# Kids (MGMT song)

"Kids" is a song by American rock band MGMT. It was released as the third and final single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on October 13, 2008. The version of the song that appears on Oracular Spectacular is updated from earlier versions that appear on the band's EPs Time to Pretend (2005) and We (Don't) Care (2004). A track entitled "Kids (Afterschool Dance Megamix)" appears on the album Climbing to New Lows (2005). The earliest recorded performance of the song dates to 2003, when it was performed by Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, then students, at Wesleyan University in 2003.
At the 52nd Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
The song was the center of a legal dispute with the former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, over the "insulting" compensation he offered for his illegal use of the song during a party conference.

## Music videos
### Student assignment video

A video made by University of Southern California student Jon Salmon was created in December 2007 as a student assignment and uploaded to YouTube the following month. The video features fellow students Abby Fuller and Rafael Pulido lip-syncing to the song and frequently cuts to various clips from other YouTube videos featuring people dancing. It has since been viewed more than 52 million times on YouTube as of January 2024. MGMT later invited the participants to join them for the official video of "Electric Feel".

### Official video

On June 3, 2009, MGMT released the official music video for "Kids". It was directed by Ray Tintori, who directed MGMT's previous videos for "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel." The video was released to the Oracular Spectacular version. The animated sequence in it was animated by Christy Karacas, director of the Superjail! TV series, as well as Henry Thurlow and Lizzi Akana. The video was featured on the eighth-season premiere of Beavis and Butt-head: "Werewolves of Highland".

## Reception

The single peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, where "Time to Pretend" had previously peaked at number 23. NME named it the number-one song on its list of the Best Singles of 2008. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 99 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". Rolling Stone named it number 46 on its list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s. Rolling Stone's Kevin O'Donnell described the song as, "a noisy New Order-style synth jam."
Two months after exiting the UK Top 40, the song was featured in an advertisement for the BBC1 program Waterloo Road. From this the song gained renewed interest, re-entering the UK Top 40, and on January 16, 2009, the song reached its highest position to date of number 16. "Kids" came in at number 5 on Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 countdown for 2008. In 2013, the song was voted at number 64 on the same station's Hottest 100 from the past 20 years.
The single received considerable airplay in the U.S., UK, Ireland and Australia before the release date, charting in the UK, Ireland and Australia. In Australia, "Kids" debuted before the release date at number 89, and it peaked at number 30, playing on radio stations like Nova. A Soulwax remix of the song was played heavily on UK radio ahead its official release as well. The song got to the number one spot on VG-lista, the Norwegian chart, based on downloads alone. This made some controversy about how reliable the chart was, as the song had not been playlisted on any major radio stations and it disappeared from the chart the next week.

## Legal proceedings

MGMT was involved in a legal dispute with the former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy's UMP party used the song on several occasions, before offering the band a €1 gesture. The band commented, "We believe that access to music benefits both the musicians and the fans, and has undoubtedly helped spread our music around the globe, while also expanding our personal musical collections", and that the reason they felt compelled to sue was because "the fact that the UMP used our song without permission while simultaneously pushing anti-piracy legislation seemed a little wack". Eventually, UMP reached an agreement on a €30,000 (US$38,000) settlement fee.

## Cover versions and samples

An acoustic version of "Kids" was recorded by the Kooks in August 2008, to appear on the next volume of Triple J's cover compilation Like a Version, which would later make No. 100 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of Like a Version in 2023.

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Platinum | 70,000$^^$ |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 3× Platinum | 240,000$^‡$ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Gold | 45,000$^‡$ |
| Germany (BVMI) | 3× Gold | 450,000$^‡$ |
| Italy (FIMI) | Gold | 25,000$^‡$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | 3× Platinum | 90,000$^‡$ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | Platinum | 60,000$^‡$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000$^‡$ |
| United States (RIAA) | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000$^‡$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||