"Young Blood" is a song by American recording artist Bea Miller that serves as the lead single from her debut EP Young Blood. It was released on April 22, 2014 through Hollywood Records. This song is also the first song of her debut album, Not an Apology.
Background[]
After placing ninth on the second season of The X Factor USA, Bea Miller signed a record deal with Hollywood Records and Simon Cowell's Syco Music in January 2013, and subsequently started working on new songs.[1]
Bea described this song as having "darkness and light within it, which I think is really cool and representative of kids. We’re the future, and we can do whatever we want because someday this world will be ours. Literally, it will be because we will be the adults who are in charge some day." She came up with that philosophy from "a long time I was kind of a glass-half-empty type of person. I went through a hard time. I started to compare myself to my friends, what they were doing compared to what I was doing. I realized eventually that it’s not healthy to think so negatively, that there is a positive side.
Life is not going from bad to good, but it’s a balance of the two that kind of goes up and down. There are bad things and there are good things. I thought it would be good to bring that into music because I realized that I’m not the only one who feels that way, that a lot of teenagers especially feel that way. Like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, and I wanted to be able to express that so that teenagers could relate to it and realize they’re not alone."[2]
In 2015, the song received a Radio Disney Music Award for "Best Song to Rock Out to With your BFFs".[3]
Promotion[]
Miller performed the song for the first time on television on December 17, 2014, on the Today Show where she was introduced as Elvis Duran's "Artist of the Month."[4] She sang "Young Blood" in various gigs and radio stations across the U.S., such as On Air with Ryan Seacrest and The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show. Miller performed the song on the Demi World Tour in which she served as the opening act in select tour dates. The song was used in an episode of American Idol.
Music video[]
The music video for "Young Blood" was uploaded to Miller's official VEVO account on July 21, 2014.[5] It was directed by Mark Pellington.[6] She described it as "very dark, but, like I said with the actual song, it’s kind of a balance of light and dark. It’s weird. There’s a lot of jump cuts and quick movements but there are also slow moments. It has kids laughing and then kids screaming and crying… it’s kind of a balance all of these emotions."[2] Speaking to MTV News about the video, she said "I wanted the video for Young Blood to be really dark. I wanted the whole thing to revolve around nighttime, I didn't want any daylight. Originally, the director wanted at the end of the video to be a sunrise, but I was like 'no, that's corny,' that just means dark turns to light. And dark doesn't necessarily always turns to light. It can be dark for a long time, and then will be light, then will be dark again. I'm not just gonna have that message that everyone has of like 'I know you're down in the dumps, but you'll get up and stay up. Don't you worry.' Because it's not true, you can be up and down."[7]
Track listings[]
- Digital download
- "Young Blood" – 3:39
Charts[]
| Chart (2014-2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[8] | 40 |
| US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[9] | 4 |
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[10] | 5 |
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Radio Disney Music Awards | Best Song to Rock Out to With your BFFs | "Young Blood" | Won |
Release history[]
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | April 22, 2014 | Digital download | Hollywood Records |
Lyrics[]
We were making history
Breaking rules and breaking free
Questioning the writing on the wall
Coming from the underground
Laughing as we're falling down
Soaking in the glory of it all
But in dark times when we close our eyes
It's a nightmare, it's a nightmare
When the sun don't shine we lose our minds
But I swear, we can get there
We've got young blood
Can't destroy us
We make our own luck in this world
We've got young blood
No one chose us
We make our own love in this world
Someday we could run away
See it all before the pictures fade
And bottle up the feeling in a jar
Pass around to all our friends
We can breathe it in and out again
Huddled in the backseat of the car
But in dark times when we close our eyes
It's a nightmare, it's a nightmare
When the sun don't shine we lose our minds
But I swear, we can get there
We've got young blood
Can't destroy us
We make our own luck in this world
We've got young blood
No one chose us
We make our own love in this world
And the voices will get loud
If you never learn to shut them out
If you're lost you can be found
If you follow me until you hear the sound
Put 'em up, put 'em up now
If you know we're never backing down
We're never backing down, no
We've got young blood
Can't destroy us
We make our own luck in this world
We've got young blood
No one chose us
We make our own love in this world
We've got young blood
Can't destroy us
We make our own luck in this world
We've got young blood
No one chose us
We make our own love in this world
Yeah, cause we've got young blood
References[]
- Bowman, Patrick. "Bea Miller Talks "Young Blood", Her Debut Album & Having Two Moms: Idolator Q&A". Idolator.com. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^Michele Amabile Angermiller (2013-04-11). "'X Factor' Alum Beatrice Miller Inks Record Deal". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^Vulpo, Mike. "Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and Fifth Harmony Win Big at the 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards". E! Online. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ^"YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^"Bea Miller - Young Blood (Official Video)". YouTube.com. 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^vevo.com/beamiller
- ^"Bea Miller | New Music And Songs |". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^"Bea Miller – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Bea Miller. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^"Bea Miller – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Bea Miller. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^"bea miller – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for bea miller. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ↑ Michele Amabile Angermiller (2013-04-11). "'X Factor' Alum Beatrice Miller Inks Record Deal". Hollywoodreporter.com. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/x-factor-alum-beatrice-miller-437933. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bowman, Patrick. "Bea Miller Talks "Young Blood", Her Debut Album & Having Two Moms: Idolator Q&A". Idolator.com. http://www.idolator.com/7520855/bea-miller-young-blood-interview-two-moms. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ Vulpo, Mike. "Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and Fifth Harmony Win Big at the 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards". E! Online. http://uk.eonline.com/news/650417/ariana-grande-jennifer-lopez-and-fifth-harmony-win-big-at-the-2015-radio-disney-music-awards. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ↑ "YouTube". YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K02klxEX3PM. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ "Bea Miller - Young Blood (Official Video)". YouTube.com. 2014-07-21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMMNrth246k. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ vevo.com/beamiller
- ↑ "Bea Miller | New Music And Songs |". Mtv.com. http://www.mtv.com/artists/bea-miller/. Retrieved 2015-06-06.