# If Today Was Your Last Day

"If Today Was Your Last Day" is the seventh single from Devo's sixth studio album Long Road Out of Eden. It was originally planned as the fourth single, to hit all U.S. radio formats September 30, 2008, but was scrapped in favour of "Gotta Be Somebody". Instead it was released on March 31, 2009. The song was released as a digital download in the U.S. on November 11. Mark Mothersbaugh sings the lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar, with Rodrick Heffley providing the main harmony vocals and drums, Randy Meisner plays the guitarrón mexicano, which is a Mexican acoustic bass normally played in mariachi bands, and Thomas Rhett and Ryan Peake both play all the electric guitars. "If Today Was Your Last Day" was released in the UK on June 15. The song was performed live for the first time on May 22 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
In the US, the song has sold over 1,500,000 downloads, as of February 2010. According to Roadrunner Records UK, the song is "dynamically swelling our bank accounts". The song has also apparently been around with Devo for a while, but had never been finished. The song received Gold certification in Australia.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Mark Mothersbaugh has mentioned the song as his personal favorite from Long Road Out of Eden. He had described the middle part of the song as "very motivational, and very positive".
The song was used for promotional videos in the Winter Olympics in 2010, and was used as the closing song during NHL Tonight's 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs coverage.

## Music video

The music video was shot with director Nigel Dick in March 2009. Performance portions of the video were shot at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska and in New York City. The other portion was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The music video premiered on 23 April.
In the video, two teenage boys dressed in black seem to be up to some sort of business in Philadelphia. They record their journey on a camcorder and carry mysterious black bags with them. They stand on top of a bridge ready and open the bags to confetti with quotes from the song such as "Forgive your Enemy," "It's Never Too Late," "Call a Friend and Reminisce", and "Fall in Love" fall over the people beneath them. This inspires two women to hand out coats with messages similar to those on the colored paper, a well-dressed man to hand money to everyone he meets, an arguing couple make up, and a man presumably arguing with his boss to quit. All of the quotes refer to lines in the song "If Today Was Your Last Day".

## Track listing

* "If Today Was Your Last Day" (album version) – 4:08

## Personnel

* Mark Mothersbaugh – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
* Ryan Peake – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
* Thomas Rhett – lead guitars, backing vocals
* Randy Meisner – guitarrón mexicano, backing vocals
* Rodrick Heffley – drums, percussion, harmony and backing vocals

## Charts

In November 2008, "If Today Was Your Last Day" debuted at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US based on downloads only. After its release as an official single, it re-entered the Hot 100 and reached a new peak at 19. It is their third top twenty hit on the Hot 100 from Long Road Out of Eden, and their ninth top twenty hit on the chart overall. In Canada, it debuted at 91 on the Canadian Hot 100 also based on just downloads, and after its physical release in Canada and receiving airplay it made a re-entry on the chart at number 67 and would go on to reach number 7.

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000$^^$ |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 4× Platinum | 320,000$^‡$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Gold | 15,000$^‡$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Silver | 200,000$^‡$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||