"Old Me" is a song by Australian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band 5 Seconds of Summer, released on 21 February 2020 originally as the first promotional single from the band's fourth studio album '' Calm'', before being released to radio on 6 March 2020 as the album's fourth single. The song was written by

Luke Hemmings Luke Robert Hemmings (born 16 July 1996) is an Australian singer and musician, best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. Since 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer have sold more than 10 million ...

Ashton Irwin Ashton Fletcher Irwin (born 7 July 1994) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of the pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. Since 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer have sold more than 10 million albums, sold over 2 million concert tickets ...

, Alexandra Tamposi, Andrew Wotman, William Walsh,

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, ...

, Brian Lee and Andre Proctor.

Background

In a statement, Hemmings said "'Old Me' carries a youthful spirit and follows the narrative of a young person's life growing up, for better or for worse. Every decision we made, whether right or wrong, has led us to the men we are proud to be today. We were thrown into the public eye at a young age and gratefully had each other at a confusing time. Sometimes it's important we look back in order to appreciate the journey we've been on together."

Composition

Amelia Parreira of ''Riff'' magazine described the lyrics of "Old Me" as being "a shout-out to a past self and past decisions". The song begins with an underlying organ before a "plethora of

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

pumps up the beat to transform the track into a high-energy dance anthem". Parreira said the sound is a metaphor of the band leaving the past behind. ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

''s Malvika Padin had a similar notion, labelling the song "retrospective".

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Old Me" was first released onto YouTube on 10 March 2020. As of March 2021, it has over 26 million views.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs 5 Seconds of Summer songs Songs written by Ali Tamposi Songs written by Andrew Watt (record producer) Songs written by Ashton Irwin Songs written by Brian Lee (songwriter) Songs written by Dre Moon Songs written by Louis Bell Songs written by Luke Hemmings