"Best Song Ever" is a song recorded by English-Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

. It was released on 22 July 2013 by Syco as the lead single from the group's third studio album, '' Midnight Memories''. The song was written and composed by Wayne Hector, Ed Drewett,

Matt Rad Matthew Radosevich, also known as Matt Rad, is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with artists such as One Direction, Niall Horan, Martin Garrix, Demi Lovato, Little Mix, Guy Sebastian, Lupe Fiasco, Walk th ...

, along with the band's regular collaborators Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. "Best Song Ever" debuted and peaked at number two on both the

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and the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it their highest-charting single in the United States to date.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

C-sharp major C-sharp major (or the key of C-sharp) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. It is enharmonically equivalent to D-flat major. Its key signature has seven sharps. The C-sharp major scale is: : It ...

with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of F♯-C♯-G♯.

Critical response

Will Hermes from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave "Best Song Ever" a score of 4 out of 5 stars, describing the track as "pretty irresistible". Lewis Corner at ''

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'' also awarded the song 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "Sure the lyrics are cheesier than a 6-pack of

Wotsits Wotsits is a British brand of cheese flavoured corn puffs sold first by Golden Wonder and now by Walkers Crisps. The most common form is the "Really Cheesy" flavour of corn puffs. Other shapes and flavours have also been sold, including limited ...

, and yes the sentiment is cornier than a

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rom-com, but as far as boyband pop anthems go it skirts dangerously close to fulfilling its title." In the course of a debate on

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, it was noted the song's basic structure was similar to " Baba O'Riley" (1971) by

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. Fans suggested the "Best Song Ever" was copied from the Who's song. Who guitarist

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

responded to the claims by denying that the Who were pursuing legal action, and stated that he was a fan of One Direction's single and was happy that One Direction appeared to have been influenced by the Who, just as he had been by his own guitar heroes such as

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

Music video

The music video for "Best Song Ever" was directed by Ben Winston and written by comedian

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...

. Filmed over two days at

The Temple House The Temple House is a private event space in the South Beach area of Miami, Florida, United States. Designed by L. Murray Dixon, it was once the largest single family residence in the city. The Temple House is frequently used as a location for ...

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, the video was released on the band's

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channel on 22 July 2013. The video is over six minutes long and features the band arguing with clueless studio executives in a battle over their new image.

Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition ''The X Factor''. The group released five albums and went ...

plays studio executive Harvey ( Harvey Weinstein),

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...

plays studio executive Jonny (modelled after

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

's character Les Grossman in the movie

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), and

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...

plays "The Sexy Assistant", Veronica. The studio executives are stoked to take the band to the proverbial next level, but they proceed to bring in an under-qualified crew consisting of Marcel, "The Marketing Guy" (

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

) and Leeroy, "The Choreographer" ( Liam Payne). Interspersed with scenes from their film '' One Direction: This is Us'', the band are shown wreaking havoc throughout the office and even throwing in a few dance moves for good measure. The music video won a British Video at the

2014 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2014 was held on 19 February 2014. It was the 34th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London and was presented by James Corden for the fourth consec ...

on 19 February 2014. The video broke the Vevo 24-hour record with 12.3 million views, surpassing the 10.7 million views of

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

' " We Can't Stop" in June, although the record was later broken again by Cyrus' follow-up music video " Wrecking Ball", which garnered 19.3 million views.

Live performances

The group performed "Best Song Ever" live for the first time on 30 July 2013 at the SAP center in San Jose, California during their Take Me Home Tour concert until their final live at Japan. The song was subsequently added to the set-list to all proceeding shows of the American leg. The group's first televised performance of the single was at the

2013 Teen Choice Awards The 2013 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 11, 2013, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. The awards celebrate the year's achievements in music, film, television, sports, fashion, comedy, and the Internet, and are vo ...

on 11 August. The group also performed the song, along with some of their other hits, on '' The Today Show'' on 23 August, on ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'' on 28 August, and again on ''

The X Factor Australia ''The X Factor'' is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped ''The X Factor'' after ...

'' on 27 October. On 15 November, the group performed "Best Song Ever" for the first time on British television at ''

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''. Since its release, the song closed out all concerts for the 2014 Where We Are Tour and the 2015

On the Road Again Tour The On The Road Again Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour and second all-stadium tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, in support of their fourth studio album, ''Four'' (2014). The tour began on 7 February 2015 in Sydney, Austra ...

In popular culture

Musicians such as Gabrielle Aplin and The Vamps have covered "Best Song Ever".

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

also covered the song as part of his polka medley " NOW That's What I Call Polka!" for his 2014 album '' Mandatory Fun''. In the 100th episode of '' Mad'', there's a sketch where One Direction watches the show and sings a parody of "Best Song Ever" calling it the worst show ever.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Awards

"Best Song Ever" won the award for Best Song of the Summer at the

2013 MTV Video Music Awards The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Marking the 30th installment of the award show, they were the first to be held in New York City not to use a venue within the borough of M ...

References

{{authority control 2013 singles Dance-pop songs One Direction songs 2013 songs Syco Music singles Columbia Records singles Songs written by Wayne Hector Songs written by Ed Drewett Songs written by Julian Bunetta Songs written by John Ryan (musician)