Teenage dreams in a teenage circus
Running around like a clown on purpose
We are not what you think we are
We are golden, we are golden.
Don’t be surprised if you hear this song a LOT on my show because I have suddenly (and irrevocably) become obsessed with the new Mika single “We are Golden” off the album “The Boy Who Knew Too Much” even more so since I discovered (on his amazingly yummy looking website) how involved he is himself (along with his sister) in creating a quirky little story for the album cover art. Basically looking at life through the lense of a teenage universe where you desperately hope you are somehow special. The video is bursting with color, craziness and energy (and there’s even a cool little pop-art rug in there with a good ‘ol desi auto-rickshaw on it (must tell Rish Oberoi to put THAT on a Paani Puri T-shirt!)
Here’s how they came up with the album cover art, I heart Mobbins!
And here’s the making of the video. Mika reminds me of a quirky little Peter Pan; the kind of guy who’d be a blast to spend a day at Disney World with, possibly his idea of the perfect date, you know? 🙂
Didjya Know?
Mika told Q magazine June 2009 in a pre-release interview: “It’s 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.”
This features the Andrae Crouch Gospel Choir who sung on Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” Mika told The Observer Music Monthly June 2009 that the choir, “refused to sing the line ‘don’t give it up when you’re young and you want some.’ One of them stopped and turned to me and very slowly said: ‘You want what? A cheeseburger?’” Obviously that was not what Mika meant. He then explained that the song’s theme was inspired by Angela Carter’s 1967 novel The Magic Toyshop, which follows its heroine’s burgeoning sexuality as she lives with her tyrannical toy maker uncle – “and I’ve been fascinated by that period in someone’s life.”
Mika explained the song The Daily Mail September 4, 2009: “I lost myself in a teenage world. It’s about trying to convince yourself that that you’re special.”
The song’s music video is a kitschy celebration of youth during which Mika dances around his teenage bedroom in his underpants. He told BBC News: “The video is joyful but there’s this desperation in there. It’s like a ceremony where this boy in his bedroom is begging the world to love him.”
The album was originally titled after this song, however Mika revealed to Jo Whiley on her BBC Radio 1 show that he was considering renaming the set, because he wanted “something a little more ridiculous.” On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album’s title would change to “The Boy Who Knew Too Much.”
Fox’s broadcast of the 2009 Teen Choice Awards used this as its theme song throughout the show.