Living for the Weekend

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Living for the Weekend”
“Living for the Weekend” cover
Single by Hard-Fi
from the album Stars of CCTV
Released September 19, 2005
Format CD, Maxi CD, 7"
Recorded Staines, 2004
Genre Indie Rock
Length 3:24
Label Warner Music
Writer(s) Richard Archer
Producer Wolsey White, Richard Archer
Hard-Fi singles chronology
"Hard to Beat"
(2005)
"Living for the Weekend"
(2005)
"Cash Machine"
(2005)
Alternate covers
Alternative Cover
Alternative Cover

"Living for the Weekend" is the fourth single from indie band Hard-Fi; it was released on September 19, 2005, and peaked at number 15 on the UK charts. The video was directed by Scott Lyon.

"Living for the Weekend" has been heavily featured in a Lifestyle Sports commercial in Ireland and a Carling beer commercial in the United Kingdom. It has also been featured on the Winter Olympics Special of BBC's Top Gear. It also featured in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Time of Your Death".

Sugababes also covered the song, which appeared on their single "Follow Me Home" as well as the Radio 1's Live Lounge compilation.

Contents

[edit] History

Hard-Fi on top of a building in Staines in the video for Living for the Weekend
Hard-Fi on top of a building in Staines in the video for Living for the Weekend

It began as a demo with Richard Archer's not long before his band "Contempo" had split up. At this time Steve Kemp (Hard-Fi's drummer) was drumming for the band. Contempo apparently played the song a couple of times in Portsmouth. The song was then re-recorded with Hard-Fi. The song is a typical Hard-Fi song lyrically, it's about having no money, having a dead end job and, as the song title suggests, just living for the weekend. It addresses what a drag work can be and other issues in Staines such as having counterfeit clothes (Archer has addressed the sale of fake Burberry various times in interviews).

Talking about the song, Archer said, "It's a song about when you've been working all week, for me and my friends that would probably be in a job you don't like or enjoy doing, and it gets to Friday and all of that frustration you've been through all week is released. The money you've earned you spend it to get rid of all that stress, you let your hair down, your life's your own again, you're free. Everyone knows what that's like. You get out there and you see your friends again. It's like you've been released. And are you working to live or living to work."[1]

The song became one of the bands anthems being used in the media quite frequently from TV Series adverts to, quite appropriately, the Weekender Show on XFM.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] CD1

HARD04CD

  1. "Living for the Weekend" (Radio Edit)
  2. "Unnecessary Trouble" (Live)

[edit] Maxi CD

HARD04CDX

  1. "Living for the Weekend" (Radio Edit)
  2. "Peaches" (Radio 1 Live Version)
  3. "Hard to Beat" (Axwell Mix)
  4. "Living for the Weekend" (Video)

[edit] 7"

  1. "Living for the Weekend" (Radio Edit)
  2. "Unnecessary Trouble" (Live)
  3. "Peaches" (Radio 1 Live Version)
  4. "Hard to Beat" (Axwell Mix)

[edit] Charts

Living for the Weekend has been listed for 6 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. It entered the UK singles chart at #15 and the UK download chart at #27 on September 27, 2005. It reached #86 in the Euro 200 Chart.

Chart (2005) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[2] 15
UK Download Chart 27
Euro 200[3] 86

[edit] Alternative Cover

[edit] External Links

[edit] References