Best Song Ever

2013 single by One DirectionTemplate:SHORTDESC:2013 single by One Direction

 Songwriter(s) | * Wayne Hector
* John Ryan
* Ed Drewett
 Producer(s) | * Julian Bunetta
* John Ryan

"**Best Song Ever**" is a song recorded by English-Irish boy band One Direction. It was released on 22 July 2013 by Syco as the lead single from the group's third studio album, *Midnight Memories*. The song was written and composed by Wayne Hector, Ed Drewett, Matt Rad, along with the band's regular collaborators Julian Bunetta and John Ryan.

"Best Song Ever" debuted and peaked at number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the US *Billboard* Hot 100, making it their highest-charting single in the United States to date.

## Composition

The song is written in the key of C-sharp major with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of F♯-C♯-G♯.

## Critical response

Will Hermes from *Rolling Stone* gave "Best Song Ever" a score of 4 out of 5 stars, describing the track as "pretty irresistible". Lewis Corner at *Digital Spy* also awarded the song 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "Sure the lyrics are cheesier than a 6-pack of Wotsits, and yes the sentiment is cornier than a Disney Channel rom-com, but as far as boyband pop anthems go it skirts dangerously close to fulfilling its title."

In the course of a debate on Twitter, it was noted the song's basic structure was similar to "Baba O'Riley" (1971) by the Who. Fans suggested the "Best Song Ever" was copied from the Who's song. Who guitarist Pete Townshend responded to the claims by denying that the Who were pursuing legal action, and stated that he was a fan of One Direction's single and was happy that One Direction appeared to have been influenced by the Who, just as he had been by his own guitar heroes such as Eddie Cochran.

## Music video

The music video for "Best Song Ever" was directed by Ben Winston and written by comedian James Corden. Filmed over two days at The Temple House in Miami Beach, Florida, the video was released on the band's Vevo channel on 22 July 2013.

The video is over six minutes long and features the band arguing with clueless studio executives in a battle over their new image. Niall Horan plays studio executive Harvey (Harvey Weinstein), Louis Tomlinson plays studio executive Jonny (modelled after Tom Cruise's character Les Grossman in the movie Tropic Thunder), and Zayn Malik plays "The Sexy Assistant", Veronica. The studio executives are stoked to take the band to the proverbial next level, but they proceed to bring in an under-qualified crew consisting of Marcel, "The Marketing Guy" (Harry Styles) and Leeroy, "The Choreographer" (Liam Payne). Interspersed with scenes from their film *One Direction: This is Us*, the band are shown wreaking havoc throughout the office and even throwing in a few dance moves for good measure.

The music video won a British Video at the 2014 Brit Awards on 19 February 2014.

The video broke the Vevo 24-hour record with 12.3 million views, surpassing the 10.7 million views of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" in June, although the record was later broken again by Cyrus' follow-up music video "Wrecking Ball", which garnered 19.3 million views.

## Live performances

The group performed "Best Song Ever" live for the first time on 30 July 2013 at the SAP center in San Jose, California during their Take Me Home Tour concert until their final live at Japan. The song was subsequently added to the set-list to all proceeding shows of the American leg. The group's first televised performance of the single was at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards on 11 August. The group also performed the song, along with some of their other hits, on *The Today Show* on 23 August, on *America's Got Talent* on 28 August, and again on *The X Factor Australia* on 27 October. On 15 November, the group performed "Best Song Ever" for the first time on British television at *Children in Need 2013*. Since its release, the song closed out all concerts for the 2014 Where We Are Tour and the 2015 On the Road Again Tour.

## In popular culture

Musicians such as Gabrielle Aplin and The Vamps have covered "Best Song Ever". "Weird Al" Yankovic also covered the song as part of his polka medley "NOW That's What I Call Polka!" for his 2014 album *Mandatory Fun*. In the 100th episode of *Mad*, there's a sketch where One Direction watches the show and sings a parody of "Best Song Ever" calling it the worst show ever.

## Track listings

* Ryan
* Bunetta
* Drewett
* Kristoffer Fogelmark
* Rami Yacoub
* Cark Falk
* Savan Kotecha
* Zayn Malik
* Liam Payne
* Louis Tomlinson

* Ryan
* Bunetta
* Drewett
* Ryan
* Bunetta
* Drewett
* Ryan
* Bunetta
* Drewett

## Charts

 US *Billboard* Hot 100 | 74

## Certifications

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## Release history

 Germany | 16 August 2013
 United States | 20 August 2013
 Japan | 21 August 2013
 Italy | 27 August 2013

## Awards

"Best Song Ever" won the award for Best Song of the Summer at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

 Rockbjörnen | Best International Song
 World's Best Video

## See also

* "Tribute" by Tenacious D, another song about the greatest song
* "Baba O'Riley by The Who

## References

1. ↑ Best Song Ever (23 July 2013).
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Best Song Ever". *Rolling Stone*. Archived from the original on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"One Direction: 'Best Song Ever' review". *Digital Spy*. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
4. ↑ Pete Townshend Responds to Furious One Direction Fans (16 August 2013).
5. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"8 Reasons Why One Direction's Video For 'Best Song Ever' Is The Best Video Ever". *HuffPost UK*. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
6. ↑ One Direction's "Best Song Ever" Video Filmed at World Famous Temple House. *Marketwire*.
7. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"One Direction Play Dress-Up in 'Best Song'". *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
8. ↑ Alicia Adejobi. Miley Cyrus Beats One Direction's VEVO Record After 'Wrecking Ball' Becomes Most-Viewed Video In Less Than 24 Hours. *EntertainmentWise*.
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Gabrielle Aplin Covers One Direction's "Best Song Ever" On BBC Live Lounge: Watch - idolator". *idolator*. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
10. ↑ Template:Citation
11. ↑ Template:Citation
12. ↑ Cartoon Network's MAD Doubles the Funny for 100th Episode Celebration.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Best Song Ever (Walmart Exclusive). *Walmart.com*.
14. ↑ bol.com - Best Song Ever, One Direction - Muziek.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Template:Cite journal
16. ↑ Digital Singles Charts – Greece. *Billboard*.
17. ↑ One Direction. *The Official Lebanese Top 20*.
18. ↑ Ingles Top 20. Monitor Latino.
19. ↑ SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart (sl). SloTop50.
20. ↑ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters **url** and **title** must be specified (ko). Gaon Chart (1 August 2013).
21. ↑ Pop Rock General (es). *Record Report*. R.R. Digital C.A. (28 September 2013).
22. ↑ ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2013. ARIA.
23. ↑ Ultratop Jaaroverzichten 2013 (nl). Ultratop.
24. ↑ Best of 2013: Canadian Hot 100.
25. ↑ Top de l'année Top Singles 2013 (fr). SNEP.
26. ↑ Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2013 (nl). Dutch Top 40.
27. ↑ Year-end 2013: Singles (nl). Mega Single Top 100. Hung Medien.
28. ↑ End of Year 2013. *UKChartsPlus*.
29. ↑ Best of 2013 – Hot 100 Songs. Billboard.com.
30. ↑ Best Song Ever.
31. ↑ Best Song Ever.
32. ↑ Best Song Ever.
33. ↑ Best Song Ever.
34. ↑ Amazon.com: Best Song Ever: One Direction: MP3 Downloads
35. ↑ WebCite query result.
36. ↑ Best Song Ever.
37. ↑ Best Song Ever.
38. ↑ Best Song Ever (15 November 2013).
39. ↑ ベスト・ソング・エヴァー.
40. ↑ Best Song Ever.

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