"The Nights" is a song by Swedish DJ and record producer

Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first re ...

, featuring vocals from singer/songwriter

Nicholas Furlong Nicholas (Nicky)Furlong (born 1929 died 21 March 2022)Furlong, ''Fr John Murphy of Boolavogue 1753–1798'', p. vii. was an Irish farmer, journalist, author and historian from County Wexford. Personal life Nicholas Furlong was born in Wexford in ...

. On 1 December 2014, it was released as a digital download by PRMD Music and Universal Island on Avicii's '' The Days / Nights EP'', then on 11 January 2015 in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number one on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

. On 23 January 2015, Avicii released "The Nights (Avicii by Avicii)", his own remix of the song. The song appears on the UK version of Avicii's second studio album ''

Stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (Briti ...

'' (2015).

Background

Furlong noted that he began writing the song as an ode to his father. The inspiration for the “pirate-y fight song” sound came to him while at a bar in Ireland. Furlong sent the original idea, titled "My Father Told Me", to Arash Pournouri, Avicii's manager. Pournouri recognised an immediate draw to the track, saying that the song had that same sense of euphoria which characterises so much of Avicii's music. In an interview with

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...

, Pournouri said: "It made absolute sense to work on it with Nick... vicii and I just neededto make it more 'us' and that's what edid." Like his previous hits " Wake Me Up" and "

Hey Brother "Hey Brother" is a dance song by Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii from his debut studio album, ''True'' (2013). American bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski provides vocals for the track. It was written by Avicii, Ash Pournouri, Salem Al Fakir, ...

", "The Nights" is a

progressive house Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

song containing elements of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

Music video

On December 15, 2014, the official music video for "The Nights" was released on YouTube. The video was produced, directed by, and stars "professional life liver"

Rory Kramer Rory Kramer is an American photographer and filmmaker best known for directing music videos and his MTV show ''Dare to Live''. Early life Kramer was raised in Tell City, Indiana. His family owns a home in Clear Lake, Indiana. Career When he wa ...

, who filmed an exuberant action-packed recollection of his own life on

roller coasters A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

skateboarding Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation ...

, balloon flying, making a four-door convertible out of a

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, etc. – living a life to be remembered. As of February 2023, the music video has over 900 million views.

In popular culture

"The Nights" was featured as a part of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

game by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

, ''

FIFA 15 ''FIFA 15'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and 26 September in the United King ...

''. In 2014,

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

used ''The Nights'' as a song to round out the year in sports. It was also used as the Carolina Hurricanes’

goal song In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a Scoring in association football, goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the ...

from 2015 to 2018. The song was later

interpolated In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

by British rappers SwitchOTR and

A1 x J1 A1 x J1 (real names Phineas Waweru and Joshua Somerkun) are a British hip hop duo. They released their debut single " Latest Trends" in February 2021, which charted at number 2 in the UK and was remixed by Aitch and A Boogie wit da Hoodie. ...

in 2021 for their song "Coming For You", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI.

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at Foxy Studios,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

;Personnel *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

, Gabriel Benjamin, Jordan Suecof, John Feldmann,

* Production –

* Co-production – Arash Pournouri *

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

–

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and vocal production –

Zakk Cervini Zakk Cervini is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He was born in Monroe, Connecticut on June 2, 1993. Cervini's work includes collaborations with Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Blink-182, All Time Low, Machi ...

Acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

–

Colin Brittain Colin Cunningham known as Colin Brittain is an American songwriter and producer signed to Warner Chappell Music. He has written and produced for acts such as Papa Roach, Hands Like Houses, Basement, Dashboard Confessional, 5 Seconds of Summ ...

Lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional a ...

– Will Carter * Live drums – Jordan Suecof *

Additional vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

— The Mighty Riot

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nights 2014 songs 2014 singles Avicii songs Songs written by Avicii Song recordings produced by Avicii Universal Records singles Songs written by John Feldmann Songs written by Infinity (producer) Songs written by Nicholas Furlong (musician) Folktronica songs Songs about death Songs about nights Songs about nostalgia