Forever Young – Alphaville | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#93) and Hot Dance (#32); 1985
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
For two years in the 1980’s, songstress Laura Branigan seemed destined for a long career, with three Top 10’s – including the platinum-selling Gloria – to her credit. By summertime 1985, however, Laura’s career had cooled.
Perhaps she should have released her perennial in-concert encore selection: Forever Young. The song was first released Stateside in 1984 by its composers; a Berlin-based trio called Alphaville. Although it was a pop chart no-show here, it did go Top 10 in Germany and elsewhere.
Prompted by Branigan’s ongoing performance of the song, it was again released in America in 1995. This time it crawled to #93 on the Hot 100 and made the club scene Top 40. Although Alphaville had recorded just two albums by 1988, Atlantic Records issued a singles compilation album and reissued Forever Young again.
Along the way Forever Young became a high school graduation standard. Twenty years later it attracted a new generation of fans through exposure on The O.C. in a version by Youth Group.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Colin Pearson
- Wolfgang Loos
- Andreas Budde
Lyrics Written by:
- Marian Gold
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).