Young Folks
Encyclopedia
"Young Folks" is the first single from Peter Bjorn and John
's third album, Writer's Block (released in 2006). The single features Victoria Bergsman
of The Concretes
as a guest vocalist.
and YouTube
, and was used in a number of European commercials and television shows. Only since mid-2007 has the song earned extensive airplay on American radio, most notably on dance radio outlets like KNHC/Seattle, KNGY/San Francisco and Sirius Satellite's "The Beat". It is notable for being a popular song with whistling
(the whistling was originally added in as a placeholder for another instrument []). The whistling and part of the song have a tune reminiscent of the "oriental riff".
The song was ranked #5 on Pitchfork Media
's "Top 100 Tracks of 2006" list. Pitchfork reviewed the song on 19 July 2006, giving it three out of five stars. The song was also voted #2 in the 2006 NME Track of the Year poll. Planet Sound
named this their #2 single of 2006. The song was named the number one song of 2007 according to the iTunes Music Store. Y-Rock On XPN
also named the song #1 of 2007. In October 2011, NME
placed it at number 91 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
The single was re-released on 17 September 2007, when it reached number 13 in the UK, beating the original chart position of number 33 in 2006.
game series on Singstar Pop 2, as well as the XBOX 360 game Lips
.
The video starts off with Peter and Victoria sitting in a park, on a bench. Peter teaches Victoria how to whistle. Then the video switches over to them both sitting in a bus where the song starts. Throughout the video, scenes of the band playing the song can be seen and eventually the video ends with a big party where everybody "seems to disappear".
on 29 January 2007, and on The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno
on 18 May 2007, (the latter with Tonight Show band member Vicki Randle
on bongos
). On 29 September 2007, the band played "Young Folks", with Victoria Bergsman's vocals, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
on BBC1. When the band performed the song at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bergsman's vocals were performed by Bebban Stenborg of Shout Out Louds
. On Peter Bjorn and John's 2008 Australian tour, Victoria Bergsman's vocals were performed by Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura
.
CD release
, Acoustic 07
, the FIFA 08
soundtrack, and was also used in the E3 trailer of Lips
, the video game. Gossip Girl
also uses this track for its theme and it was featured in the 2008 motion picture 21
. From March 2009 the song is used in adverts for the UK DIY Retailer Homebase
.The song also appeared during Will's video project on the 2009 film Bandslam. It was also used for the season two promo of Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?
Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie rock band, formed in Stockholm in 1999 and named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén , Björn Yttling and John Eriksson .They are best known for the 2006 single "Young Folks", which...
's third album, Writer's Block (released in 2006). The single features Victoria Bergsman
Victoria Bergsman
Victoria Bergsman is a Swedish songwriter, musician, and vocalist best known as singer of the indie pop band The Concretes from 1995 to 2006. Since announcing her departure from the band on 24 July 2006 she has been recording for her new solo project Taken by Trees...
of The Concretes
The Concretes
The Concretes are a popular Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm, currently composed of eight members.-History:The Concretes began with Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. Since their formation in 1995, they have gradually acquired new members, growing into an eight piece band...
as a guest vocalist.
Reception
The song first attracted notice on websites such as MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, and was used in a number of European commercials and television shows. Only since mid-2007 has the song earned extensive airplay on American radio, most notably on dance radio outlets like KNHC/Seattle, KNGY/San Francisco and Sirius Satellite's "The Beat". It is notable for being a popular song with whistling
Whistling
Human whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...
(the whistling was originally added in as a placeholder for another instrument []). The whistling and part of the song have a tune reminiscent of the "oriental riff".
The song was ranked #5 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's "Top 100 Tracks of 2006" list. Pitchfork reviewed the song on 19 July 2006, giving it three out of five stars. The song was also voted #2 in the 2006 NME Track of the Year poll. Planet Sound
Planet Sound
Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From May 24, 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website...
named this their #2 single of 2006. The song was named the number one song of 2007 according to the iTunes Music Store. Y-Rock On XPN
Y-Rock On XPN
WXPN-HD2 is an alternative rock radio station carried on the secondary HD radio channel of WXPN FM in Philadelphia. It had been the latest incarnation of the Y100 brand until June 2010 that originally aired on 100.3 FM, which was the city's alternative rock station from the 1990s until...
also named the song #1 of 2007. In October 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 91 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
The single was re-released on 17 September 2007, when it reached number 13 in the UK, beating the original chart position of number 33 in 2006.
Music video
The video was directed by Ted Malmros with animation by Graham Samuels. It has been featured in the SingStarSingStar
SingStar is a competitive music video game series for PlayStation consoles, developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. 23 English-language instalments of the series have been released for the PlayStation 2, and six versions for the PlayStation 3 have been released...
game series on Singstar Pop 2, as well as the XBOX 360 game Lips
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
.
The video starts off with Peter and Victoria sitting in a park, on a bench. Peter teaches Victoria how to whistle. Then the video switches over to them both sitting in a bus where the song starts. Throughout the video, scenes of the band playing the song can be seen and eventually the video ends with a big party where everybody "seems to disappear".
Live performances
The group performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
on 29 January 2007, and on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
on 18 May 2007, (the latter with Tonight Show band member Vicki Randle
Vicki Randle
Vicki Randle is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer, known as the first female member of the Tonight Show Band, starting with host Jay Leno in 1992...
on bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
). On 29 September 2007, the band played "Young Folks", with Victoria Bergsman's vocals, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
on BBC1. When the band performed the song at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bergsman's vocals were performed by Bebban Stenborg of Shout Out Louds
Shout Out Louds
Shout Out Louds are an indie rock band from Stockholm, Sweden.The group has toured with bands such as The Strokes, Kings of Leon, The Magic Numbers, The Rosebuds, The Essex Green, and Johnossi...
. On Peter Bjorn and John's 2008 Australian tour, Victoria Bergsman's vocals were performed by Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura (band)
Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band formed in 1996 and have released four albums to date.-History:Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined...
.
Track listings
Vinyl release- "Young Folks" (Feat. Victoria Bergsman)
- "Ancient Curse"
CD release
- "Young Folks" (Feat. Victoria Bergsman)
- "Ancient Curse"
- "All Those Expectations"
- "Young Folks (Scumfrogs Remix)" (Feat. Victoria Bergsman)
Covers
- EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
indie band, The KooksThe KooksThe Kooks are an English indie rock band formed in Brighton, East Sussex, in 2001. Formed by Luke Pritchard , Hugh Harris , Paul Garred , and Max Rafferty , the lineup of the band remained constant until 2008 and the departure of Rafferty...
made a cover of "Young Folks" which is included in a CD album in a special box set issue of the musicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
magazineMagazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, NMENMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
. - GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
singer NenaNenaGabriele Susanne Kerner , better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena was also the name of the band with whom she...
covered "Young Folks" together with Oliver PocherOliver PocherOliver Pocher is a German actor, stand-up comedian and television host.- Early life and professional training :...
and Stephan RemmlerStephan RemmlerStephan Remmler is one of three members of the German band Trio. He performed most of the vocals for the band's songs...
in German as "Ich kann nix dafür" (German for "I can't do anything about it") for the movie Vollidiot. This version was the 78th best-selling single of 2007 in Germany - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese singer Shugo TokumaruShugo Tokumaruis a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album Night Piece. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing. He is known for the variety of instruments he uses in his music, using...
covered the song in 2006 for the Cokemachineglow fantasy covers podcast. It was released as a single in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and received considerable airplay. - Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
sampledSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
this song for a track by the same name, and "Interviews (Interlude)" both on his mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. - James BluntJames BluntJames Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
covered this song in September 2007 on BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Live LoungeLive LoungeThe Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
and later that month at KLLCKLLCKLLC is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KLLC airs an Adult Top 40 music format same as KZZO in Sacramento and on 97.3 HD-2 is Chill With Alice, a Chill format channel...
's Now & Zen Fest. - Other covering artists include Dawn LandesDawn LandesDawn Landes is a Louisville, Kentucky-born, New York City-based musician who performs under her own name. She is also a sometimes-member of the band Hem, where she has lent her voice to harmony vocals, and plays glockenspiel. She has worked as an audio engineer at Stratosphere Sound in New York...
, Pete YornPete YornPeter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...
, and Richard & JudyRichard & JudyRichard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
. - Guster and Jack's Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon covered this song during their summer 2011 tour.
Use in other media
The song is featured on the 2007 compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Acoustic 07
Acoustic 07
Acoustic 07 is a 2-disc compilation album, released under V2 Records in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2007. The collection is the seventh of V2 Records' popular Acoustic series.-Track listing:Disc 1#"Lovestain", performed by José González...
, the FIFA 08
FIFA 08
FIFA 08 is the 2008 installment of EA Sports' series of football video games. Developed by EA Canada, it is published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released on all popular gaming formats in September 2007 in Europe, Australia, and Asia, and in October 2007 in North...
soundtrack, and was also used in the E3 trailer of Lips
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
, the video game. Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl (TV series)
Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...
also uses this track for its theme and it was featured in the 2008 motion picture 21
21 (2008 film)
21 is a 2008 drama film directed by Australian director Robert Luketic and stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, and Aaron Yoo. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the...
. From March 2009 the song is used in adverts for the UK DIY Retailer Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
.The song also appeared during Will's video project on the 2009 film Bandslam. It was also used for the season two promo of Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?
Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?
Who the Did I Marry is a documentary television series which began airing on Investigation Discovery on November 23, 2010. Season 2 began airing on July 13, 2011....