Us Against the World (Westlife song)

"Us Against the World"
Song

Us Against The World, an original Westlife song, is the second single released in both Ireland and the UK from the band's ninth studio album, Back Home. This was officially confirmed by band member Nicky Byrne at an X Factor interview and through the band's official website.

The song was composed by Arnthor Birgisson, Rami Yacoub (who gave us the hit "When You're Looking Like That") and Savan Kotecha (who composed the single "Obvious"). They've also contributed to the upbeat tracks on the Back Home album, namely "Something Right", "The Easy Way", and "Pictures In My Head".

"Us Against The World" was also dedicated to Westlife's fans worldwide to mark their continuous support.

The band gave their first live performance of Us Against The World on the TV special, The Westlife Show Live, which was broadcasted on December 15.

Track listing

CD1

1. Us Against The World
2. Get Away

CD2

1. Us Against The World
2. I'm Already There (Ashanti Boyz Remix)
3. Us Against The World (The Wideboys Remix) (Radio Edit)

Music Video

File:UATWVideo.jpg

Nicky Byrne in the music video.

The band announced through their official website that the video began shoot on the 4 December 2007 . This music video marks a major milestone in the band's decade of music.

The video premiered on February 14 and the single followed on 3 March 2008..

The initial video, which featured both the lads and their loved ones, was shot at the Twickenham Rugby Stadium in London over a two day span. Louis Walsh, the band's manager, had a cameo role in it.

However, the band had a reshoot of the music video due to Simon Cowell's disapproval of the initial video outcome. This might have caused the release date to be pushed back to March 3 from the initially announced February 25.

The video shows the band walking through a staged red carpet segment, inside the backseat of a moving car, spending time with their loved ones along with photos and videos of their past decade.

Release and Chart Performance

Prior to its physical release, the song managed to peak at #40 on the UK Official Singles Chart and at #27 on the Official Irish Singles Chart based on downloads alone.

On 3 March 2008, the single was released in its physical format, climbing 32 spots to peak at #8 on the UK Official Singles Chart and at #6 on the Official Irish Singles Chart. A live version of the single was also made available for download.

This marks the first time in Westlife's history that a single has not been able to reach the top 5 in the United Kingdom, making "Us Against The World" the band's lowest charting single to date.

Many fans have blamed the record label, Sony BMG, for putting the song up for download 2 weeks piror to the physical release of the single as well as choosing to release it during the Back Home Tour, thus resulting in inadequate single promotion.

A similar situation occurred back in 2002 when Bop Bop Baby was released while the band was on tour. The single peaked at only #5 in the UK.

At 4 May 2008, the song re-entered at the UK Singles Chart at #74. Believed to be an effect of the song being performed by a contestant in an episode of Britain's Got Talent prior to the date referred.

Chart	Peak position
Ireland	6
United Kingdom	8

The single peaked at several radio charts in Ireland and UK (#1), South Africa (#9), Thailand (#15) and enetered the UK and Irish iTunes Top Songs Chart.

External links

• "Us Against The World" music video