Young (Hollywood Undead song)
Encyclopedia
"Young" is a song by American
rock
band Hollywood Undead
. It is the fourth single off their full-length debut album, Swan Songs
, and is the sixth track on that album. The single was released after the album's release on April 13, 2009, with a music video directed by Kevin Kerslake
released the same day.
, in 2008, the album became certified gold by the RIAA and led to the release of five singles. The fourth was Young, which was released as a single on April 13, 2009, six months after the United States release of Swan Songs but a month before the worldwide release. Prior to the single's release, several seven-second teaser videos of the music video were released on the internet. The full music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake
, was released on the same day as the single.
In the parts that the band isn't performing, clips of various people and places are shown. The video begins with a distorted clip of an older man giving a speech over a classical piano tune. The man is shown behind of a pedestal with a phonograph microphone in front of three banners showing pictures of a grenade, a symbol for war. The image presented can be likened to World War II
era videos of Adolf Hitler
delivering oppressive speeches in front of the swaztika, to which the grenade flag itself strikingly resembles. The video progresses to show subliminal imaging of advertising and hate campaigns blaming youth for various things. Later in the video, images of doves are shown to be spray painted over the advertising in a rebellious fashion. The dove is the second part to the Hollywood Undead's symbol, "The Dove and Grenade", with the grenade standing for war and the dove for peace. The video pinnacles when all the images of fan's masks are shown in close up on the wall and fades out to the band ripping them all down and breaking free of the room. The video ends with Johnny 3 Tears forcibly removing the speech giver from the beginning of the video from his pedestal and he takes his place.
Production
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released their debut album, Swan Songs, on September 2, 2008, and their live CD/DVD Desperate Measures, on November 10, 2009. Their second studio album, American Tragedy, was released April 5, 2011...
. It is the fourth single off their full-length debut album, Swan Songs
Swan Songs (Hollywood Undead album)
Swan Songs is the debut album by Hollywood Undead, released through Octone Records. The album was released on September 2, 2008. "Everywhere I Go" was the first single to be released, it was a web single and was available for download only on iTunes...
, and is the sixth track on that album. The single was released after the album's release on April 13, 2009, with a music video directed by Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake is an American music video director. He has directed videos for Stone Temple Pilots, Filter, R.E.M., 311, Faith No More, Green Day, The Used, 10 Years, Depeche Mode, The Smashing Pumpkins, Papa Roach, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Rise Against, Insane Clown Posse, The Offspring, and Blue...
released the same day.
Background
Following the release of their debut album, Swan SongsSwan Songs (Hollywood Undead album)
Swan Songs is the debut album by Hollywood Undead, released through Octone Records. The album was released on September 2, 2008. "Everywhere I Go" was the first single to be released, it was a web single and was available for download only on iTunes...
, in 2008, the album became certified gold by the RIAA and led to the release of five singles. The fourth was Young, which was released as a single on April 13, 2009, six months after the United States release of Swan Songs but a month before the worldwide release. Prior to the single's release, several seven-second teaser videos of the music video were released on the internet. The full music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake is an American music video director. He has directed videos for Stone Temple Pilots, Filter, R.E.M., 311, Faith No More, Green Day, The Used, 10 Years, Depeche Mode, The Smashing Pumpkins, Papa Roach, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Rise Against, Insane Clown Posse, The Offspring, and Blue...
, was released on the same day as the single.
Music video
On April 13, 2009, an official music video directed by Kevin Kerslake was released on iTunes. The video was later posted on the band's official website for viewing. The music video shows clips of Los Angeles and the band performing. The band is shown playing in a narrow hallway with no doors or windows, only photographs on all four walls. The photos show fans and others wearing their own homemade rendition of the Hollywood Undead masks. Quick cuts and fast moving camera shots are used while the band is performing around the hall. Johnny Three Tears raps both the first and second verses of the song with Deuce singing the chorus. A breakdown is placed after the second verse where choir girls sing angelic lines while the band raps between them.In the parts that the band isn't performing, clips of various people and places are shown. The video begins with a distorted clip of an older man giving a speech over a classical piano tune. The man is shown behind of a pedestal with a phonograph microphone in front of three banners showing pictures of a grenade, a symbol for war. The image presented can be likened to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era videos of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
delivering oppressive speeches in front of the swaztika, to which the grenade flag itself strikingly resembles. The video progresses to show subliminal imaging of advertising and hate campaigns blaming youth for various things. Later in the video, images of doves are shown to be spray painted over the advertising in a rebellious fashion. The dove is the second part to the Hollywood Undead's symbol, "The Dove and Grenade", with the grenade standing for war and the dove for peace. The video pinnacles when all the images of fan's masks are shown in close up on the wall and fades out to the band ripping them all down and breaking free of the room. The video ends with Johnny 3 Tears forcibly removing the speech giver from the beginning of the video from his pedestal and he takes his place.
Critical
When reviewing the Swan Songs album, reviewer Sir Wylie commented that, "Young is the best song ... which features driving guitars and actual singing so when the rapping comes in, [it] adds a nice dynamic instead of failing miserably. The song also features one of the catchiest choruses on the album and the layered vocals at the end just make it even stronger." Another review for Swan Songs by Brian Rademacher called "Young" "The track that will shoot Hollywood Undead to superstar status." Rademacher commented on the track, saying, "It is aggressive yet has chart busting qualities and the addition of two young choir girls makes this song have class. Near the end of the track, you have the two girls singing 'Till the angels save us all' and that sent chills down my neck." A reviewer for New Music Reviews called the track "Hard rock music at finest", and scored it a positive eight out of ten. Not all reviews were as positive, however. Palmer Eldritch of the British online music magazine, Die Shellsuit, Die!, gave the song a one out of a possible ten, calling it "airbrushed nonsense."Commercial
The single reached a peak of number thirty-four on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, spending eleven total weeks on the chart starting April 25, 2009.Chart performance
| Chart (2010–2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Alternative Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
34 |
Tracks
Personnel
Hollywood Undead- Charlie Scene - vocalsRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - J-Dog – 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...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals, screamsScreaming (music)Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, punk and hard rock, including metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, groove metal, black metal, and grindcore... - Deuce - clean vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Da Kurlzz – 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 ....
, 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...
, screamsScreaming (music)Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, punk and hard rock, including metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, groove metal, black metal, and grindcore...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Funny Man – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Johnny 3 Tears – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Production
- Don Gilmore - executive producer, recording, programming
- Danny LohnerDanny LohnerDaniel Patrick "Danny" Lohner , frequently known as Renholdër, is an American rock musician who plays bass guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project...
- producer - Deuce - producer
- Ben Grosse - mixing