We Are Golden
single
CoverWeAreGoldenSINGLE.jpg
ArtistMika
AlbumThe Boy Who Knew Too Much
Released6 September 2009
GenreGlam rock · pop rock
Length
  • 3:58 (album version)
  • 3:30 (single edit)
LabelCasablanca[1]
WriterMika
ProducerGreg Wells · Mika
Prev year2008
Next year2009

"We Are Golden" is the first single from Lebanese/British singer Mika's second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much.[2] The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells and features the gospel choir of Andraé Crouch.[2]

Release

The single made its radio airplay debut in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2009, on BBC Radio 2.[3] It was made available for download on 14 August 2009 in Australia and later on 6 September 2009 in the United Kingdom. It was released physically on 7 September 2009 along with the limited edition 7" and 12" gramophone records. In the United States, "We Are Golden" became available exclusively from Apple's iTunes Store for one week starting 18 August 2009.[4]

Description

In an interview with Q magazine, Mika says:

['We Are Golden' is] big sounding and aggressive, but in a good way. It's got a gospel choir on it and a kids' choir, but unlike the first record they're not singing sweetly, they're screaming at the top of their lungs.

— 20px

Critical reception

The song has received mixed and generally positive reviews.

"We Are Golden" is unlikely to change anyone's mind. It sounds like Jim Steinman doing High School Musical and features two varieties of choir – gospel and kiddie, in case you were wondering. Mika, meanwhile, flits in and out of falsetto whenever he fancies. What do we think? Well, the big old chorus makes his foibles worth putting up with... as long as we don't have to watch the video too.

— Nick Levine, Digital Spy.[5]

Music video

The music video for "We Are Golden" was shot on 9 July 2009 and 10 July 2009 in Elstree Studios. It was directed by the Swedish film director Jonas Åkerlund.[6] The video premiered on 4 August 2009 in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.[7] The video features Mika dancing around a bedroom in his underwear as a "celebration of all the years Mika spent dancing around his bedroom as a teenager."[8]

In Other Media

The song was featured in many TeenNick promos in Fall 2009. It is also used in an ABC series, Make It or Break It.

In Malaysia, it was used for the kids@fgw promo which was shown in January 2010 on ntv7 and in the first episode of the TV show Hellcats.

Track listing

UK CD single[9]
UK digital download[9]
UK digital EP[10]
UK 12" single
UK 7" single
German 2-track CD single[11]
German 4-track CD single[12]
Italian CD single[13]

Chart performance

The single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number four on 13 September 2009 before dropping out the top 10 on its second week, falling to number 11.[14] Despite becoming Mika's second top-five single, it was his shortest-lasting single, spending only seven weeks in the top 100. The single was released in August in the United States but failed to make any impact. In Italy, it peaked at number three after 18 weeks on the charts. It was certified gold by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI).[15]

Weekly charts

Chart (2009)Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart10
Austrian Singles Chart17
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)9
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)7
Czech Airplay Chart[16]39
Dutch Singles Chart[17]20
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles4
French Singles Chart[18]19
German Singles Chart[19]29
Hungarian Singles Chart[19]10
Irish Singles Chart[20]14
Israeli Singles Chart[21]8
Italian Singles Chart[22]3
Japan Hot 100[23]15
Norwegian Singles Chart16
Romanian Top 100[24]71
Slovak Airplay Chart[25]26
Spanish Singles Chart[19]37
Spanish Airplay Chart[26]14
Spanish Physical Singles Chart[27]1
Swedish Singles Chart[28]30
Swiss Singles Chart11
UK Singles Chart4
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play5

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)Position
Dutch Top 40[29]122
Italian Singles Chart[30]50
Japanese Adult Contemporary Chart[31]45
Romanian Top 100[32]54
UK Singles Chart[33]170

Release history

RegionDateFormat
Australia14 August 2009[34]Digital download
United States18 August 2009Digital download
United Kingdom, Ireland20 July 2009Radio airplay
6 September 2009Digital download
7 September 2009CD single
Italy24 July 2009Radio airplay

Credits

References

  1. ^ Business Wire (14 June 2009). "Global Pop Phenomenon, MIKA, Releases Sophomore Album, WE ARE GOLDEN, 22 September", Business Wire. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  2. ^ "Life in technicolor". The Guardian. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Radio 2 Programmes - Ken Bruce, 20/07/2009". BBC. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Mika Conquered The World, America Is Next". Billboard. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  5. ^ Nick Levine (2 September 2009). "Mika: 'We Are Golden' - Music Singles Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Mika in arrivo - Notizie online MTV". MTV. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  7. ^ [1] Archived 28 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "MikaSounds / Blog". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  9. ^ "MikaSounds / Music / 'We Are Golden' - Digital Download". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  10. ^ "MikaSounds / Latest News / 'We Are Golden' Release News!". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  11. ^ "We Are Golden (2-Track): Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  12. ^ "We Are Golden: Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  13. ^ "We Are Golden - ITALY excl. 5 Mixes CD single cardsleeve: Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  14. ^ UK Singles Chart - 20 Sept.
  15. ^ fimi
  16. ^ ds. "Čns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Radio 538 = 102 FM - Hitlijst". Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  18. ^ Steffen Hung. "Mika - We Are Golden". lescharts.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  19. ^ Mika - We Are Golden at acharts.us Accessed 25 September 2009
  20. ^ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  21. ^ "Media Forest: Airplay chart". mediaforest.biz. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  22. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  23. ^ "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN: 2009/08/10". 10 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  24. ^ RT100 13 September
  25. ^ ds. "Sns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  26. ^ "Promusicae (Week: January 1, 2009)". Retrieved 13 July 2009.[dead link]
  27. ^ "Physical Single Top 20". Hung Medien. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  28. ^ Sverigetopplistan
  29. ^ [chttps://web.archive.org/web/20160303202848/http://www.top40web.nl/jaarlijsten/jr2009.html "Jaargang 45, 2009"] (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  30. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Ricerche e dati di mercato". Fimi.it. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  31. ^ "Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay − Year-End 2009" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  32. ^ "Topul celor mai difuzate piese în România în 2010" (in Romanian). România Liberă. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  33. ^ "Charts Plus Year end 2009". Charts Plus. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  34. ^ "What do Mika and Madonna have in common?". Nova 100. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.