Young Folks

This article is about Peter Bjorn & John song. For the 19th-century British magazine, see Young Folks (magazine). For the Diana Ross and the Supremes song, see The Young Folks.

"Young Folks"
Single by Peter Bjorn and John featuring Victoria Bergsman
from the album Writer's Block
B-side	"Ancient Curse"
Released	7 August 2006 (2006-08-07)
Genre	Indie pop[1] indie rock[2]
Length	4:38 (album version) 4:05 (single version)
Label	Wichita P B and J
Songwriter(s)	Björn Yttling Peter Morén
Producer(s)	Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John singles chronology
"Tailormade" (2005) "Young Folks" (2006) "Let's Call It Off" (2006)
Music video
"Young Folks" on YouTube

"Young Folks" is the first single from Swedish band Peter Bjorn and John's third album, Writer's Block (2006). The single features Victoria Bergsman as a guest vocalist. The song received generally positive reviews from critics and performed well in the record charts, reaching the top 40 in Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. A music video made for the song features animated versions of Peter and Bergsman performing the song in various locations.

Reception

The song first attracted notice on websites such as Myspace and YouTube, and was used in a number of European commercials and television shows. Since mid-2007, the song has earned extensive airplay on American radio, most notably on dance radio outlets like KNHC/Seattle, KNGY/San Francisco and Sirius Satellite's The Beat. It is notable for being a popular song with whistling (the whistling was originally added in as a placeholder for another instrument).

The song was ranked No. 5 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 100 Tracks of 2006" list.^[3] Pitchfork reviewed the song on 19 July 2006, giving it three out of five stars.^[4] The song was also voted No. 2 in the 2006 NME Track of the Year poll.^[5] Planet Sound named this their No. 2 single of 2006. The song was named the No. 1 song of 2007 according to the iTunes Store. Y-Rock on XPN also named the song No. 1 of 2007. In October 2011, NME placed it at No. 92 on its list 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years.^[6] It was included in Spinner's 10 Best Whistling Parts in Songs.^[7] Rolling Stone put the song also on its list of the 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time.^[8] Australian radio station Triple J ranked the song at number 16 on its Hottest 100 of 2006 list.^[9]

The single was re-released on 17 September 2007, reaching No. 13 in the United Kingdom, beating the original chart position of No. 33 in 2006.

Music video

The animated video for the song was directed by Ted Malmros with animation by Graham Samuels. It is featured in the video game SingStar Pop 2, as well as in Lips.

The video starts off with Peter and Victoria sitting in a park, on a bench. Peter teaches Victoria how to whistle. Then the video switches over to them both sitting in a bus where the song starts. Throughout the video, scenes of the band playing the song can be seen and eventually the video ends with a big party where everybody "seems to disappear".

Live performances

The group performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 29 January 2007, and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 18 May 2007 (the latter with Tonight Show band member Vicki Randle on bongos). On 29 September 2007, the band played "Young Folks", with Victoria Bergsman's vocals, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1. When the band performed the song at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bergsman's vocals were performed by Bebban Stenborg of Shout Out Louds. On Peter Bjorn and John's 2008 Australian tour, Victoria Bergsman's vocals were performed by Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura.

Track listings

7-inch single^[10][11]

A. "Young Folks" (featuring Victoria Bergsman)

B. "Ancient Curse"

2006 CD single^[12]

1. "Young Folks" (featuring Victoria Bergsman)
2. "Ancient Curse"
3. "All Those Expectations" (weak mix)

2007 CD single^[13]

1. "Young Folks" (featuring Victoria Bergsman)
2. "Young Folks" (OrtzRoka remix)
3. "Young Folks" (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve re-animation)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2006–2008) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[14] 42 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[15] 2 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[16] 7 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[17] 27 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[18] 37 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] 9 Germany (GfK)[20] 31 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[21] 13 Ireland (IRMA)[22] 24 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 75 Scotland (OCC)[24] 14 UK Singles (OCC)[25] 13 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[26] 16 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[27] 22 US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[28] 10

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position UK Singles (OCC)[29] 151

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[30]	Platinum	60,000^‡
Italy (FIMI)[31]	Gold	25,000^‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[32]	Platinum	600,000^‡
United States (RIAA)[33]	Platinum	1,000,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

In popular culture

"Young Folks" has made numerous appearances in media, including in the pilot episode of the television series Gossip Girl, and in advertisements for UK home improvement retailer Homebase from 2009 to 2013, and Google Nest (smart speakers) in 2017, in which the product's natural language processing was demonstrated by the phrase "play that hipster song with whistling."^[34] It also was part of the tracklist in the video games FIFA 08 and FIFA 23.

German singer Nena covered "Young Folks" together with Oliver Pocher and Stephan Remmler in the German language as "Ich kann nix dafür" ("I'm not responsible for it") for the movie Vollidiot. This version was the 78th best-selling single of 2007 in Germany.^[35]

See also

• Whistling#In music

References

1. Walters, Barry (18 January 2008). "Peter Bjorn and John, 'Writer's Block' (Almost Gold)". Spin. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
2. Swanson, David (24 January 2007). "Peter Bjorn and John – Writer's Block". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
3. "The Top 100 Tracks of 2006". Pitchfork Media. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
4. ":: MTV | Single Jahrescharts 2007 | charts". MTV Germany. 24 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
5. "Hot Chip named track of the year". NME. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
6. "150 BEST TRACKS OF THE PAST 15 YEARS". NME. 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
7. Dilettoso, Stephen (12 January 2010). "10 Best Whistling Parts in Songs". Spinner. AOL. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
8. Murphy, Kate (30 September 2011). "The 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
9. "The Hottest 100 Archive: 2006". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
10. Young Folks (European 7-inch single sleeve). Peter Bjorn and John. Wichita Recordings, P B and J Records. 2006. WEBB107S.
11. Young Folks (European 7-inch single sleeve). Peter Bjorn and John. Wichita Recordings, P B and J Records. 2007. WEBB151S.
12. Young Folks (UK, European & Australian CD single liner notes). Peter Bjorn and John. Wichita Recordings, P B and J Records. 2006. WEBB107SCD.
13. Young Folks (European CD single liner notes). Peter Bjorn and John. Wichita Recordings, P B and J Records. 2007. WEBB151SCD.
14. "Peter Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
15. "Peter Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
16. "Peter Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks" (in French). Ultratip.
17. "Peter Bjorn and John Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
18. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 51. týden 2007 in the date selector. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
19. "Peter Bjorn and John: Young Folks" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
20. "Peter Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
21. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Young Folks". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
23. "Peter Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
24. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
26. "Peter Bjorn and John Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
27. "Peter Bjorn and John Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
28. "Peter Bjorn and John Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard.
29. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2007" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
30. "Brazilian single certifications – Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
31. "Italian single certifications – Peter, Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman – Young Folks" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
32. "British single certifications – Peter Bjorn & John ft Bergsman – Young Folks". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
33. "American single certifications – Pete Bjorn & John – Young Folks". Recording Industry Association of America.
34. "Google Home Mini TV Spot, 'Hipster Song' Song by Peter Bjorn and John".
35. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 2007" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 3 September 2021.