Us Against the World (Westlife song)

"Us Against the World"
Single by Westlife
from the album Back Home
Released	3 March 2008
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2007 Maratone Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre	Pop
Length	4:01
Label	Sony BMG
Writer(s)	Arnthor Birgisson, Rami Yacoub, Savan Kotecha
Producer(s)	Arnthor Birgisson, Rami Yacoub
Westlife singles chronology
"Home" (2007) "Us Against the World" (2008) "Something Right" (2008)
Back Home track listing "Home" (1) "Us Against the World" (2) "Something Right" (3) "Us Against The World CD2" The cover resembles The Sun and Daily Mirror

"Us Against the World" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife from their ninth studio album, Back Home (2008). The song was released as the album's second single on 3 March 2008.

The song was written by Arnthor Birgisson, Rami Yacoub and Savan Kotecha. A music video for the song was filmed in December 2007 and premiered on 14 February 2008.

Background

The song was composed by Arnthor Birgisson, Rami Yacoub and Savan Kotecha, who also co-wrote numerous tracks on the Back Home album, namely "Something Right", "The Easy Way", and "Pictures in My Head". The single was officially confirmed by band member Nicky Byrne during an X Factor interview, which later appeared on the band's official website.^[1] "Us Against the World" was also dedicated to Westlife's fans worldwide to mark their continuous support. The band gave their first live performance of "Us Against The World" on the TV special "The Westlife Show - Live", which was broadcast on December 15, 2007. In the Philippines, both the song and music video premiered on 3 July 2008, the band's anniversary date.

Critical reception

Digital Spy's Alex Fletcher rated the album and said: "Westlife have claimed that 'Us Against The World' is the best track on their recent Back Home album, so, if nothing else, we should be grateful that the record company chose to release this rather than one of the tracks the soppy Irish warblers weren't as impressed with."^[2]

Chart performance

Prior to its physical release, the song managed to peak at #40 on the UK Official Singles Chart and at #27 on the Official Irish Singles Chart based on downloads alone. On March 3, 2008, the single was released in its physical format, climbing 32 spots to peak at #8 on the UK Singles Chart and at #6 on the Irish Singles Chart. A live version of the single was also made available for download. This marks the first time in Westlife's history that a single has not been able to reach the top 5 in Ireland, making "Us Against The World" the band's lowest charting single to date. The single peaked also at #14 on UK TV Airplay Chart and #24 on UK Radio Airplay Chart. The song peaked at #8 in the Official UK top 40.^[3]

Music video

The band announced through their official website that the video began shoot on December 4, 2007.^[4] The music video marks a major milestone in the band's decade of music. The video premiered on February 14, while the single was released on 3 March 2008.^[5] The initial video, which featured both the lads and their loved ones, was shot at the Twickenham Rugby Stadium in London over a two day span. Louis Walsh, the band's manager, had a cameo role in it. However, the band had a reshoot of the music video due to Simon Cowell's disapproval of the initial video outcome. This might have caused the release date to be pushed back to 3 March from the initial date of 25 February. The video shows the band walking through a staged red carpet segment, inside the backseat of a moving car, spending time with their loved ones along with photos and videos of their past decade. Noticeably absent from the video though is Mark's partner Kevin. No explanation was ever offered as to why he was not included in the final video. Former Westlife member Brian McFadden appears in archive footage.

Many fans have blamed the record label, Sony BMG, for putting the song up for download 2 weeks prior to the physical release of the single as well as choosing to release it during the Back Home Tour, thus resulting in inadequate single promotion. A similar situation occurred back in 2002 when "Bop Bop Baby" was released while the band was on tour. On May 4, 2008, the song managed to re-enter the UK Singles Chart at #74. This is believed to be due to a performance from the group on the live final of Britain's Got Talent. The single peaked at #1 on several radio charts in Ireland, UK, Vietnam, South Africa, and The Philippines, #2 in Thailand, #7 in Indonesia, #20 in Sweden, #22 in Russia. The song also entered the UK and Irish iTunes Top Songs and Top Music video Charts. The music video peaked on the MTV Asia Chart Attack Top 20 show at #16.

Track listing

UK CD1

1. "Us Against the World" (Single Mix)
2. "Get Away"

UK CD2

1. "Us Against the World" (Single Mix)
2. "I'm Already There" (Ashanti Boyz Remix)
3. "Us Against the World" (The Wideboys Remix Radio Edit)

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[6]	28
Ireland (IRMA)	6
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[7]	2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	8

References

1. Westlife's Next Single Westlife.com
2. "Westlife: 'Us Against The World'". Digital Spy.
3. "everyHit.com search results".
4. 'Us Against The World' Video Shoot News Westlife.com
5. 'Us Against The World' Single Order Amazon.co.uk
6. http://www.billboard.com/artist/431288/westlife/chart?f=349
7. "Archive Chart: 2008-03-09". Scottish Singles Top 40.