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"Die Young"
Song

"Die Young" is a song by American recording artist Kesha. It was released on September 25, 2012 as the lead single from her second studio album, Warrior. Written by Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut, and Fun singer Nate Ruess, the song is performed in the electropop genre. Two teaser trailers were posted prior to the single's official release. A lyric video for the song was published to YouTube. Contemporary critics gave mixed reviews of the song; MTV, Seventeen, and Rolling Stone were disappointed with it, reflecting on its sameness with Kesha's other songs, while others praised it. The production has been likened to work by The Cars, Flo Rida, Jessie J, and Katy Perry; while no The Cars song was cited for its similarities, the songs was compared to "Good Feeling", "Domino", and "Teenage Dream" respectively. "Die Young" has charted in multiple countries, debuting at 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with over 188,000 units sold. In its third week, "Die Young" broke into the top-ten, making it Kesha's eighth top-ten hit since her debut on the chart in 2010 with "Tik Tok".[3] The song has also reached the top ten in other areas of the anglosphere, including Canada and Australia. Through digital channels, Kesha released the official music video for "Die Young". In it, she plays the role of a cultist, leading her disciples in a sex ritual. Music magazine Billboard reported on the symbolism used in the video, documenting synergy with it and the Illuminati of conspiracy theory.

Background and composition

"Die Young"
Ke$ha sings over an acoustic guitar and synthesized beat during this sample of the electropop song "Die Young".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Produced primarily by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco, Kesha worked with the lead singer of Fun, Nate Ruess, to write "Die Young".[4][5] Co-producer Blanco called the song "old hippie rock."[4][5] The song was written in 2011, after Kesha traveled the world. Before working on her second studio album, she went on a spiritual journey. Recalling experiences of feeding baby lions and swimming with great white sharks, Kesha said, "I got hypnotized, and I just really wanted this record to be really positive, really raw, really vulnerable and about the magic of life."[4] She intends for the song to show her vulnerable side, saying, "I have a lot of growing and evolving to do. I'm definitely not a one-trick pony and I think people are starting to see that more and more."[6]

About the song, she told Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP Radio:

"It's kind of an anthem. It's a celebration song, which I’m obviously known for writing those, but this one, the concept of it was to live each and every single day like it's your last and to always remain having a youthful spirit no matter how old I get...I can sing like a motherf***er! You're going to hear that because I'm also doing this acoustic EP for my fans. Some of the old songs and the new songs."[7]

Genre-wise, the song employs Kesha's trademark electropop sounds.[8][9] "Die Young" spreads acoustic guitar strums, in the progression of C#m/B/E/A, over an uptempo dance beat, while Kesha belts her half-rapped, half-sung vocals on the verses,[10] where she says, "I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums." Over throbbing percussion, she continues: "Oh what a shame that you came here with someone / So while you're here in my arms / Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young."[4][5] "Die Young" features synth rifts in the New Wave style, reminiscent of The Cars and other music in the 1980s.[11] Towards the end of the song, a choir of backing vocals chimes the chorus over a glam rock drum beat.[11] The track leaked online one day before its official release.[5] On November 14, 2012, the official remix for "Die Young" featuring Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, & Becky G was released via Dr. Luke's SoundCloud account.[citation needed]

Music videos

A human eye within a triangle and lines radiating from its sides.
The Eye of Providence (pictured) is a symbol typically associated with the Illuminati and appears numerous times throughout the video.[12]

Background and release

To promote the single, two teaser trailers were released online. The first showed a waffle waitress holding a slip of paper inscribed with a capital "R", thought to resemble the official logo of Rihanna.[6] This led to speculation about the singer possibly making a guest feature on the record.[6] The second video appeared online, after the singer tweeted, "Wanna hint?". It displayed Kesha in the Tokyo Metro, singing the chorus of "Die Young"[6][13] An official lyric video was posted to Kesha's VEVO account the day of the single's release.[14] On 24 September 2012, celebrity makeup artist and blogger for People Scott Barnes wrote that he was working with Kesha on the music video for "Die Young".[15] On the video itself and the makeup artistry behind it, he said:

"... I like to blow people’s expectations away, and that means creating something they’ve never seen before — so stay tuned to see what we come up with."[15]

Photographs of Kesha on-set for the filming of the music video leaked online. Jenna Hally Rubenstein of MTV commented: "...Kesha [is] into wearing basically nothing these days...and it's looking like that no-clothes theme has continued." She compared the leaked photographs and the cover art for the single, further comparing it to Cher's body rope, certain professional wrestlers, and Amazon princesses.[16] Kesha announced that the video would be released the following day on 7 November.[17] The official music video was uploaded to YouTube in 1080p HD the following day on November 8, 2012. As of Friday November 23 2012, 15 days after the upload, the official video has nearly 12.5 million views.

Concept and synopsis

Playing the role of a cult leader, Kesha and her fictitious disciples raid a hamlet in rural Mexico, engaging in various forms of sexual debauchery.[12][17] According to Billboard, the video is a shout-out to the Illuminati.[12] Occult symbols ubiquitously associated with the secret society such as the the all-seeing eye of Horus, inverted crosses, and triangles pervade the video.[12] Calling the imagery "blatant", Billboard reviewed the video as "tak[ing] the singer's button-pushing ability to dizzying new heights."[12] Sending text messages to her "Animals" (an affection title bestowed on her fans)[18] in the video, Kesha writes: "We made it… SOUTH OF THE BORDER… they'll never find us here".[12] Despite the overt amounts of sexual content and satanic imagery, the video receives a TV-PG rating from networks such as MTV and VH1 with no editing.

Reception

Critical response

The song received mostly mixed reviews. Seventeen called it "classic Ke$ha",[9] while Robbie Daw of Idolator said, "[I'm] getting a 'if you’ve heard one Ke$ha song, you’ve heard 'em all' vibe, which is unfortunate."[11] In an interview with Rolling Stone, she said she intended to craft songs in the 1970s "cock rock" genre,[20] but Daw felt that her lackluster vocal delivery neither departed from her previous sound nor lived up to the hype.[11] Rolling Stone also asserted that it was "the Ke$ha we know and love."[21] August Brown of the Los Angeles Times agreed, saying the single was, "...no major departure from her classic template of ravey pop spiced with gum-smacking raps and occasional vocal acrobatics." Further, she wrote that "Die Young" had a "stock-and-trade" message, with the title being, "...a fate... less like a thing to be avoided, and more like the goal is to live fast and leave a good-looking corpse."[22] Marc Hogan of Spin wrote that Kesha's usual idiosyncrasies of punk rockers downing shots, transparent in even her worst songs, did not appear on "Die Young",[10] announcing that "this one feels a bit more, well, blah than her previous hits."[10] Perez Hilton posted the song to his blog with the title "Ke$ha’s New Single Die Young Is A Killer!", and said, "...[it] has us getting up and dancing like there’s no tomorrow."[23] Contactmusic.com noted the song's succeeded on Twitter, where fans tweeted their appreciation. The reviewer also acknowledged Hogan's negative review, saying that a few more plays would covert him to the song.[23] Indie music blog Stereogum said the song was "glorious", "establishing Ke$ha as one of the industry’s best new pop songwriters"[24] Sarah Polosky of Vibe said the song's production worked like water, with the message being steadfast, and the beats dangerously addictive.[14] On the lyrics video, she noted similarities between K-pop singer, PSY's 2012 hit, "Gangnam Style".[14] Billboard noticed the track "...is eerily similar to Flo Rida's recent hit "Good Feeling."[8] Jessica Sager of Pop Crush acknowledged the Flo Rida similarity, also comparing the record to "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry.[25] Conversely, Sager praised the lack of Auto-Tune in "Die Young".[25] MTV mirrored the Rida comparisons, likening the song to Jessie J's "Domino", also produced by Dr. Luke, before saying, "So do we think "Die Young" is pushing [Kesha] toward new sonic heights? Not particularly."[19] Entertainment Weekly critic Ray Rahmen lent "Die Young" a positive review, saying it had all "the pop swag of a high-school girl sneaking a bottle of Smirnoff Ice into prom," before praising the song's remix potential.[26] Bill Lamb of About.com was very positive of the song, giving it five out of five stars and claiming the song "defines the moment in pop music" and calling it "flawless".[27]

Chart performance

October 1, 2012 marked "Die Young"'s debut on the Billboard Pop Songs chart. Peaking at 21, it serves as Kesha's highest ranking debut on that chart.[28] "Die Young" entered the Hot 100 at number 13, also debuting at number 3 on the Hot Digital Songs chart with 188,000 purchases. On airplay, the song garnered 31 million hits.[29] On the week ending in October 27, "Die Young" debuted on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart at number 45.[30] In third week, "Die Young" rose to number 8 on the Hot 100, giving her eight top-ten hits on the chart since her debut with "Tik Tok" in 2010.[3] In its fifth week, the song jumped to number 4 on chart.[31] For the week ending December 8, 2012, "Die Young" reached a new peak of number 2.[32]

Live performances

Kesha during an appearance at the Today Show in New York on November 20, 2012.

Kesha has declared that it is important for her, with Warrior and her live performances of "Die Young", to display her vocal ability due to the backlash she has received about using excessive auto-tune.[33][34] Kesha first performed "Die Young" on October 29, 2012 in El Rey Theatre.[35] Emily Zemler of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the performance, blogging: "If pop music demands an element of theatrical presentation, then Ke$ha angled toward a literal interpretation of her raucous, sexualized pop songs".[36] DJed by Herick Hell, Kesha performed various other songs include "Party at a Rich Dude's House", "Cannibal", and "We R Who We R".[36] Clad in a rhinestone one-piece, Kesha wore a gold diadem while being carried by muscular cabana boy look-a-likes.[36] The set was rife with green laser beams and giant artificial phalli.[36] On November 6, 2012, Kesha made the song's first televised performance on The X Factor Australia's fourth season.[17][37] On November 20, 2012, Kesha performed "Die Young" at the Today Show in New York, NY.[33] The performance was held in the Rockefeller Plaza, and she wore a camouflage leotard adorned with an upside cross and rainbow-colored paper flowers.[33] Along with "Die Young", she performed her other smash hits, "Blow" and "We R Who We R".[33] Billboard congratulated "Die Young"'s performance at the American Music Awards of 2012 as being on of the five best performances that night.[38] For the music journal, Jason Lipshutz wrote:

Ke$ha's performance of new single "Die Young" was resoundingly Ke$ha-esque: there were flashing neon lasers, skeleton drummer-dancers, an inexplicable headdress at the beginning and a totally explicable crotch-grab in the middle. With blonde pigtails running across her shoulders and black leather boots hiked up to her knees, Ke$ha was often carried on the shoulders of shirtless men with a look of unabashed joy on her face -- a fitting image for a single about shirking tomorrow's responsibilities for carnal impulses.[38]

Formats and track listings

  • Digital download[39]
  1. "Die Young" – 3:33
  • United Kingdom single[40]
  1. "Die Young" – 3:33
  2. "Die Young" (Instrumental)  – 3:33
  1. "Die Young" (Remix) (feat. Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, & Becky G.) - 4:04

Credits and personnel

  • Songwriting – Kesha Sebert, Nate Ruess, Lukasz Gottwald, Henry Walter, Benjamin Levin,
  • Production – Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut
  • Instruments and programming – Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut

Credits adapted from the liner notes on BMI.[2]

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[42] 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[43] 35
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[44] 37
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[45] 33
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[46] 4
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[47] 32
France (SNEP)[48] 34
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 20
Ireland (IRMA)[49] 23
Japan (Billboard Japan Hot 100)[50] 53
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[51] 59
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[52] 14
Norway (VG-lista)[53] 8
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[54] 45
South Africa (Mediaguide)[55] 8
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[56] 41
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[57] 22
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[58] 48
US Billboard Hot 100[59] 2
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[60] 1
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[61] 8
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[62] 19

Release history

Country Date Format
United States September 25, 2012 Digital download
Europe November 18, 2012
United Kingdom November 25, 2012
Germany[63] November 23, 2012 CD single

References

  1. ^ "KE$HA - DIE YOUNG (SONG)". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Repertoire Search". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b Trust, Gary. "PSY Still Stuck At No. 2 as Maroon 5 Tops Hot 100 - "One More Night" spends a fifth week in the top spot, while Ke$ha crashes the Top 10". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ke$ha 'Die Young' Hits Airwaves, Party Anthem Boasts Stripped, 'Hippie Rock' Sound". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d Kaufman, Gil. "Ke$ha's Down-And-Dirty Party Anthem 'Die Young' Leaks". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d "Kesha's new single could feature Rihanna". BigPond. Telstra. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  7. ^ Carroll, Sara. "Ke$ha Debuts "Die Young" Live On AMP Radio With Carson Daly!". 97.1 AMP Radio. AMP Radio Networks. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  8. ^ a b McIntyre, Hugh. "Ke$ha Debuts 'Die Young' Single: Listen". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  9. ^ a b Jaksich, Jessica. "The Party Doesn't Stop With Ke$ha's New Single!". Seventeen. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  10. ^ a b c Hogan, Marc. "Ke$ha's First 'Warrior' Single 'Die Young' Lacks Killer Instinct". Spin. Buzz Media. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d Daw, Robbie. "Ke$ha's "Die Young": Listen To Her First 'Warrior' Single". Idolator. Buzz Media. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Lipshutz, Jason. "Ke$ha Shouts-Out Illuminati in 'Die Young' Video: Watch". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  13. ^ Dresdale, Andrea. "Ke$ha Teases New Single "Die Young" by Whistling It on a Subway". ABC News. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  14. ^ a b c Polonsky, Sarah. "Ke$ha - "Die Young" (Official Lyric Video)". Vibe. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  15. ^ a b Barnes, Scott. "Scott Barnes's Blog: Seriously, Take a Beauty Cue from Ke$ha". People. Time Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  16. ^ Rubenstein, Jenna Hally. "Ke$ha Is A Leather-Clad Wild Child On The Set Of Her 'Die Young' Video (PHOTO)". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  17. ^ a b c Copsey, Robert. "Rihanna, Ke$ha music videos to premiere this week". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  18. ^ Sager, Jessica. "Kesha Gets Patriotic on the Cover of V Magazine". PopCrush. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  19. ^ a b Rubenstein, Jenna Hally. "New Song: Ke$ha, 'Die Young'". MTV Buzzworthy. Viacom. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  20. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (February 10, 2011). "Exclusive: Ke$ha Discusses Her Cock-Rock Ambitions and Getting Tattooed by a Crackhead". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  21. ^ "Ke$ha Lives It Up on 'Die Young' Hedonistic pop star returns with new party anthem". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  22. ^ Brown, August. "Kesha releases 'Die Young' single, sets album date". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  23. ^ a b "So, Is Ke$ha's New Single 'Die Young' Any Cop?". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  24. ^ Goble, Corbin. "Ke$ha – "Die Young"". Stereogum. Buzz Media. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  25. ^ a b Sager, Jessica. "Kesha, 'Die Young' – Song Review". Pop Crush. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  26. ^ Rahman, Ray. "Ke$ha loses inhibitions on new single 'Die Young': Hear it here". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  27. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Review: Ke$ha - Die Young". About.com. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  28. ^ "Chart Highlights: Ke$ha, Rihanna Blast Back Onto Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  29. ^ Trust, Gary. "PSY Can't Beat Maroon 5 in Close Race For Hot 100's Top Spot". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  30. ^ "Chart Highlights: Adele's 'Skyfall' Rises On Adult Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  31. ^ Trust, Gary (2012-10-24). "Maroon 5 Spend 'One More' Week Atop Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  32. ^ Trust, Gary (2012-11-14). "Maroon 5's 'One More Night' Ties for Hot 100's Longest Lead This Year". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
  33. ^ a b c d "Ke$ha Performs New Song 'Die Young' Live On The Today Show – Video". Capital FM. Global Radio. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  34. ^ Williot, Carl (20 November 2012). "Ke$ha Performs "Die Young" & Wants To Prove She Can Sing On 'TODAY': Watch". Idolator. Buzz Media. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  35. ^ Gordon, AJ. "Ke$ha Dies Young At Secret Show Monday Night". 97.1 AMP Radio. CBS Radio. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  36. ^ a b c d Zemler, Emily. "Ke$ha Dances with Giant Penises at 'Warrior' Warm-Up Concert". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  37. ^ McCabe, Katy. "Die Young singer Kesha alive and kicking despite tweets saying she's dead". News.com.au. News Limited. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  38. ^ a b Lipshutz, Jason (19 November 2012). "AMAs 2012: Top 5 Best Performances". Billboard. New York, NY: Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  39. ^ "Ke$ha - Die Young - Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  40. ^ "Ke$ha - Die Young - Single UK". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  41. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2012/11/15/new-music-kesha-f-juicy-j-wiz-khalifa-becky-g-die-young-remix/
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  43. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
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  47. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201247 into search. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  48. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  49. ^ "Chart Track: Week 48, 2012". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  50. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. October 24, 2012. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  51. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  52. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  53. ^ "Topp 20 Single uke 46, 2012" (in Norweigan). VG. November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  54. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201241 into search. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  55. ^ "Media Guide". Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  56. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  57. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  58. ^ "Ke$ha – Die Young". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  59. ^ "Kesha Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  60. ^ "Kesha Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  61. ^ "Kesha Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  62. ^ "Kesha Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  63. ^ "Amazon.de - Die Young". Retrieved 28 November 2012.
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