We Are Golden

"We Are Golden" is the first single from English 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]

"We Are Golden"
Single by Mika
from the album The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Released	6 September 2009
Genre	Glam rock pop rock
Length	3:58 (album version) 3:30 (single edit)
Label	Casablanca^[1]
Songwriter(s)	Mika
Producer(s)	Greg Wells Mika
Mika singles chronology
"Relax, Take It Easy" / "Lollipop" (2008) "We Are Golden" (2009) "Rain" (2009)
Music video
"We Are Golden" on YouTube

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.

— Mika, Q Magazine^[5]

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.^[6]

Music video

 

A frame from the "We Are Golden" 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.^[7] The video premiered on 4 August 2009 in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.^[8] 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."^[9]

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^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:59
2.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Remix) (Radio Edit)	3:34
3.	"Lonely Alcoholic"	3:05

UK digital download^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:57
2.	"Blue Eyes" (Live From Sadler's Wells)	3:34

UK digital EP^[11]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:58
2.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Club Mix)	6:28
3.	"We Are Golden" (Mirwais Vocal Mix)	6:12
4.	"We Are Golden" (Don Diablo Dub)	6:11
5.	"We Are Golden" (Bob Sinclar's Big Room Remix)	6:38
6.	"We Are Golden" (Acoustic Version)	3:09

UK 12" single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Club Remix)
2.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Dub Remix)
3.	"We Are Golden" (Mirwais Dub Remix)
4.	"We Are Golden" (Don Diablo Vocal Remix)

UK 7" single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:58
2.	"We Are Golden" (Jokers of the Scene Remix)	8:10

German 2-track CD single^[12]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:58
2.	"We Are Golden" (Bob Sinclar's Big Room Remix)	6:38

German 4-track CD single^[13]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:59
2.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Remix) (Radio Edit)	3:34
3.	"Lonely Alcoholic"	3:05
4.	"We Are Golden" (Music Video)

Italian CD single^[14]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	3:58
2.	"We Are Golden" (Bob Sinclar's Big Room Remix)	6:38
3.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Remix) (Radio Edit)	3:34
4.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Club Mix)	6:28
5.	"We Are Golden" (Mirwais Vocal Mix)	6:12

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.^[15] 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).^[16]

Weekly charts Charts (2009) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 10 Austrian Singles Chart 17 Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) 9 Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia) 7 Czech Airplay Chart^[17] 39 Dutch Singles Chart^[18] 20 Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 4 French Singles Chart^[19] 19 German Singles Chart^[20] 29 Hungarian Singles Chart^[20] 10 Irish Singles Chart^[21] 14 Israeli Singles Chart^[22] 8 Italian Singles Chart^[23] 3 Japan Hot 100^[24] 15 Norwegian Singles Chart 16 Romanian Top 100^[25] 71 Slovak Airplay Chart^[26] 26 Spanish Singles Chart^[20] 37 Spanish Airplay Chart^[27] 14 Spanish Physical Singles Chart^[28] 1 Swedish Singles Chart^[29] 30 Swiss Singles Chart 11 UK Singles Chart 4 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 5

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Position Italian Singles Chart^[30] 50 Romanian Top 100^[31] 54 UK Singles Chart^[32] 170

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)^[16]	Gold	10,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)^[33]	Silver	200,000^‡
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format
Australia	14 August 2009^[34]	Digital download
United States	18 August 2009	Digital download
United Kingdom, Ireland	20 July 2009	Radio airplay
	6 September 2009	Digital download
	7 September 2009	CD single
Italy	24 July 2009	Radio airplay

Credits

• Mika – vocals, piano, keyboards, background vocals
• Greg Wells – keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, programming, guitar
• Tim Pierce – guitar
• Martin Waugh – additional guitar
• Audrey Moukataff – background vocals
• Fortune Penniman – background vocals
• Paloma Penniman – background vocals
• Zuleika Penniman – background vocals
• The Andrae Crouch Choir – background vocals

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. London. 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. Allen, Matt (1 June 2009). "Exclusive: Mika's Second Coming", Q magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
6. Nick Levine (2 September 2009). "Mika: 'We Are Golden' - Music Singles Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
7. "Mika in arrivo - Notizie online MTV". MTV. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
8. [1] 28 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
9. "MikaSounds / Blog". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
10. "MikaSounds / Music / 'We Are Golden' - Digital Download". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
11. "MikaSounds / Latest News / 'We Are Golden' Release News!". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
12. "We Are Golden (2-Track): Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
13. "We Are Golden: Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
14. "We Are Golden - ITALY excl. 5 Mixes CD single cardsleeve: Mika: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
15. UK Singles Chart - 20 Sept.
16. "Italian single certifications – Mika – We Are Golden" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Select "2009" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "We Are Golden" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
17. ds. "Čns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
18. "Radio 538 = 102 FM - Hitlijst". Retrieved 16 August 2009.
19. Steffen Hung. "Mika - We Are Golden". lescharts.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
20. Mika - We Are Golden at acharts.us Accessed 25 September 2009
21. ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
22. "Media Forest: Airplay chart". mediaforest.biz.
23. "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
24. "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN: 2009/08/10". 10 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
25. RT100 13 September
26. ds. "Sns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
27. "Promusicae (Week: January 1, 2009)" (PDF). Retrieved 13 July 2009.
28. "Physical Single Top 20". Hung Medien. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
29. Sverigetopplistan
30. "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Ricerche e dati di mercato". Fimi.it. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
31. "Topul celor mai difuzate piese în România în 2010". România Liberă (in Romanian). Retrieved 21 January 2011.
32. "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
33. "British single certifications – Mika – We Are Golden". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
34. "What do Mika and Madonna have in common?". Nova 100. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.