We Are Golden
Encyclopedia
"We Are Golden" is the first single from English
singer Mika
's second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much
. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells
and features the Andrae Crouch
Gospel
Choir
.
on 20 July 2009, on BBC Radio 2
. It was made available for download
on 14 August 2009 in Australia and later on 6 September 2009 in the United Kingdom. It was released physically on 7 September 2009 along with the limited edition 7" and 12" vinyl records. In the United States
, "We Are Golden" became available exclusively from Apple's iTunes Store
for one week starting 18 August 2009.
The song was featured in many TeenNick promos in Fall 2009. It is also used in an ABC series, Make It or Break It, while in Malaysia, it was used for the kids@fgw promo which is shown in January 2010 on ntv7
and in the first episode of the TV show Hellcats
.
magazine, Mika says:
for "We Are Golden" was shot on 9 July and 10 July 2009 in Elstree Studios
. It was directed by the Swedish film director Jonas Åkerlund
. The video premiered on 4 August 2009 in the United Kingdom
on Channel 4
. The video features Mika dancing around a bedroom in his underwear as a "celebration of all the years Mika spent dancing around his bedroom as a teenager."
UK 12" Vinyl
Limited Edition 7" Single
Digital Single
Digital EP
at #4, on 13 September 2009, before dropping out the Top 10 on its second week, falling to #11. Despite becoming Mika's second UK Top 5 single, it was his shortest lasting single, spending only 7 weeks in the UK Top 100. The single was released in August in the United States, but failed to make any impact on the charts. In Italy it was a huge success, it peaked at #3 after 18 weeks on the singles charts and while his second single from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
, "Rain" was still at #9.
|-
!Chart (2009)
!Position
|-
|Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|50
|-
|Romanian Top 100
|align="center"|54
|-
|UK Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|170
|-
!Region
!Date
!Format
|-
|Australia
|14 August 2009
|Digital download
|-
|United States
|18 August 2009
|Digital download
|-
|rowspan="3"|United Kingdom
, Ireland
|20 July 2009
|Radio airplay
|-
|6 September 2009
|Digital download
|-
|7 September 2009
|CD single
|-
|Italy
|24 July 2009
|Radio airplay
|}
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer Mika
Mika (singer)
Mika is a British singer-songwriter.After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit...
's second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much
The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)
The Boy Who Knew Too Much is the second studio album by singer Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009, under Casablanca Records in the United States and Polydor and Island Records in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
and features the Andrae Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
Gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
Choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
.
Release
The single made its radio airplay debut in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 20 July 2009, on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. It was made available for download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on 14 August 2009 in Australia and later on 6 September 2009 in the United Kingdom. It was released physically on 7 September 2009 along with the limited edition 7" and 12" vinyl records. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, "We Are Golden" became available exclusively from Apple's iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
for one week starting 18 August 2009.
The song was featured in many TeenNick promos in Fall 2009. It is also used in an ABC series, Make It or Break It, while in Malaysia, it was used for the kids@fgw promo which is shown in January 2010 on ntv7
Ntv7
Natseven TV Sdn Bhd or better known as ntv7 is a terrestrial television channel in Malaysia. It was launched nationwide on 7 April 1998 and was the country's third private free-to-air TV station after TV3 and Astro. Its mission is to promote a happier and more enlightened Malaysia...
and in the first episode of the TV show Hellcats
Hellcats
Hellcats is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010 to May 17, 2011...
.
Description
In an interview with QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine, Mika says:
Critical reception
The song has received mixed and generally positive reviews.Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "We Are Golden" was shot on 9 July and 10 July 2009 in Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
. It was directed by the Swedish film director Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films...
. The video premiered on 4 August 2009 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. The video features Mika dancing around a bedroom in his underwear as a "celebration of all the years Mika spent dancing around his bedroom as a teenager."
Tracklisting
UK CD SingleUK 12" Vinyl
Limited Edition 7" Single
Digital Single
Digital EP
Charts
The single debuted on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at #4, on 13 September 2009, before dropping out the Top 10 on its second week, falling to #11. Despite becoming Mika's second UK Top 5 single, it was his shortest lasting single, spending only 7 weeks in the UK Top 100. The single was released in August in the United States, but failed to make any impact on the charts. In Italy it was a huge success, it peaked at #3 after 18 weeks on the singles charts and while his second single from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)
The Boy Who Knew Too Much is the second studio album by singer Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009, under Casablanca Records in the United States and Polydor and Island Records in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
, "Rain" was still at #9.
| Charts (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
10 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 17 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders) |
9 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... (Wallonia) |
7 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
15 |
| Czech Airplay Chart IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
39 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
20 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Eurochart Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles has been compiled by Billboard and Music & Media magazine since March, 1984. The chart is based on national singles sales charts in 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,... |
4 |
| French Singles Chart | 19 |
| German Singles Chart | 29 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The... |
10 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
14 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
15 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 16 |
| Romanian Top 100 Romanian Top 100 The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media.... |
71 |
| Slovak Airplay Chart IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
26 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 37 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
30 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
5 |
End-of-year charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"|-
!Chart (2009)
!Position
|-
|Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|50
|-
|Romanian Top 100
|align="center"|54
|-
|UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
| style="text-align:center;"|170
|-
Release history
{|class=wikitable!Region
!Date
!Format
|-
|Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
|14 August 2009
|Digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
|-
|United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|18 August 2009
|Digital download
|-
|rowspan="3"|United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
|20 July 2009
|Radio airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
|-
|6 September 2009
|Digital download
|-
|7 September 2009
|CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
|-
|Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
|24 July 2009
|Radio airplay
|}
Credits
- MikaMika (singer)Mika is a British singer-songwriter.After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit...
– vocals, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Greg WellsGreg WellsGreg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
– keyboards, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Tim Pierce – guitar
- Martin Waugh – additional guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Audrey Moukataff – background vocals
- Fortune Penniman – background vocals
- Paloma Penniman – background vocals
- Zuleika Penniman – background vocals
- The Andrae Crouch ChoirAndrae CrouchAndraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
– background vocals