"Living for the Weekend" began as a demo with Archer's previous band "Contempo" before they had split up. At this time, Hard-Fi drummer Steve Kemp was drumming for the Contempo. Contempo apparently played the song a couple of times in Portsmouth before it was re-recorded with Hard-Fi. The song is a typical Hard-Fi song lyrically, about having no money, a dead end job and, as the song title suggests, just living for the weekend.
It addresses what stresses of work 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?"[2]
The video was filmed in Brentford on 1 August 2005 and was directed by Scott Lyon. It features Hard-Fi performing on top of a building during the day as well as scenes of people walking around the streets and suburbs of Brentford. Towards the end of the song, night falls and a large group of youths can be seen approaching a train station and then at a party. The 1000 Great West End Building can be seen in the video.
The song became one of the band's anthems being used in the media quite frequently from TV Series adverts to, quite appropriately, the Weekender Show on XFM. It was also used on a highlight video for the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix on the official Formula 1 website and in a behind-the-scenes programme for EastEnders in 2010. In the UK, it was used within the Winter Olympics special of the show Top Gear, during a segment in which presenters Richard Hammond and James May played ice hockey using Suzuki Swifts.
In Australia, it was used infrequently during the Seven Network's coverage of the Australian Open tennis tournament. It was also used on the sports news show Sports Tonight on Network Ten.
CD1
HARD04CD
- "Living for the Weekend" (Radio Edit)
- "Unnecessary Trouble" (Live)
Maxi CD
HARD04CDX
- "Living for the Weekend" (Radio Edit)
- "Peaches" (Radio 1 Live Version)
- "Hard to Beat" (Axwell Mix)
- "Living for the Weekend" (Video)
7"
- "Living for the Weekend"
- "Living for the Weekend" (Dub)
"Living for the Weekend" spent 12 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. It entered the UK Singles Chart at #15 and the UK download chart at #27 on 27 September 2005.
More information Chart (2005), Peak position ...
Chart (2005) |
Peak position |
UK Singles Chart[3] |
15 |
UK Download Chart |
27 |
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More information Region, Certification ...
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