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Young
Young
Length: 3:16
Released: April 13, 2009
Writers: Danny Lohner, Deuce,
Johnny 3 Tears
Producers: Deuce, Danny Lohner
Key: C minor
Tempo: 136 BPM
Album: Hollywood Undead
Swan Songs
Last single: Undead
Next single: Everywhere I Go
Young thumbnail

Young is the name of the third single released from Swan Songs. It was created in 2007 when it was intended to be released on Hollywood Undead. In 2009, the band released a re-recorded and remastered version of the song entitled Young (New Mix) for free.

Overview[]

Following the release of their debut album in 2008, the album became certified gold by the RIAA and led to the release of six singles. The third was Young, which was released as a single on April 13, 2009, six months after the United States' release of Swan Songs but a month before the worldwide release. Prior to the single's release, several seven-second teaser videos of the music video were released on the internet. The full music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, was released on the same day as the single. The song was included as one of twenty free songs downloadable to play for people who purchased new copies of "Rock Band 2."

Music video[]

On April 13, 2009, an official music video directed by Kevin Kerslake was released on iTunes. The video was later posted on the band's official website for viewing. The music video shows clips of Los Angeles and the band performing.

The band is shown playing in a narrow hallway with no doors or windows, only photographs on all four walls. The photos show fans and others wearing their own homemade rendition of the Hollywood Undead masks. Quick cuts and fast moving camera shots are used while the band is performing around the hall. Johnny 3 Tears raps both the first and second verses of the song with Deuce singing the chorus. A breakdown is placed after the second verse where choir girls sing angelic lines while the band raps between them. In the parts that the band isn't performing, clips of various people and places are shown.

The video begins with a distorted clip of an older man giving a speech over a classical piano tune. The man is shown behind of a pedestal with a phonograph microphone in front of three banners showing pictures of a grenade, a symbol for war. The image presented can be likened to World War II era videos of Adolf Hitler delivering oppressive speeches in front of the swaztika, to which the grenade flag itself strikingly resembles. The video progresses to show subliminal imaging of advertising and hate campaigns blaming youth for various things.

Later in the video, images of doves are shown to be spray painted over the advertising in a rebellious fashion. The dove is the second part to the Hollywood Undead's symbol, The Dove and Grenade, with the grenade standing for war and the dove for peace. The video pinnacles when all the images of fan's masks are shown in close up on the wall and fades out to the band ripping them all down and breaking free of the room.

The video ends with Johnny 3 Tears forcibly removing the speech giver from the beginning of the video from his pedestal and he takes his place.

Reception[]

It peaked at #34 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and #28 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Official Lyrics[]

Deuce: We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart

Johnny 3 Tears: I see the children in the rain like the parade before the pain
I see the love, I see the hate, I see this world that we can make
I see the life, I see the sky, I'd give it all to see you fly
Yes, we wave this flag of hatred, but you're the ones who made it
I watch the beauty of all our lives, passing right before my eyes
I hear the hate in all your words, all the words to make us hurt
We get so sick, we're so sick, we never wanted all this
Medication for the kids with no reason to live
So we march to the drums of the damned as we come
Watch it burn in the sun, we are numb

Deuce: We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart

Johnny 3 Tears: As we walk among these shadows in these streets, these fields of battle
Take it up, we wear the mantle, raise your hands with burning candles
Hear us whisper in the dark; in the rain, you see the spark
Feel the beating of our hearts, fleeting hope as we depart
All together, walk alone against all we've ever known
All we've ever really wanted was a place to call our home
But you take all we are, the innocence of our hearts
Made to kneel before the altar as you tear us apart
So we march to the drums of the damned as we come
Watch it burn in the sun, we are numb!

Deuce: We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart

Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: We will fight
Charlie Scene: (We will fight)
Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: Or we will fall
Charlie Scene: (We will fall)
Choir and Deuce: Till the angels save us all

Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: We will fight
Charlie Scene: (We will fight)
Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: Or we will fall
Charlie Scene: (We will fall)
Choir and Deuce: Till the angels save us all

Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: We will fight
Charlie Scene and Da Kurlzz: (We will fight)
Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: Or we will fall
Charlie Scene and Da Kurlzz: (We will fall)
Choir and Deuce: Till the angels save us all

Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: We will fight
Charlie Scene and Da Kurlzz: (We will fight)
Deuce and Johnny 3 Tears: Or we will fall
Charlie Scene and Da Kurlzz: (We will fall)
Choir and Deuce: Till the angels save us all

We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart

We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart

Background vocals[]

  • J-Dog says “hear us whisper in the dark, in the rain you see the spark” behind Johnny 3 Tears.
  • Deuce screams “we are numb!” behind Johnny 3 Tears at the end of the second verse.

Original version[]

The original version of this song intended for release on Hollywood Undead features some slightly different lyrics according to the album booklet.

  • ”I see the life, I see the sky, I’d give it all to see you fly” was originally “I see the life, I see the sky, I’d give it up to see you fly.”
  • ”As we walk among these shadows in these streets, these fields of battle/Take it up, we wear the mantle, raise your hands with burning candles” was originally “As we walk among the shadows in the streets, these fields of battle/Take it up, we wear the mantle, raise your hands, the burning candle.”

Reception[]

When reviewing the Swan Songs album, reviewer Sir Wylie commented that, "Young is the best song ... which features driving guitars and actual singing so when the rapping comes in, [it] adds a nice dynamic instead of failing miserably. The song also features one of the catchiest choruses on the album and the layered vocals at the end just make it even stronger."

Another review for Swan Songs by Brian Rademacher called Young "The track that will shoot Hollywood Undead to superstar status." Rademacher commented on the track, saying, "It is aggressive yet has chart-busting qualities and the addition of two young choir girls makes this song have class. Near the end of the track, you have the two girls singing 'Till the angels save us all' and that sent chills down my neck."

A reviewer for New Music Reviews called the track "Hard rock music at It's [sic] finest", and scored it a positive eight out of ten.

Not all reviews were as positive, however. Palmer Eldritch of the British online music magazine, Die Shellsuit, Die!, gave the song a one out of a possible ten, calling it "airbrushed nonsense."

The single reached a peak of number thirty-four on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, spending eleven total weeks on the chart starting April 25, 2009.

Personnel[]

Hollywood Undead
Additional
  • Josh Freese - drums
  • Ben Grosse - mixing
  • Billy Howerdel - additional engineering
  • Danny Lohner - engineering, programming
  • Paul Palavo - additional guitars

Trivia[]

  • This song was originally intended to be on Hollywood Undead.
  • Critics usually praise this song as Hollywood Undead's most single-worthy song.
  • The music video was the first video to be released on Hollywood Undead's VEVO account on YouTube.
  • The song is available as a free downloadable track on Rock Band 2.
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