57. ↑ APFV (30 November 2013). "Certificaciones De Venezuela Del 2013" (PDF) (in Spanish). APFV. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  58. ↑ "Get Avril Lavigne’s "Here’s To Never Growing Up" at iTunes 4/9!". Epic Records. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  59. ↑ "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  60. ↑ "Here's To Never Growing Up - Single". itunes.apple.com/ru. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  61. ↑ "Here's To Never Growing Up - Single". itunes.apple.com/nl. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  62. ↑ "Here's To Never Growing Up: Avril Lavigne: Amazon.it: Music". Amazon.it. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  63. ↑ "Here's To Never Growing Up: Avril Lavigne: Amazon.es: Tienda MP3". Amazon.es. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  64. ↑ "Avril Lavigne - Downloads - Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH". Sonymusic.de. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  65. ↑ "Avril Lavigne - Downloads - iTunes Philippines". iTunesph. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  66. ↑ "AVRIL LAVIGNE - Heres To Never Growing Up (Sony) | Radio Date 12/04/2013". Radioairplay.fm. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  67. ↑ http://www.webcitation.org/6FpqJuLRV
  68. ↑ "五大唱片". 5music.com.tw. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  69. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Here's To Never Growing Up - Single by Avril Lavigne". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  70. ↑ "艾薇儿 Avril Lavigne:拒绝长大 Here's To Never Growing Up". Amazon.


External links

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