"Night Is Young" is a song by Canadian recording artist

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

. It was written by Furtado, Salaam Remi and

StayBent Krunk-a-Delic Hernst Bellevue Jr. (born March 12, 1974; better known by his stage name Krunk-a-Delic) is an American songwriter, hip hop, R&B, pop music and record producer. Krunk-a-Delic has written and produced gold and platinum records such as Jamie Fo ...

, and produced by the latter pair for Furtado's greatest hits compilation album, '' The Best of Nelly Furtado'' (2010). The song follows a dance and electronic style, which Furtado said that she is happy with because she never had a straightforward dance-pop song. The lyrics to the song were written by Furtado, who said it is "not necessarily a love song" but is about "having a good time and enjoying life." The song premiered on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

on October 3, 2010, and was released for digital downloading on October 12, 2010. The song itself received positive critical reception. It was described as being a "feel good dance-pop" song and for having a "having a rather infectious beat and a great sing-along chorus." The song was most successful in Slovakia, peaking at number seven on its charts. It also reached the top twenty on the Canadian Hot 100 and was moderately successful elsewhere, where it charted. The music video for the song was directed by Alan Ferguson and was filmed for two days in the downtown area of Toronto in Canada.

Background and writing

"Night Is Young" was written by Nelly Furtado,

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...

and

, and produced by the latter pair. It was one of two songs that had not been properly finished and had leaked onto the internet. In response to the leaks, Furtado said that she decided to "finish them and put them out properly on the greatest hits album." In an interview with Beatweek, Furtado said that a conversation between her and a friend about the "past, present & future" is what inspired the concept of the song. Furtado said that the song is not necessarily a

love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

, adding that it is about relationships in many different forms ..and having a good time and enjoying life. Furtado said that she was happy with the song because she never had a "straightforward song that has been

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

." She cited " ’s definitely a pop track, but it’s obviously quite a high BPM. I think it’s 130 or something. It’s a really fast song." When writing the song, Furtado said that it started out as a poem before she presented the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

to Salaam Remi. She recalled, "I wrote all the lyrics and then I came to the studio and Salaam had this really great beat." It was mixed by Robert Orton, and recorded by Franklin Socorro and Gleyder Disla at Instrument Zoo studio in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Critical reception

Amar Toor of

AOL Radio AOL Radio powered by Slacker (formerly AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio, and prior AOL Radio featuring XM) was an online radio service available in the United States only. It had over 200 free internet radio stations. History Roots AOL Radio ...

characterized the song as "electrically charged pulse that persists from jolting start to glorious finish."

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

's Nick Levine gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "feel good dance-pop" song. Levine also commended Furtado's vocals, saying that her "ever-distinctive vocals and a chorus as stealthily catchy as a self-mutating virus."

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

described the song as "having a rather infectious beat and a great sing-along chorus." Jonathan Keefe of

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

described the song as a "four-four stomp, swirling electronic effects, and club-and-party lyrics." He also mentioned that the song "signals another outward shift in Furtado's style."

Commercial performance

"Night Is Young" was most commercially successful in Slovakia, peaking at number seven in its sixth week on the Radio Top 100 chart. The song was a commercial failure in Austria, debuting on the charts at number 72. It then peaked at number 69 the next week and fell off the charts the following week after that. "Night Is Young" was moderately successful in the Czech Republic, entering the charts at number 37 and peaking at number 36 two weeks later. The song spent three more weeks on the chart before dropping out at number 54.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Night Is Young" was directed by Alan Ferguson and filmed in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the days of October 13 and 14 in 2010.Night Is Young - Casting Call
Bestfan.com. Retrieved October 15, 2010.

Fefe Dobson Felicia Lily Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobso ...

appears in the video, playing a DJ. The video begins with Furtado conducting a choir. During this, a male and female member of the choir look at each other while performing. For the video shoot, fans of Furtado were cast to be featured as cyclists, dancers and party-goers. After the choir performs, Furtado and the members of the choir, including the night cyclists, dancers, skaters and young people are seen going to a party. At the end of the video, the male and female, previously seen at the beginning of the video, kiss as the clip ends.

Other versions

Furtado has recorded a live acoustic version of "Night Is Young" for

Walmart Soundcheck Walmart Soundcheck was a series of musical performances and interviews released exclusively by Walmart, starting in 2006. Each recording consisted of a four-to-six-song set performed live, plus an interview, and was released as a digital album as ...

, and a video was recorded and released. A remix was released, which has been played on

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

, and was produced by Sketch iz Dead. It features

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

recording artist

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

. A remix EP of "Night Is Young" has been released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. The remixes were produced by Burns and Manhattan Clique. In early January, remixes produced by Jamaican producer The Wizard were released, entitled, "Night Is Young (Psychadelic Remix)" and "Night Is Young (Drum Groove Remix)".(Posted: January 11, 2011
"Listen up: Nelly Furtado - Night Is Young (Remixes)"
Bestfan Blog. Retrieved April 20, 2011.

Formats and track listings

*;Digital download #"Night Is Young" — 3:32 *;Digital download (UK Version) #"Night Is Young" — 3:32 #" The Best of Nelly Furtado Minimix" — 4:51 *;Digital download (The Remixes) #"Night Is Young" (

Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...

Dub Remix) — 6:17 #"Night Is Young" (Burns Vocal Remix) — 6:48 #"Night Is Young" (

Manhattan Clique Manhattan Clique is a group composed of producers, remixers and songwriters Philip Larsen and Chris Smith, also known as "MHC". Their successes have been reflected in the ''Music Week'' Club and Pop charts in the UK, plus the Billboard dance chart ...

Remix) — 6:50 *;Digital download (The Remixes Part 2) #"Night Is Young" (Eclectic Dancehall Mix) — 3:59 #"Night Is Young" (Psychadelically Wiz Mix) — 3:59 *;Digital download (UK Remixes Version) #"Night Is Young" ( Sketch Iz Dead Radio Remix) featuring

— 3:27 #"Night Is Young" (Remix by

FrankMusik Vincent James Turner (born 9 October 1985), better known by his stage name Frankmusik ( ) (and between 2011 and 2012, by the name Vincent Did It), is an English synth-pop musician. Early life Vincent was born on 9 October 1985 in the Thornton H ...

"Montreal Mist Edit") — 4:29 #"Night Is Young" (Manhattan Clique Remix – Edit) — 3:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''The Best of Nelly Furtado''.''The Best of Nelly Furtado'' (CD liner notes) Nelly Furtado. Geffen Records. *Nelly Furtado – lead vocals, background vocals *Salaam Remi – producer, arranger,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*StayBent Krunk-a-Delic – producer, arranger, drums, keyboards *Franklin Emmanuel Socorro –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

*Gleyder Disla – recording engineer *Robert Orton –

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

*Greg Calbi – mastering

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2010 singles Nelly Furtado songs Songs written by Nelly Furtado Songs written by Salaam Remi Song recordings produced by Salaam Remi Dance-pop songs 2010 songs Music videos directed by Alan Ferguson (director)